John 4:27-38

The Return of the Disciples. The disciples return with the food they have bought. They are surprised that Jesus is talking with a woman (cf. Pirke Aboth, i. 5, Prolong not discourse with a woman). The woman returns to the city, and her report leads the men to come and see. Meanwhile the disciples offer the food to Jesus. But His experiences have banished physical hunger. He explains that His true life is supported by doing His Father's work. Signs of accomplishment are not wanting. In common parlance four months separate seed-time from harvest (unless John 4:35 a is to be taken as a note of time, in which case the event must have happened in December or January). In the spiritual harvest, which is independent of time, the grain is already ripe, as they will see if they look at the men coming from the city to Him. When fruit is gathered in to eternal life, sower and reaper share a common joy. The saying, One soweth, another reapeth, which in the earthly sphere voices the complaint of the oppressed, deprived of the fruit of their toil, receives in the spiritual sphere its ideal fulfilment, when all the workers rejoice that men are brought to eternal life. In the bread they have just bought the disciples have reaped the reward of others'sowing. Let them remember it when it is their turn to sow.