Lenten Daily Gospel Reflection - 25 February 2013
The disciples returned to Him and gathered around Him in amazement that He would openly break their customs by speaking to this woman, but none of them would ask Him what He was looking for or why He was speaking with her. [Photine] went back to the town, leaving her water pot behind. She stopped men and women on the streets and told them about what had happened.
Photine: I met a stranger who knew everything about me. Come and see for yourselves; can He be the Anointed One?
A crowd came out of the city and approached Jesus. During all of this, the disciples were urging Jesus to eat the food they gathered.
Jesus: I have food to eat that you know nothing about.
Disciples (to one another): Is it possible someone else has brought Him food while we were away?
Jesus: I receive My nourishment by serving the will of the Father who sent Me and completing His work. You have heard others say, “Be patient; we have four more months to wait until the crops are ready for the harvest.” I say, take a closer look and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready for the harvest. The harvester is collecting his pay, harvesting fruit ripe for [aiōnion] life. So even now, he and the sower are celebrating their fortune. The saying may be old, but it is true: “One person sows, and another reaps.” I sent you to harvest where you have not labored; someone else took the time to plant and cultivate, and you feast on the fruit of their labor.
Meanwhile, because [Photine] shared with her neighbors how Jesus exposed her past and present, the village of Sychar was transformed—many Samaritans heard and believed. The Samaritans approached Jesus and repeatedly invited Him to stay with them, so He lingered there for two days on their account. With the words that came from His mouth, there were many more believing Samaritans. They began their faith journey because of the testimony of [Photine]; but when they heard for themselves, they were convinced the One they were hearing was and is God’s Anointed, the Liberating King, sent to rescue the entire world.
The “fields are ripe and ready for the harvest.” Let’s pause for a moment and think about this. All throughout Jesus’ ministry (and his cousin John’s, too), there has been an immediacy. History reached a point, the “fullness of time,” when everything needed to change. The moment to act was then present. Jesus arrived to usher in the long awaited promise of G_d’s Realm, the New Creation. It is the same here. The “harvest” is not in the future. It’s present. Now. As Jesus said when he started his ministry, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!”
Today, we are so like the disciples. We just don’t get what Jesus could possibly mean. We look at the world around us and think, “Is this possible? Surely he’s mistaken. Right?” Time and time again, we have missed the revelation that the people of Sychar understood. G_d’s Realm was unfolding all around them. And Jesus “was and is G_d’s Anointed, the Liberating King, sent to rescue the entire world.”
~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
~~~
* The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Comments