John 4:35-38 Say not you, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields… I. HER PREVIOUS CHARACTER. 1. Of dissolute morals. Antecedent wickedness no barrier to grace, given repentance and faith (Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 55:7-9; Micah 7:18; Matthew 12:31; 1 John 1:7-9). Examples: Manasseh (2 Kings 21:16; 2 Chronicles 33:12-15); Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9:1-18); Philippian jailer (Acts 16:34), and no disqualification for after service. 2. Of lively understanding. The success of the gospel not dependent on the intelligence of its preachers, but high mental endowments no misfortune. Paul and Luke have their place as well as Andrew and Peter: 3. Of religious inclinations. Divine grace often keeps alive in souls seemingly going downwards to perdition — a spark of goodness that only waits the Spirit's breath to fan it into flame. II. HER INSPIRING MOTIVE. 1. Not mere excitement. Her love and novelty an unsatisfactory hypothesis, since she grounds her invitation on a moral basis (ver. 29). 2. Not conscious peace. She was scarcely yet rejoicing in the assurance of salvation. But — 3. Simple faith. She believed Christ to be the Messiah. It was impossible, therefore, for her to be silent. She acted like David (Psalm 66:16; Psalm 116:10), the apostles (Acts 4:20), Paul (2 Corinthians 4:13), the leper (Mark 1:45). III. Her glowing zeal (ver. 28). 1. The trivial action.. 2. The important revelation. (1) An intention to return. (2) The forgetfulness of her errand in her eagerness to proclaim her new-found joy (ver. 34). (3) The importance she attached to one who could answer all questions and satisfy all aspirations (Matthew 13:44-46). (4) The estimate in which she held Divine things in comparison with earthly. (5) The desire she felt that others should hear the good news. IV. HER GLADSOME MESSAGE (ver. 29). 1. The startling announcement. The language of exaggeration contained a truth. Christ had not only shown His acquaintance with details of personal history, as in the case of Nathanael (John 1:48), and with the quality of her spirit, as with Peter's (John 1:42), but had discovered her to herself so as to enable her to realize her guiltiness before God (cf. Luke 5:8), and her need of that living water of which she afterwards drank. 2. The joyous question. An interrogation not of doubt, but of faith. She spoke as if she believed not for joy (Luke 24:41). Her adroitness is worthy of all imitation. 3. The eager invitation. Compare Christ's address to Andrew and John (John 1:39; cf. Psalm 34:8; John 7:17). V. HER WONDERFUL SUCCESS (vers. 30, 39, 41). 1. The extent of it. (1) She produced a commotion in the city — as the gospel usually does in strange places (Acts 8:8; Acts 13:44; Acts 17:5). (2) She enkindled faith in the hearts of many citizens. 2. The reason of it. (1) A persuasion of the woman's sincerity and accuracy guaranteed by her humiliating confession. (2) A feeling of the self-evidencing power of the truth even when repeated at second-hand (2 Corinthians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; 1 Thessalonians 2:13).Lessons: 1. The duty of those who know the truth to publish it (John 17:18; John 20:21; Matthew 5:16; Matthew 10:8; Acts 5:20; Romans 10:14, 15). 2. The place and power of female agency in the Church, e.g., Mary (Luke 1:26-38), Elizabeth (Luke 1:6), Anna (Luke 2:37), Dorcas (Acts 9:36), Lydia (Acts 16:14), Priscilla (Acts 18:26), etc. 3. The adaptation of the gospel to the highest needs of man (Isaiah lit. 7; Ezekiel 47:8; Luke 1:78, 79; John 8:32; John 12:50; Romans 1:16). 4. The certainty that all nations will yet be obedient unto the faith (Psalm 2:8; Psalm 72:8; Isaiah 11:9; Daniel 2:35; Matthew 28:18; Romans 1:5; Philippians 2:11; Revelation 11:15). (T. Whitelaw, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. |
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