In the case of the Samaritan woman we see the picture of a thirsty sinner and a thirsty and hungry Christ. Both of them were tired because both had walked a long distance to that well. Consequently, the Lord Jesus and the woman were very sympathetic with one another. Both were thirsty and weary, and the Lord was hungry. The Lord was hungry, so He sent the disciples to buy food. He was also thirsty, so He asked the woman for a drink. However, it is very strange to note that neither of them ate or drank, yet both of them were satisfied. The saved sinner was satisfied with the Savior, and the Savior was satisfied with the saved sinner. We know this by the fact that the woman gave up the well and her waterpot and ran into the city to tell about Christ. She was so satisfied that the people came to see if this was the Christ. We know that the Lord Jesus was satisfied because He told the disciples, who had returned with food and had asked Him to eat, “I have food to eat of which you have no knowledge” (4:32). When the disciples asked each other whether anyone had brought Him food to eat, He said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (4:34). The Lord’s food was to do the will of Him who sent Him, which means that His food was to save and satisfy sinners. We sinners are the satisfaction to the Savior. Your hunger signifies that the Lord is hungry, and your thirst signifies that the Lord is thirsty. But when you are satisfied, the Lord also is satisfied. As long as there are thirsty sinners on earth, the Lord is thirsty in heaven. When sinners are satisfied, then the Savior is satisfied. The Lord had come to Samaria with a purpose—to find that sinner and to satisfy her. In doing this, He did God’s will. And doing God’s will was His food and satisfaction.
In verse 35 the Lord said, “Do you not say, There are yet four months and then the harvest comes? Behold, I tell you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are already white for harvest.” The Lord told His disciples that the fields were already white. Hence, they must go and reap the harvest. The principle is also true today. We must never say that it is not the time to preach the gospel. If we look on the field, we will see certain people who are really thirsty for Christ. Therefore, we must bring Christ to them and them to Christ. This is how to reap them for Christ.
In verse 36 the Lord said, “He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit unto eternal life.” The phrase “unto eternal life” is the same in Greek as “into eternal life” used in verse 14. It is used twice by the Lord in this chapter. The first time He said that if we receive Him, He will be a fountain, or a spring within us, bubbling up into eternal life (4:14). Christ will be a well or spring in us, bubbling up into eternal life. The second time He used this phrase was when He urged the disciples to go out and reap the harvest in order to gather fruit unto eternal life. In other words, after you have been saved and satisfied with Christ, you must bring people to Christ unto eternal life. Firstly, you must receive Christ unto eternal life for yourself; then you must bring others to receive Christ unto eternal life. There is a Christ for you to receive as the spring within you bubbling up into eternal life, and there is a harvest for you to reap as fruit unto eternal life. The Samaritan woman did exactly these two things. On one hand, she received Christ as the inner spring unto eternal life, and on the other hand, she went to the harvest field to gather her people as fruit unto eternal life.
In verses 36 and 37 the Lord mentions sowing. Who did this sowing? John the Baptist did not go to Samaria. Some people think that some disciples of John or of the Lord Jesus went to Samaria and preached the gospel before that time, but I do not believe that. We may believe that the seed was sown by the Old Testament. The Samaritans were familiar with the first five books of the Old Testament. Thus, they came to know God and also something concerning the Messiah, the Christ, although it was not very clear or thorough. The Samaritans were not the same as the heathen. Through the Old Testament they obtained some knowledge of God and of Christ. I believe that that was the seed. Yes, it was the prevailing Spirit of the Lord that worked on the Samaritan woman. However, if she had been the same as a heathen without any knowledge of the Bible, I do not think that the work could have been done on her in such a prevailing and fast way. The Lord Jesus did not have to say anything about God until she first said something. She initiated the conversation about God and Christ. The Lord Jesus did not say, “Woman, do you believe that there is a God? Do you know Christ?” The Lord only asked her for a drink of water. When she rebuked Him for asking water of a Samaritan woman, He spoke to her about the gift of God. We can see by the Lord’s words that the woman already knew something about God and Christ. That was the result of the functioning of the first five books of the Old Testament, which they had. Therefore, before the Lord Jesus and His disciples came, many people had already been prepared.
The same is true in the United States. The seed has been sown throughout the country. We must realize that the harvest is truly ripe for reaping. Many people have been prepared by other ministries and by many of the Lord’s servants during the past years. Many people have been prepared in their hearts and spirits to contact and receive Christ as their satisfaction, but they do not know how to do it. In the United States, even unbelievers and atheists know something about God and about Christ. They have even heard about salvation. What we need to do is to reap whatever has been sown. The Samaritan woman did not go with the doctrine about Christ to her people; she first gained Christ and then went to them with Christ.
Verse 39 says, “Many of the Samaritans from that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified.” Through the living testimony of the Samaritan woman, many more sinners were brought to the Lord. When they contacted the Lord, they all believed and received Him as their Savior. It was a marvelous harvest through her living testimony.
In conclusion, we can see that the first two cases are distinctly clear about two things. The first case shows that Christ brought us the divine life through regeneration or rebirth; the second case shows that Christ brought us satisfaction. These two aspects can be confirmed according to our experience. When we first received Christ, we were reborn or regenerated with the divine life. Then we were satisfied with the living water. These two cases are signs pointing to two different aspects of Christ being our life. We should not merely read the gospel as stories about miracles. We must read these narratives as figurative statements and we must discover the spiritual significance of these signs. Then we shall discover the spiritual and living principles concerning Christ who is life and satisfaction to man.