Jesus Christ In The Writings Of John
SOWING AND REAPING
Lesson Text:
John 4:27-42
Subject:
Sowing and Reaping
Golden Text:
“One soweth and another reapeth.” (John 4:37)
Lesson Plan:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE MISSION OF THE WOMAN TO HER FELLOW-CITIZENS (VS. 27-30)
3. JESUS’ CONVERSATION WITH HIS DISCIPLES ABOUT THEIR WORK (VS. 31-38)
4. TWO DAYS AT SYCHAR (VS. 39-42)
5. CONCLUSION
Setting of the Lesson:
Time: December, A.D. 27. About ten months following appointment of The Lord’s first disciples.
Place: Jacob’s well, near Sychar, at the foot of Mt. Gerizim, in Samaria.
Rulers: Tiberius Cesar, Emperor of Rome; Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judea; Herod Antipas, Tetarch of Galilee.
Feasts: In A.D. 27 – Passover, April 9; Pentecost, May 30; Tabernacles, Oct. 4. Jesus: Now about 31 years old, at the close of His first year’s ministry, chiefly in Judea.
Intervening Events:
Soon after the interview with Nicodemus in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover in April, Jesus and His disciples left the city and spent the summer and autumn in the country of Judea, probably in various places. Here He taught the people, and His disciples baptized them, the crowds leaving the ministry of John and flocking in large numbers to Jesus. This awakened the jealousy of some of John’s disciples, and they reported the fact to John, who then bore his last and noblest recorded testimony to Jesus as the Messiah.
Beginning Suggestions:
Picture the scene at the well – Jacob’s well (fountain or spring, a water-source) is on a knoll, really a spur of Geriazim, 18 feet high. It is now about 60 feet deep, but was once much deeper. There is now water in it only during the rainy season – the weary Savior resting by the well; the disciples busy in the city purchasing provisions; the woman with her water jar, and her leather bucket for drawing water; the request, and the conversation.
The following facts and brief information will hopefully help to more deeply impress this marvelous subject on the mind:
a. The first showing – personal invitations to Christ (vs. 27-30). The disciples return and interrupt the conversation, but at the right point. The woman immediately leaves the well and her water jar, forgetting her worldly errand in her eagerness to relate her wonderful discovery of the Messiah.
Consider the duty and privilege of inviting others to Jesus, and the good seed that may thus be sown.
b. First reaping (vs. 30, 39). The harvest from this sowing was a large number believing and coming to Jesus for help and salvation.
Consider the great truths of sowing and reaping as given in Psalms 126:5, 6; 2 Corinthians 9:6; Galatians 6:7, 8.
We cannot reap without sowing
We reap what is sown
We reap more than is sown
If we sow, the harvest is certain to follow
c. Second sowing – working for Christ (vs. 31-34). Jesus had been sowing the good seed. In this work His body itself had been refreshed. God had fed His soul with bread from heaven.
Illustration
The power of the mind over the body has continual illustration both in experience and in the observation of medical men. A new interest will often entirely remove weariness. “The physician is daily called upon in the exercises of his profession to witness the powerful effects of mental emotion upon the material fabric. He perceives that moral causes induce disease, destroy life, retard recovery . . . Such influences are admitted to play an important part either for good or evil” (Winslow). There is not a natural action in the body, whether voluntary or involuntary, that may not be influenced by the peculiar state of the mind at the time (Hunter). So spiritual work, Christian conversation through small home-gatherings, may refresh and renew body as well as spirit.
d. The second reaping (vs. 35-38). Mark the difference referred to here, between the earthly and spiritual harvest. The spiritual harvest is always waiting for us. The fruits of this harvest point to eternal life, salvation for others, spiritual life, comfort, character, and usefulness in the worker.
The wages: No one labors in vain. The sower is as important as the reaper—a comfort to many workers.
Illustration
The foundations of a lighthouse deep down in the sea, and forever hidden from view, are as essential to the safety of the passing vessels, as the lamp on its top radiating light far over the waters. The early inventors of the rude machines which have been perfected by later men of genius were as essential to the final success as those who perfected the inventions.
e. The third sowing – faith (vs. 39, 40). Faith founded on the testimony of others – sowing interest and endeavor; leading others to Jesus.
Illustration
A house is worth much more when resting on a good foundation rather than a poor one.
1. INTRODUCTION
In passing through Samaria, on His way from Judea to Galilee, Jesus and His disciples stopped to rest at Jacob’s well, near Sychar. Jesus, being specially weary, remained by the well, while His disciples went on a little further to purchase provisions at Sychar. In the meantime Jesus held a conversation on the living water with a Samaritan woman who had come to he well for water. As the disciples returned with the provisions, the Savior announced to her that He was Himself the promised Messiah. The woman then hastily returned to the city to report the wonderful discovery she had made. Our lesson now begins.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 4:27-30
2. THE MISSION OF THE WOMAN TO HER FELLOW-CITIZENS
4:27... “And upon this.” At this juncture in the conversation, just as He had declared Himself the Messiah. The conversation was ended.
4:27 ... “Marveled that He talked with the woman.” Rather, “was talking” with “a” woman, contrary to the precepts of the Rabbis. “Let no one talk with a woman in the street, no, not with his own wife.” The woman being a Samaritan would only increase their astonishment (Cambridge Bible).
Low estate of women
The low estate of women in that generation is evidenced by these words. What Jesus did was simply not done. The custom of the times would not allow any holy man to do what Jesus did here; but consider these beautiful words: “Woman, who made it fit and decent and moral for a prophet to talk with thee? Who threw a zone of mercy and protection around thy little child? Who lifted thee up and changed thee from man’s chattel and property to man’s friend and equal and inspirer? Who obliterated the brand of the slave from thy face and put on thy brow the halo of chivalry and tenderness and romance? Who so changed thy lot, that instead of marveling today that a prophet should talk with a woman, what men marvel at is that there ever was a time when men should have marveled that Christ talked with a woman? Come then, woman; break thine alabaster box, filled with the ointment precious and very costly. Come, break the box and pour thine ointment of love and gratitude upon His head and feet. Come, wash His feet with the tears of thy love and wipe them with thy hair for a towel!” (McCartney).
The value of one
Isn’t it interesting how many times Jesus gave His most precious gems of truth to small audiences? A large part of His recorded Words were uttered to a few individual hearers. An interesting consideration: following the example of Jesus, just how much importance should we place on large audiences or numbers? Let us be encouraged.
4:27 ... “Yet no man said, What seekest thou?” Perhaps something in His look restrained them. No doubt they felt that something strange had taken place. 1
4:28 ... “The woman left her water pot.” Same word for “water pot” or jar as in the miracle at Cana, and used nowhere else (Cambridge Bible)
This circumstance, though seemingly insignificant, is not without importance:
Leaving her water pot was a pledge of her speedy return, probably proving that she went to seek some one. She set herself, as it were, as the messenger and missionary of Jesus.
Perhaps, in kindness to the Lord – He might use it.
Leaving it allowed her to go on her errand more quickly.
Leaving it showed what an impression the Savior’s conversation made on her. In her eagerness to tell folks of the marvelous news that the Messiah had come, she forgets all about her original errand.
When from our low plain of sin and mortality, the soul of man glimpses light of the Eternal City, all temporal and secular concerns recede. Important as the water pot was to that woman, what a negligible trifle it became to her whose heart had just been lifted up to see the Christ. Here was that same motivation that inspired the fishermen of Galilee to leave their nets and their father, and Matthew to leave his seat of custom, and follow Jesus. No mortal considerations can withstand the blast of that solar wind which emanates from the Sun of Righteousness.
4:28 ... “And went her way into the city, [a half or three-fourths of a mile away] and saith to the men,” whom she would naturally meet on the roads and in the streets.
4:29 ... “Come, see.” She invites them to find out for themselves the good she has found, and to persuade them she relates her own experience.
With these same words, Philip persuaded Nathaniel (John 1:46); and with the same Jesus invited the disciples to His abode (John 1:39); and, with the same words, an angel of heaven said, “Come see the place where the Lord lay” (Matt. 28:6). Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior needs only to be observed to be believed; and the apostle who wrote this Gospel account retained that truth in focus throughout. Should we do less? Do you sometimes feel that ‘professional’ church leaders, consumed with personal agendas, fail to simply lead us to “Come, see” Jesus Christ?
4:29 ... “A man which told me all things that ever I did.” How natural is this exaggeration. In her excitement she states not what He had really told, but what she was convinced He could have told her.
4:29 ... “Is not this the Christ?” Rather, “Is this – ‘can this be’ – the Christ?” Cook pointed out that the form of the sentence grammatically suggests a negative answer (v. 33); but hope bursts through it. Although she believes it, she thinks it almost too good to be true. Also, she does not wish to seem too positive and dogmatic to those who do not yet know the evidence.
There is no reason to suppose that this woman had any doubt that Jesus was the Christ; but she wisely presented her witness in such a manner as to require the citizens of Sychar to provide their own answer to so great a question.
4:30 ... “Then [in response to her words] they went out of the city, and came unto Him” (rather, “and were coming to Him”). Westcott points out that the tense of the original is vividly descriptive. The villagers started on their journey, and are seen, as it were, pursuing it. The narrative leaves them on the way, and returns to Jesus and His disciples, and the conversation recorded in vs. 31-38 takes place during the time the woman was on her way to the town and her return with the people she had notified.
Such a development as this would surely require time:
a. There was the distance between the well and city, a distance traveled twice by this woman before any person in Sychar heard the message.
b. No doubt considerable time passed during the conversation between Jesus and the woman.
c. Additional time was required before the word could be generally circulated among the people.
d. A great multitude moving toward the well would have required even more time.
The movement of the multitude toward Jesus across the plain separating the well and the city deeply touched the Savior’s heart. The prevailing color of clothing in those days was white, dyes being so expensive that only the rich used them. The Lord’s reference a little later to the “white” harvest fields surely referenced that field of people dressed in the white garments of the poor moving toward the Lord probably under the glare of the noon sun.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 4:31-38
3. JESUS’ CONVERSATION WITH HIS DISCIPLES ABOUT THEIR WORK
4:31 ... “In the mean while.” Between the departure of the woman and the arrival of the multitude she had inspired.
4:31 ... “His disciples [who had brought food from the city – vs. 8, 27] prayed Him [entreated Him], saying, Master [better, Rabbi, as in R.V.], eat.” It is possible that by now it was later in the day, and no doubt several hours had passed since they had partaken of food. Jesus had become wearied in His journey (v. 6), and was in need of food when He arrived at the well. Perhaps, too, they urged Him because He may have been engrossed in His thoughts, putting off His meal, unwilling to partake of food.
Such urgency by the disciples that Jesus should eat might be a key to the Lord’s excessive fatigue. Perhaps Jesus, caught up in the glorious enthusiasm of baptizing great numbers the previous days, had not eaten much. It seems certain that the apostles were concerned and insisted that Jesus eat. But it was not yet time for eating. Visible in the distance was a great multitude of villagers, moving toward the Lord of life; and He would break for them the bread of life before relieving His own physical hunger. Do you see a difference between the Lords feeling of urgency to reach the lost and ours? What are some examples revealing the difference?
4:32 ... “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” There is perhaps more than one interpretation regarding what this meat was:
a. The indwelling Spirit of God, sustaining grace. A faint type of it is afforded in earthly experiences by the strength which often seems to be imparted to a feeble mother in the hour of her child’s sickness, carrying her through vigils impossible for her to sustain, but for her love. Her work is not her food; her food is love and faith, which sustains her for her work. No Christian can live by or on his work; nor did Christ (Abbott).
b. He was so refreshed and strengthened with the prospect of fulfilling His work, the earnestness of doing good for the coming multitude that it did away with His desire for food.
The truth probably lies in the union of both views, i.e., by the indwelling of the Spirit the divine food came to Him through doing His Father’s will (v. 34), thus refreshing both body and spirit, as it often does ours.
4:32 ... “That ye know not of.” Omit the “of.” The common rendering entirely obscures the meaning: our Lord does not say “know not of,” but “know not,” – ye have no experience of it. The New King James version renders it this way, “which you do not know.”
4:33 ... “Hath any man brought him ought to eat?” Another instance of dullness of spiritual understanding. It was one of the most difficult of all works for Christ to make men see the spiritual meaning of things, and recognize the superiority of spiritual things.
In a Samaritan village, it was unlikely that anyone would have brought food to Jesus; but the disciples once again struggled with a literal understanding of the words of Jesus, and the possible solution they suggested was as good as any. Jesus helped them understand.
4:34 ... “My meat is to do the will,” etc. Literally, My food is “that I may” do the will of Him that sent Me, and thus finish His work. The food of Christ is His aim and purpose.
a. The highest satisfaction of the soul is in doing God’s will. Compared to this, bodily food is of small importance, necessary as it is.
b. Doing God’s will is the means through which the soul is fed and grows strong. Doing His will is the very act of eating the spiritual food God supplies, and it always refreshes both body and spirit.
4:34 ... “To do the will … and finish His work.” Godet points out that the present tense “to do the will” refers to the accomplishment of the divine will at every instant; and the “finish the work” in the aorist tense, to the final consummation of the task.
Jesus has not yet received any food; but the amazing responsiveness of the woman at the well triggered an opportunity to perhaps convert a whole city. The satisfaction of His physical hunger would have to wait, despite the Master’s weariness.
4:35 ... “Say not ye,” etc. He then illustrates the work of God which He had just begun among the Samaritans, by a similitude from the face of nature before them. Glancing, on one side, at the peasants scattered over the fertile valley, busily sowing seed (probably all around them), and, on the other, at the Samaritans thronging from the town in answer to the woman’s call, He says to His disciples, “Are you not habit of saying, at this season of the year, ‘There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest’? So it is, indeed, in the natural, but not in the spiritual world. The seed is just sown, and already the harvest appears. ‘Life up your eyes’ (pointing to the approaching Samaritans), ‘and see how the fields are already whitening to the harvest’” (Neander).
Comparing converted souls to a harvest made a profound impression on the Apostle John. He made five references to it in as many verses (Rev. 14:14-19). “Send forth thy sickle and reap; for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe,” etc.
4:35 ... “There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?” This cannot be a proverbial saying, for there is not the slightest trace of such a proverb (Luthardt), and the time between sowing and the harvest is not four months, but six in Palestine (Edersheim). A proverb would not be false to fact. It is, therefore, a statement of the facts around them at the time. Westcott noted that the “harvest began about the middle of April, and lasted till the end of May.” Therefore, these words and this event fall somewhere in between the middle of December and the end of January (Luthardt).
4:35 ... “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields,” etc. It seems that these words refer to the arrival of the people of Sychar.
Compare here the promises and principles stated in Psalms 126:5, 6; 2; 1 Corinthians 9:6; Galatians 6:7, 8.
a. There is no harvest without a sowing.
b. The harvest will be like that which is sown.
c. The harvest will be far more abundant than the seed.
d. If we faithfully sow the good seed, the harvest is sure. No drought or insect will ruin the spiritual harvest.
4:36 ... “He that reapeth receiveth wages.” “These words were spoken by the Lord during the interval before the arrival of the multitude. This is an extension of the metaphor of the harvest, there never being a harvest without a sowing and reaping. The great reward is the gathering of fruit unto life eternal, in the joy of which both sowers and reapers shall rejoice together.” (Coffman)
We don’t know if Jesus was thinking about the reaping Philip the evangelist would do in Samaria (Acts 8:4-13), or if He was thinking about the multitudes who would believe that very day (John 4:41) – perhaps both.
The Lord’s husbandman has both wages and heaven. The earthly wages of the successful evangelist is not in his salary – not in fame or position – but in the reward of affections, and the consciousness of spiritual work achieved. To this is added the joy inherent in bringing souls to Christ, and through Christ into eternal life. This joy will not be consummated until the reaper enters into glory, with an “abundant entrance,” presenting sheaves to the Lord (Abbott). But the best reaper’s wage will be the “well done, good and faithful” from our heavenly Father; and a close second will be the delight of expressing love to God’s Son by some fruitful service, adding to the number that love and honor Him.
4:36 ... “Fruit unto life eternal.” Spiritual life, true, divine life enduring forever – fruit in two directions: The results of a Christian’s labors, i.e., giving eternal life to others through Christ; and the reward will be in higher spiritual life for the child of God.
4:36 ... “That both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” There is another reward of equal joy in the harvest with the reapers – the sowers; those who sowed in tears, never seeing even the slightest springing of the seed they planted. There are many in God’s service whose duty is chiefly that of sowing, who seldom obtain a glimpse of the harvest, and seldom are encouraged by seeing the results of their labors. Some preachers, some teachers and some parents, must be content largely with the sowing. But in the harvest they have an equal part and joy with the reapers. When converting someone to Christ, the wise preacher will always search for and when possible seek out the original ‘seed sower.’
4:37 ... “Herein is that saying true.” “Undoubtedly a reference to a proverbial saying, to which Christ gives a new and spiritual significance” (Abbott).
4:37 ... “One soweth, and another reapeth.” Primarily, Christ is the sower, sowing in tears and reaping little. The apostles were the reapers, gathering in a single day more souls into the church of Christ than Jesus Himself in His whole lifetime (Acts 2). But, secondarily, the prophets were sowers and the apostle’s reapers. This fact is illustrated by their constantly quoting of the prophets in attestation of the divine character and mission of Christ.
“This method of the harvest was also used by Paul who extended it to cover the interval between sowing and reaping, thus, ‘I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase’ (1 Cor. 3:6). In Paul’s usage of the metaphor, the Gospel preacher is the one who plants, and the one who waters; and he added, ‘So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.’” (Coffman)
Finally, the twofold work of sowing and reaping goes on throughout all time, the same man sometimes being both sower and reaper, sometimes sowing in tears for a lifetime, so that another may reap in joy.
4:38 ... “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor.” The words probably point to the successful labors of the apostles during the previous summer and autumn in Judea.
4:38 ... Other men labored,” etc. The reference, as in the case of the sower, is to all who had in any manner prepared the way for Christ – to the prophets; to John the Baptist; and to Jesus Himself, whose whole mission, work and sacrifice on the cross made the successful labors of the apostles possible. This was also a stern reminder to the apostles that the great ingathering they were about to see was not the result of their efforts and abilities, but that they were reaping fruit from the labors of others, in this case, the labor of the Master Himself, and of the woman. This was the viewpoint expressed by Paul (1 Cor. 3:6). The great response to the gospel that the apostles were about to see might have easily turned their heads except for this warning of the Savior.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 4:39-42
4. TWO DAYS AT SYCHAR
While Jesus was talking with the disciples, the woman had been busy sowing the seeds of truth among her countrymen, and the first fruits of the harvest of souls was now appearing.
4:39 ... “Many of the Samaritans [in contrast with unbelieving Jews] of that city [Sychar] believed on Him.” Their minds had been prepared by the general expectation of the Messiah, and there were fewer hindrances in their way than in the way of the Jews, who were bound to the old system by many ties of training, social life, habits, national expectations, and religious ceremonials. Many new ideas and improvements first find their way into general use through new peoples and in new lands.
4:39 ... “For [because of] the saying [the narrative – not the simple statement only] of the woman [as, or while, she earnestly, constantly, and not once for all] . . . trusted, He told me all that ever I did.” This proof of His supernatural knowledge convinced them that what He said about Himself, i.e., that He was the Messiah, must be true. God would not give that miraculous insight to one who would make a false report of Himself.1
This city’s acceptance of Jesus Christ is a stark contrast with the snobbish rejection of the Lord by the hierarchy in Jerusalem. Here in this city, early in the Savior’s ministry, is wholesome evidence that the Gentiles would turn to the Lord when given the opportunity. This overwhelming display of affection for Jesus in Samaria should have warned Israel that the day of grace for them was running out – that the times were hastening to the day foretold by God through Moses, when it was prophesied that “I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation. With a nation void of understanding will I anger you” (Deut. 32:31).
Beginning of Faith
This beginning of faith, founded on testimony, and on the divine work of Jesus, unimpeachable testimony to a conflicting fact. As the testimony of others to the reality and blessedness of Jesus, to the power that has wrought a marvelous change in them, should be received by us, leading us to come to Jesus.
By the time Jesus was through with His discourse to His disciples, the Samaritans of Sychar had reached Jacob’s well, where Jesus was waiting for them.
4:40 ... When the Samaritans were come.” The next step in their faith is to go to Him, asking Him to remain so they too might learn from Him.
4:40 ... “They besought Him [kept beseeching Him] that He would tarry with them.” Both to receive their hospitality, and to be more fully instructed. With all Jesus’ desire to instruct them, He waited for them to express their desire for instruction. Is this example of Jesus one we should follow today? This impulse to receive and trust the Savior appeared in their subsequent treatment of the apostles (Acts 8:14). This was a fruit of their faith – a step toward higher faith. So many of us speak of believing in Jesus, but do we truly go to Him for the strengthening of our faith? Do we truly go to Him (through the Word of God) for instruction in truth? So that we can learn how to live as true disciples?
4:40 ... “And He abode there two days.” To teach them the way of life, to strengthen their faith, leading more of them to become His disciples.2
4:41 ... “And many more [than those who had believed, because of the woman’s word] believed because of His own word,” or teaching; not because of miracles, for there is no record of any miracles performed in Sychar (Clark). This shows how Jesus spent two days – teaching the Samaritans of Sychar, and those of the region attracted there.
Many people who had not been convinced by the word of the woman believed, however, as soon as they heard Jesus Himself. No numbers are given, but the impression is left that practically all Sychar believed in Christ.
4:42 ... “And they said to the woman.” What a change. Only two days ago she had gone to the well, probably in solitary isolation, perhaps shrinking from the scorn of neighbors. Now, suddenly she has been elevated to a status of equality and acceptance. Those who extended the hospitality of Sychar to Jesus did not fail to include also the lonely and sinful woman who was their link to the Lord of life.
4:42 ... “Now we believe … for we have heard Him ourselves.” Those who believed through hearing the woman’s report now come into fuller and stronger faith by personal contact with Jesus Himself. Likewise, we, too, should make progress from that knowledge of Jesus and His truths which comes from reading and the instruction of others, to that founded on the firmer foundation of personal experience and acquaintance with Jesus.
4:42 ... “And know that this is indeed [the Christ] the Savior of the world.” “The Christ” is used in the New King James. This view was the fruit of two days of teaching by Jesus. In showing the Samaritans that He was their Savior, the Master surely taught them that the Messiah, though a Jew, was not the Savior of the Jews only, but of the entire world. Only in this way could they be included, or could His Gospel meet their wants.3
5. CONCLUSION
Practical
a. We can overcome the worldly and temporal by deep interest in the spiritual. “The woman in her zeal forgot her occupation, as Jesus in His had forgotten His thirst.” (Tholuck)
b. She convinced others by relating her own experience. Experience is the unanswered argument. Our best efforts toward helping others grow come out of our own experiences.
c. The wonderful things the Lord does beyond human power, i.e., marvelous conversions and victories of the Gospel, are proof that Jesus is still living and working on the earth, and that His religion is from God.
d. Observe the method of the spread of Christianity in its earliest years. “The new convert became a missionary, propagating its faith (compare Acts 8:4; 9:20).” (Abbott)
e. vs. 31, 32: The spiritual food of the soul is far more important than bodily food.
f. Through Christian work for others our own souls are fed with bread from heaven.
g. Spiritual work in doing good to our fellowman often refreshes the body, renewing its health and vigor.
h. Oh, what a glorious thing, how rich a prize for the expense of a man’s whole life, were it to be the instrument of rescuing any one soul.
i. He who gives himself up to Christian work has double pay: He has a temporal support of some kind, and the work itself is a joy. Most men toil not from delight in the work itself, but for its rewards. But Christian work is its own reward.
j. v. 36: The forgotten worker, who sowed the seed, has as real a part in the harvest, and in its rewards, as those who gather the ripened grain with songs of joy.
k. v. 39: We cannot save others, but we can lead them to Christ.
l. Those having some real faith prove its reality by going to Jesus for instruction and help.
m. Jesus abiding with us is the greatest of all blessings.
n. v. 40: Christ does not force His instructions on us, but waits for us to ask Him, because only when we have the desire for Him and His instructions, will they be of use to us.
o. We gain more by using well what we have.
p. To know Christ Himself by personal experience is the surest foundation of faith.
q. Jesus Christ is doubly blest to us because He is not only our Savior, but the Savior of the world. We can trust Him more confidently, more lovingly, as we see Him helping and saving others.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 1:14
6. THE WORD, THE LIFE, THE LIGHT WAS JESUS CHRIST
1:14 ... “And the Word was made flesh.” Became flesh, “human nature, as a whole, under the aspect of its present corporeal embodiment” (Exp. Greek Test.). Through the Virgin Mary and the miraculous conception, the worthy and fitting way in which the Son of God should become flesh.9 “The phrase ‘became flesh’ means more than that He assumed a human body. He assumed human nature entire, having a human body, a human soul, a human spirit” (Vincent).
The Spirit and the Word were together with God in creation.10 The New Testament makes the astounding announcement that “the Word was God.” Jesus was the living Word (John 1:14). He came out of the wilderness after the temptations full of the Spirit and in His power.
At some point after God created mankind, something went terribly wrong. The man and woman chose a self-serving path and disregarded God’s protective warnings. This sin cost them their fellowship with God and brought on the horror of death. The chasm between God and Adam and Eve was deep and wide. The consequences were far-reaching; they even affect us. As every link in a chain used in oil drilling is smeared with oil, each generation in human history has been linked and smeared with sin. Unless altered, the human race was doomed to death (Rom. 5:12). We were separated from God and without hope in the world (Eph. 2:12). All would have been lost if God had not acted on our behalf.
In an incredible demonstration of love, mercy, and grace, God came to earth in Person. He crossed the gulf. He built the bridge. He acted out of love that cannot be measured by its height, depth, breadth, or length. What He did was not only unexpected; it was undeserved. What glorious, joyful, invigorating good news. On the other hand, how easy it is to misunderstand.
Many of the promises and prophecies of the Old Testament pertained to the coming of God’s Messiah. The culmination of these is seen in the coming of Jesus. By the time the New Testament was completed with the writings of John, it had been revealed to the church and the world that not only was Jesus the Son of God, but He was also God the Son (John 1:1-14; 20:26-31).
Our specific goal in this series of lessons is to deepen our understanding and heighten our appreciation of what God has done for us.
1:14 ... “And dwelt among us.” Greek, “tabernacled” among us, dwelt as in a tent, as the Shekinah, the glory, the divine Presence dwelt in the tabernacle in the wilderness. The word, “tabernacled,” expresses two thoughts: (a) That Christ really dwelt among us, not merely appearing to some person, or coming in a vision, as in previous ages; and (b) That His abode among us was temporary, only a few years.
“The Greek word (translated ‘dwelt’) derived from the noun for ‘tent,’ is often used without any reference to its etymology; but so allusive a writer as John may well have been thinking of the tabernacle in the wilderness where the Lord dwelt with Israel (Ex. 25:8:9; 40:34), and more particularly of that pillar of cloud above the tent of meetings, typifying the visible dwelling of the Lord among His people.”11
1:14 ... “And we [John and many others in Palestine] beheld His glory.” – The outshining of His character in all His teachings, healings, actions, sufferings and death for others. This expresses the loving kindness and tender mercies and everlasting love of God the Father.
1:14 ... “Only begotten.” This is peculiar to this apostle, and used in 1:18; 3:16-18, and 1 John 4:9. Such a title could never have been used except by one who understood and accepted the doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ. The unique authority and glory of Christ also appear in this, because such a title excludes the notion that any human being, or any angel, could be the Son of God in the sense that Jesus is.
1:14 ... “Full of grace.” Greek for “grace” = “charis.” From the same root as “chairo;” meaning “to rejoice.” Primarily: “that which gives joy or pleasure;” and hence “outward beauty, loveliness,” something that “delights” the beholder – a loveliness of form in the Greek graces and loveliness of character in the Christian graces. Therefore, “grace” means “the expression of this to others, kindness, favor, good will,” the loving kindness of God, His perfect delight in helping man, and in producing in them all the loveliness and graces of character, making heaven what it is.
“The combination recalls the description of Jehovah, Exodus 34:6, and is not infrequent in the Old Testament. As applied to the Lord, the phrase marks Him as the author of perfect Redemption and perfect Revelation. Grace corresponds with the idea of revelation of God as love (1 John 4:8, 16) by Him who is Life; and truth with that of the revelation of God as light (1 John 1:5) by Him who is Himself Light” (Westcott).
1:14 ... “And truth.” – Reality, sincerity; the revelation of things to us just as they are.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 1:15-18
7. JESUS CHRIST, THE REVELATION OF THE FATHER
The witness
Again the apostle brings in his witnesses so that men may believe.
1:15 ... “John beareth witness of Him and crieth, saying, This was He of whom I said, He that cometh after me is become before me: for He was before me.” The principal purpose of this Gospel is stated in 20:30-31. As one of the herald’s original disciples, John was in a position to speak with authority pertaining to the relationship between John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. This verse shows exactly what the relationship truly was. Between the two, there was the difference between God and man, time and eternity, finite and infinite, between sun and reflected moon-light, between the Lord and the servant unworthy to unloose His sandals. In fact, John the Baptist himself had faithfully borne witness to the difference.
The statement of the herald John that Christ was “before” him shows that the apostle’s understanding of the pre-existence of Christ and the eternity of the Word had begun with His own acceptance of the teaching of the herald John on those very subjects. The herald was six months older than Jesus, and, only in respect to Jesus’ eternal existence before the incarnation, could he have affirmed that Christ was “before” him. Dummelow paraphrased it this way, “He existed before my birth, and even before His own birth, as the eternal Son of God.”
When John the Baptist began his ministry, he quickly pointed out to the religious authorities that he was not the Messiah. Rather, he was preparing the way for Him. John never called Jesus the Messiah, but he insisted that the One coming after him – who was actually before him – was much greater than he. His statements implied the Messiahship and affirmed the Lordship of Jesus (Matt. 3:1-3; John 1:15, 19-23, 30).
Therefore, when Jesus entered into His ministry after His baptism, it is not surprising that He was often referred to in terms of kingship by many of His Jewish contemporaries. Some, believing Him to be a great prophet, wanted to make Him king (John 6:14-15). Others cried out, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Some Gentiles were also aware of the aura of kingship that surrounded Jesus’ life and ministry. At His birth, magi from the East, presumably Gentiles from Persia or Arabia came seeking the one born “King of the Jews” (Matt. 2:1-2). Near the end of Jesus’ life, Pilate, the Roman governor, was particularly concerned about Jesus’ reputation and His acknowledgment that He was the Messiah, the King, and the Son of God (Matt. 26:63-64; John 18:37). At Jesus’ crucifixion, Pilate ordered a sign to be placed on the cross; it read: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (John 19:19).
The testimony of experience
1:16 ... "Of His fulness," His inexhaustible store of grace and truth, which belong to the Son of God; a fountain forever flowing; a sun forever shining.
1:16 ... “Have all we received.” We know what these are by experience; we have felt His love, His forgiving love; we have received His grace in our hearts; we have seen His loving deeds; we have heard His gracious words; we received His gift of Pentecost; His graces have begun to grow in our hearts; we have been transformed by Him.
In his Commentary on John, Coffman wrote, “All blessings come from God. The wealth men receive is invariably through the employment of God-given talents and opportunities; the vigor, strength, health, and intelligence of every person is given to him from above. The great artists have no cause for the vanity which often marks their conduct, since all skills and abilities are from the Lord.”
In his remarkable Essay on Experience, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “Nothing is of us or our works . . . all is of God. Nature will not spare us the smallest leaf of laurel. All writing comes by the grace of God, and all doing and having. I would greatly allow the most to the will of man, but I have set my heart on honesty in this chapter, and I can see nothing at last in success or failure, than more or less of vital force supplied from the Eternal.”
Illustrations: Jesus is the inexhaustible source of grace and truth
In the Norse legends, Thor was given a drinking-horn, which he vainly tried to drink dry. He afterward learned that it was connected with the ocean, and he would have had to drink all the water of the world before emptying the cup.
An Eastern king was showing his treasure-chest to the ambassador of the king of Spain, after their discovery of the mines in America. The ambassador put his hand to the bottom of the king’s chest, and said, “I can reach the bottom of your treasures; but there is no bottom, no end, to the treasures of my Master.”
1:16 ... “And grace for grace.” Margin “grace upon grace.” Either: (1) the same graces in us which are in the Master, the same spirit, the same loveliness, the same good will to men, the same fruits of the spirit, or (2) grace upon grace, cumulative grace “so that ever and anon fresh grace appears over and above that already received,” grace added to grace, or one grace the means of increasing other graces, as in 2 Peter 1:5-7.
1:18 ... “The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” It is difficult for us to realize the presence of a being we have never seen, Who is the invisible power intermingled with all the natural laws and movements of nature. It was so in Old Testament times; it is so today. But Jesus has revealed the Father. His character is the character of the Father; His deeds are the deeds of the Father; His miracles revealed the power, the presence, and the love of the Father; His words are the truths of the Father; His very coming was the revelation of the Father’s love.
Jesus is His teachings, and in His works, shows us just what God is doing for men; He lives the divine life amid human things. He walks before us in the grace and glory of the heavenly Father. So that Lecky says He “has not only been the highest pattern of virtue, but the highest incentive to its practice . . . The sample record of three short years of active life has done more to regenerate and to soften mankind than all the disquisitions of philosophers, and than all the exhortations of moralist. This has, indeed, been the wellspring of whatever has been best and purest in the Christian life”12 Thus Jesus could say, “He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father” (John 14:9).
In this magnificent verse, the apostle shows how men may know God, despite the fact that God may not be known through human sensory perception. God is revealed to mankind by Jesus Christ the Holy One. The nature and attributes of God are revealed through Christ whose identity with man is also perfect.
Points of contact with modern life:
Here we find exactly the Savior we need.
Our first duty and privilege is, therefore, to receive Him.
The Savior we need is the Savior for the whole world.
Therefore we should make Him known everywhere, far and near.
If we really believe in this Savior we cannot but exhaust every effort to have all men receive Him.
Footnotes:
1 Note: The secret of all soul-winning is the ability of making oneself of “no reputation,” as the Lord did (Phil. 2:7 A.V.). We can only marvel at this woman’s willingness to make the exposition of her personal life the principal evidence, leading a city to the Lord. It’s unlikely that her mere statement, “He told me all the things that I ever did,” was enough to turn out a whole city to see Jesus. Such a statement was surely followed up with a statement of “what things” Jesus had said; and it can also be assumed that, regardless of the woman’s standing in the eyes of her neighbors, or regardless of what any of them knew about her, there were areas of the Savior’s revelation that laid bare the dark secrets of her soul; yet she unflinchingly cried out the message to all who would heart it. “At the very least, the witness was such as publicized and blazed abroad the sordid details of her life to the total community. No one can look upon this as a small thing that she did.”
2 Note: This verse clearly shows the success of the woman’s efforts. The whole city immediately invited Jesus to stay with them, and the Master graciously accepted their invitation. Doesn’t your heart cry out, “This is the way it should have been everywhere Jesus went”? Sadly, this Samaritan village stands uniquely apart in the warm welcome they extended to the blessed Savior of the world.
3 Note: What a perception. This village was not looking for a knight on a white horse who would throw out the Romans, resurrecting the vanished empire of Solomon. They took Jesus for what He truly was and ever is; not a political or military hero, but a Redeemer come to give eternal life to men. “Oh, that Jerusalem might have been as perceptive as Sychar!”
