[27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?”]
What is going on here? Rabbinic principle: “Let no one talk with a woman in the street, no, not with his own wife”. Much less an immoral Samaritan woman. But as we’ve seen, Jesus is a Trend-buster. God•sends break trends. The disciples are amazed, astonished - which usually provokes questions and discussion. Why don’t the disciples ask Jesus about this? “Respect the Rabbi”, yes - but I think they’re shocked. If it were anyone else, they would have blasted them for this shameful breach of decorum. They’re like, "we got the food [8a], let’s just eat and get out of this 'God-forsaken' place…" (Which we’ve seen is an oxymoron)
[31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”] They wait till she leaves, and they’re like, "Lord, you need to eat. So let’s just eat and get out of here." The disciples now show how focused even they are on the physical. He “needs” to have some physical nourishment, that’s what most important here. They’re “right” - He must be starving, but they don’t seem to have any clue that there is something deeper, something eternal taking place here.
[32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”] Knowing that they’re totally focusing on the physical, Jesus lobs another truth grenade designed to further blow up their bias towards the temporal. This is now the third time Jesus has done this. Messing with people’s perceptions. "I have (Jesus has) other food you don’t know about. Other water. There’s this other birth you don’t know about. Other food." And look at their answer: [33 So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?”] They’re just so focused on the [physical]. On the temporal.
[34 Jesus says to them, “My food is to do the [theléma] of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.] The Jesus diet. Not 3 square meals at specific times of day per se. Not in any cookbook or [FDA food pyramid]. "My true nourishment is living into and pursuing what God wants." That’s the Jesus Diet. The wants of the One Who sent Me. [Mt 6,4] What does HE want? God wants you and me to want what He wants. He wants us to want Him first and foremost. And to live into all that He has for us as we live out our days here on this earth. Living like sent ones. Your Kingdom come. In - and thru me. "I haven’t put you on earth to live for what you want. That is NOT going to satisfy - it’s going to leave you empty." No, the Jesus Diet is living into all the moments of opportunity He puts before us each day [like the fleeting sands of the hourglass]. We get it in our head that this life is me-time, all 24hrs of it, and we even put our eating on that same me-time. But the Jesus Diet supersedes all that. (We are learning that) Every moment is lived with Him, every moment is an opportunity to enjoy how good He is, to help someone else know how good He is [Eph 5.16, Col 4.5 - God's kairos time]. This is not about our agenda to hurry thru a meal and get to Galilee. "This (life) is about making the most of every opportunity, guys, and there is an opportunity right here in front of your faces - and you’re missing it entirely..."
[35 “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.] "There’s a harvest out there, guys. Right now - and you don’t even see it. In fact, you’re blind to it - cuz you’re so focused on the physical. Look up. Look around. Stop your navel-gazing. You’re so driven by the temporal. Me-time. You know when you see a physical [harvest of wheat]. But this is an eternal spiritual harvest." We need to learn to see with spiritual eyes, to look at our selves AND the people around us as eternal souls who desperately need to connect with their Maker, way more than we/they need food in our belly. Making this connection - and helping others to do the same - that’s true food. That’s the Jesus Diet.
[36 “Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 “For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”] There’s true food - and there’s true reward. We get so focused on the daily grind of daily bread and “making bread”. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that bread/dough are slang for money. We spend so much of our time and so much of our life sowing and reaping for life temporal. Temporary. Passing away - sooner than you think. I think it’s real easy to lose sight of (or never see) what this all is all about. We show up to a meeting on Sunday morning, then the temporal/physical crowds it all back out for 6.8 days/wk, and if we don’t look up and look around - look at the fields, at the harvest of souls, we can wind up giving our lives for little more than [chaff]. The goal is, gathering fruit for life eternal. "I sent you to reap", to gather for life eternal. How are we doing?
And notice the [synergy]. It’s a team effort. There is sowing and reaping. Some sow, others reap. And the end result is rejoicing together. Meanwhile - there IS a harvest breaking out…
[28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and says to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.] So we have this Samaritan woman. "Sam" barely knows anything about Jesus. But she just leaves her waterpot! Meaning…? (Living water can spring up in an instant) And off she goes, gathering fruit for life eternal. She’s already tapping the Jesus Diet. Better translation: “Is this not the Christ?” Cuz she IS witnessing:
[39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who witnessed, “He told me all the things that I have done.”] She hasn’t been to seminary. She hasn’t been “ordained" - or licensed. Never been discipled. Probably never went to school. What does she know? She knows Jesus is Messiah (He is everything and all we need...)
[40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”] The Jesus Diet is lived on Jesus-Time [not by the watch but by God-given moments of opportunity]. The disciples wanted to get out of there - but they wind up spending two days in the middle of someplace they never expected. Never wanted to be there. But Jesus HAD to go there - and stay there! Where is Jesus going? Where does He need to be? That’s where I’m going - the Jesus Diet.
Savior of the world. Sotér [soteriology]. El Salvador (del mundo). Savior appears just 3x in all the Gospels. Only one time in the book of John. Right here. [He is, THE Savior of the world]. The One Who comes to save, to rescue the world. The entire world - Not just Jews. Every nation, people from every tribe and tongue and ethnic group. Jews had forsaken Samaritans - but not Jesus. And don’t miss, how did these Samaritans come to know that Jesus was Savior? “We have heard…” They heard His Word. Now faith/belief comes from what? [Rom 10.17] Hearing the Word of God… We might feed them or serve them, meet some physical need, but we must always prioritize helping people to hear the Word(s) of Christ.
The Jesus Diet. My food is to do what He wants. Nothing else lasts forever. Nothing else, no one else satisfies… [] “Lord, what do You want today?
Referenced verses:
Eph. 5:16 "...making the most of your time, because the days are evil."
Col. 4:5 "Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity."
