Which Reapers?

I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor. (John 4:38)

This is when I would really like to have access to a person skilled in looking at the original Greek to explain potential optional readings of a passage. I have looked at the Greek words used for this text but it seems to me to be somewhat ambiguous, meaning that it is possible that Jesus may have been implying something significantly different here than the assumptions the translators have made. On the other hand I could be completely wrong which I am sure many scholars would agree on.

So I am not going to make an unflinching assertion about this. But I would like to propose that given the context and the perspective that I have begun to see in this story that at least it is a viable possibility that this text may mean something a little different than it may first appear on the surface in its reading after translation.

The reason I have question about the surface meaning of this text is because of the actions of the various people in this story up to this point. I think it is safe to assume that Jesus had something much more in mind for the disciple's trip into town than just to buy some physical food with as little social interaction as possible with the people they would meet in the process. Jesus never endorsed the prejudices that still controlled these disciple's thinking and if they had tried at all to live outside of those narrow cultural boundaries the story very likely could have turned out much differently.

One reason I believe that is because of this text right here. Jesus says that He sent them to reap! I believe that He was talking here about their most recent trip into town, and the reaping He was referring to was the fruit of interested people in wanting to know more about Jesus. They had been given a wonderful chance to introduce a whole city that just happened to be ripe for the gospel to the very One who had come to reveal the good news about God to the whole world. They actually could have made a difference in that city if they had not been so blind themselves to the incredible value of His presence with them and the amazing privileges they enjoyed being able to know Him so personally.

If they had had a much greater appreciation of who Jesus really was they would have also had more innate excitement that would have worked as a magnet on everyone they would have encountered wherever they went. On their trip into town to get some food they had the opportunity to share the very same enthusiasm for Jesus as the woman displayed who went into town after they left. But because of their spiritual blindness and their prejudices against non-Jews they could only see ordinary people whom they felt didn't deserve to have the same privileges that they enjoyed hanging around Jesus.

Given this context, I believe that this verse could possibly be translated slightly different than it currently reads. Again, I wish I could run this by an unbiased scholar familiar with the original language to see if this alternate rendition could be allowed in the original flow of the Greek, but for now I will have to just leave it as my proposal that fits the context. Here is how I think this could possibly read after examining the original Greek words.

I sent you to reap others (the people in town), but you failed to invest the effort needed to make that happen. Since you didn't do the job, others have labored (the woman Jesus met at the well) but you are now invited to join her in her joy of harvesting.

As I read the other verses surrounding this it seems to reinforce this view even more. In verse 36 Jesus notes that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. And this is on top of what He said in verse 35, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields. Clearly they were not yet seeing correctly or looking in the right place if Jesus had to keep trying to get them to see reality differently than they were accustomed to doing.

And yet, even though I see a gentle rebuke in these words of Jesus to His disciples, I also see much more His amazing love and grace toward them. They seemed so oblivious to what seemed so obvious to the woman and even to many of the people in this town. This woman was catching on very quickly and as a result she was becoming an avid missionary for Jesus after just a few words of life received from Him. Now those she invited were already pouring out of the city on their way to receive the same things.

There is no reason why the disciples could not have been the instigators of this revival instead of just this woman. If they had opened their hearts more to perceive the real truth about Jesus that was clearly exhibited in His life and attitudes, they could have been far better motivated to do more than just buy food while trying to avoid as much contact as possible with some “heathens”. And yet even in their prejudice and blindness and fear, Jesus still offered them yet another opportunity to join Him in the celebration and joy of harvesting souls, inviting them to embrace the love and grace being offered them by God. He was giving His disciples another opportunity to join the woman who was already busy working as a harvester and get involved themselves if they would be willing.

Boy does this ever speak to my heart. I have been raised pretty much like these disciples were raised, with all sorts of prejudices towards people outside of my small circle of belief in a narrow set of strict doctrines. We were carefully trained to be suspicious of anyone who didn't view life or interpret the Bible just the way we did and thus developed a strong fear of being somehow contaminated if we hung around the “wrong” kind of people very much.

Because of this I always lived with a sense of defensiveness, of a need to keep my guard up to protect what I had been taught was the only correct view of “truth”. I was deeply instilled with a great deal of prejudice from a very early age just as these Jewish disciples had been. Because of this I can now see that I very likely would not have acted much differently than they did under the same circumstances.

They did not understand the true nature of joy – that joy requires that I be happy to be with someone else. They certainly did not want to feel happy to be with these hated Samaritans. They thought the only people they should feel good or safe to be around were people who already thought and believed just like they did.

I see that same kind of attitude demonstrated in just about every church I visit including my own. I see the presence of great fear whenever anyone who thinks too differently tries to mingle into the midst. There is enormous pressure, albeit very subtle at times, to make them conform to traditions and preferences and idiosyncrasies before they are made to feel completely welcome.

I can see this kind of attitude and I can feel very resentful about it, but at the same time I realize that I am just as much to blame as anyone else. And yet at the same time I have a very difficult time seeing how I do it. That tells me that I must have many of the same kinds of blind spots that these disciples had in their relationship with Jesus. They enjoyed hanging around Jesus and they sensed that He was much more than what met the eye, but at the same time their cultural upbringing created such deep and high walls of resistance to what Jesus was all about that it took years for them to begin to really let go of their prejudices and begin to honestly embrace people into joyful fellowship that were very different than they were.

As I reflect on this I sense that one lesson God wants me to learn is that opportunities to experience “community” may come from places or people I may least expect sometimes. If I insist that I should only experience genuine community and joy-based bonding within the confines of my church or my family, I may be setting up preconditions and barriers that God never intends to be in place. That is not to endorse the idea that I should allow my heart to be connected to just anyone that makes me feel good at the moment; but this story does tell me that God may be working in the lives and hearts of people that I might least suspect could become my brothers and sisters in close fellowship and love. I need to be more sensitive and alert to listen to the promptings of God's Spirit so that I can be open to subtle signals from others that they are ripe for harvesting. And if I am willing to be a co-harvester with Jesus and relate to people like He does, then I may find my sphere of community rapidly expanding in directions and in depth like I have never experienced before in my whole life.

I find it compelling that Jesus did not censure or reject His disciples for having such blindness and prejudice or for failing to see what He really wanted them to see about this situation. And because of that it gives me hope that He is doing the same with me. That very kindness and patience that He demonstrated toward His dull-minded, faithless, slow-to-believe disciples is shown to me and is the very kindness that induces real repentance of the heart. I am sure that John felt this very keenly when many years after this story happened he sat down to write out the stories of his life with Jesus in this book. As he thought back and reflected on how Jesus had treated him and the other disciples in all of these situations, I am certain that he was in awe and amazement at the incredible insights he could then see into the love of the Master that he had not appreciated or understood while these stories were taking place.

Jesus, I have to admit that I see myself all too much like these dull-minded disciples instead of the responsive, enthusiastic joy of this woman who was eager to share Your love with anyone who might listen. I wish I was more like her, I want to be more like her but I have to confess that I am blind and lukewarm and resistant to the kind of joy that motivates You and all of heaven.

Father, I need a great deal of healing, of retraining, of dying to self and allowing Your passion to flow through me much more freely. I give You full permission to transform me into Your image so that I can appreciate and respond to the opportunities that You bring into my life to reflect Your passionate love to others. Give me a spirit of true repentance and teach my heart to not be afraid of joy – all for Your reputation's sake.