“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” John 4:35
There is a great deal of discussion in the commentaries about “four months until the harvest.” Is Jesus talking about the time of year? Probably not. If it was, the weather would be cool and the fields would be wet. Was it a popular saying? There is no evidence of that.
This was likely a saying that was repeated by the disciples. We all know how this happens—you go on vacation and someone says something, and it catches on and becomes a running refrain throughout the group. All the people who were there get what’s being said, though it may not mean much to anyone else.
“Four more months until the harvest” reflects a mindset that says, “We need to take things slowly.” It is a cautious mindset: “Don’t expect too much and you won’t get disappointed.”
But Jesus is saying, “You are always saying, ‘Four more months until the harvest.’ In your mind the harvest is always another day, another place, another time, but I tell you—lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest” (4:35). What does this mean?
As Jesus was speaking, the people who had heard the testimony of the woman, “went out of the town and were coming to him” (4:30). So, looking out across the fields and back toward town, Jesus saw a large crowd of people streaming in his direction.
These people would have been wearing white robes, especially on a hot day. So Jesus says to the disciples: “Look, here is the harvest coming toward us right now! Lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest.”
When it comes to ministry, do you have a cautious mindset? Why?
