Before Jesus sent out the Seventy, He told them, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.”

And before Jesus sent out the Twelve, He told them, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few.”

But something I’ve just noticed today is this…

Before Jesus called the Four to be Fishers of Men on the shores of Galilee, He challenged them with the harvest in Samaria.

Jesus has just had a conversation with a sinful woman.  He revealed Himself to her as the Messiah, offering her living water that would quench her soul’s deepest longings.  She believed.  She ran back to her village to tell everyone she had found the Messiah.  They must come and see.

As the people were coming to see Jesus, He turned to his disciples and said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to complete His work.  You should not say, ‘It is another four months until harvest.’  I say, open your eyes and look at the fields, already ripe and ready to harvest.”

Jesus continued, “The reapers receive their reward by gathering a harvest for eternal life, so the sower and reaper may rejoice together.  The saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true.  I am sending you where others have planted, and now you get to gather the harvest.”

Jesus would soon challenge the disciples to drop their nets and commit to fishing for men.  First, He allowed them to see the great need.  A throng of Samaritans crowded around Him, eager to hear the truth.

Even though Jesus presented the disciples with the opportunity to share in the harvest in Samaria, to “reap where they have not sown,” we have no indication that they actually participated in the harvest at that point.  They were likely still shocked, maybe even indignant that Jesus was offering equal participation in the kingdom of God to hated half-breed Samaritans.  The Messiah, after all, was for the Jews, right?

Actually, no!   The Messiah would be for the Jew first, but then for the Gentile also.

Jesus “insisted on taking the road through Samaria.”  Samaritans were the product of Jews and Gentiles intermarrying.  Going to half-breeds was going half-way.  Jesus was easing His disciples into the idea that the Gospel was not just for the Jews, but for all people.  “For God so loved the world!”

They stayed in Sychar of Samaria for two more days before heading back to Galilee and many more  Samaritans put their faith in Christ.

The harvest  in Samaria was ripe.  We’re the disciples ready?  If I would but “open my eyes and look at the fields,” where might I see a ripe harvest?   Are my eyes ready to see it?  Is my heart ready to respond to it?  The Savior is already sowing, the Spirit is cultivating the fields.  If I open my eyes, every day there is opportunity to “reap where I did not sow.”

The harvest is great, but the workers are few.  Time to get to work!

To learn more about Walking As Jesus Walked and Discipling As Jesus Discipled, visit:  SONLIFE.COM