The Gospel of John: John 4.27-42

Read and meditate on John 4.35.
This single verse is packed with Kingdom significance. By listening to Jesus here, we can learn a great deal about our role as citizens and ambassadors in His realm.

                                                             ³⁵“You will say,
‘Still there remain four months, then comes the day
of harvest.’ I say, lift your eyes, and see
the fields, for they are ripe for harvest!”

- John 4.35

Reflect
1.  Jesus suggests that time in the Kingdom and time as the natural world experiences it don’t run on the same schedule. How can you see this in the double use He makes of “harvest” here? Complete this prayer: Concerning the coming of the Kingdom, Lord, help me to remember that…

2.  Does the coming of the Kingdom of God occur on regular schedules, or according to the same repeated protocols or actions, as does the harvest of a field? Explain. Lord, help me to be ready for the coming of Your Kingdom every time…

3.  Sometimes we can have it in our minds that things only work a certain way. This can lead to our doubting or denying that the Kingdom can come suddenly, and with abundant evidence. How can you see that Jesus is warning His disciples against allowing their Kingdom calling to be held hostage by temporal ways? Give me faith, Lord, to believe… 

4.  The short lesson that Jesus is trying to teach His disciples here is that the Kingdom comes whenever Jesus is making Himself known. Jesus draws people to Himself – like moths to light, the thirsty to a fountain, the hungry to an infinitely satisfying meal, the sick and weak to a trusted physician, the outcast to welcoming arms. What does this suggest about how you should expect the Kingdom to come in your Personal Mission Field? Lord Jesus, make Yourself known in and through me today, by…

5. What does it mean for you to “lift up your eyes” today? Do you expect to see fields white for the harvesting? Why or why not? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you wrote for questions 1-4.

Summary
“‘Lift up your eyes’ occurs in many places in Scripture when the divine Word admonishes us to exalt and lift up our thoughts, and to elevate the insight that lies below in a rather sickly condition and is stooped and completely incapable of looking up, as is written for instance in Isaiah, ‘lift up your eyes on high and see. Who has made all these things known?’ … No one who indulges his passions and clings to the flesh with a concern for material things has observed the command that says, ‘Lift up your eyes.’ Such a person will not see the fields, even if they are ‘already white for harvest.’” Origen of Alexandria (fl. 200-254 AD)

What can you do each day to help ensure that you see the time of your life, the details of your day, and the harvest of souls through the Kingdom eyes of Jesus?

Closing Prayer
My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
O God, You have taught me from my youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.

Psalm 71.15-17

Psalm 71.12-16, 3 (Solid Rock: My Hope is Built on Nothing Less)
O God, be not too far from me; my ever-present Helper be!
Consume and shame my enemies; let them reproached and humbled be.
    A Rock of habitation be; command Your Word to rescue me;
    My Rock and Fortress ever be!

But as for me, my voice I raise to sing in hope and constant praise!
With saving grace my voice will swell Your never-ending grace to tell.
    A Rock of habitation be; command Your Word to rescue me;
    My Rock and Fortress ever be!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.