Just then his disciples returned and were
surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you
want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (John 4:27-38)
I’m one of the disciples on this one. They were sent to do a job: get food. They got food. Instead of eating, Jesus rhapsodizes about sowing and reaping. “Come on, Jesus! We’re trying to be good disciples here. Do you want the Samaritans to think your followers are irresponsible?”
I’m task-oriented. People regularly fault me for not being enough of a people person. They’re right. As I read books about how to care for people with dementia, I keep reading that the caregiver is supposed to enter the delusion. That doesn’t bother me if it’s a delusion about dropping an orange. It’s a little more difficult when he starts claiming that people have tried to kill him, have stolen things from him, or have sabotaged the motorhome. It’s even harder when his dementia leads him to do things that are not healthy.
Somewhere in this, there is a balance. Jesus knew where it was. He didn’t play into the delusions of those buying and selling in the temple courts. He didn’t play into the delusions of Nicodemas or the woman at the well, but He was able to zero in on the people and their needs. This is something we should all pray for, the wisdom to balance people and tasks, so that the women at the well, and the villagers of our Sychar are not missed because we’re getting dinner for Jesus. Perhaps that is part of what I am supposed to learn as Dad’s caregiver.
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (John 4:27-38)
I’m one of the disciples on this one. They were sent to do a job: get food. They got food. Instead of eating, Jesus rhapsodizes about sowing and reaping. “Come on, Jesus! We’re trying to be good disciples here. Do you want the Samaritans to think your followers are irresponsible?”
I’m task-oriented. People regularly fault me for not being enough of a people person. They’re right. As I read books about how to care for people with dementia, I keep reading that the caregiver is supposed to enter the delusion. That doesn’t bother me if it’s a delusion about dropping an orange. It’s a little more difficult when he starts claiming that people have tried to kill him, have stolen things from him, or have sabotaged the motorhome. It’s even harder when his dementia leads him to do things that are not healthy.
Somewhere in this, there is a balance. Jesus knew where it was. He didn’t play into the delusions of those buying and selling in the temple courts. He didn’t play into the delusions of Nicodemas or the woman at the well, but He was able to zero in on the people and their needs. This is something we should all pray for, the wisdom to balance people and tasks, so that the women at the well, and the villagers of our Sychar are not missed because we’re getting dinner for Jesus. Perhaps that is part of what I am supposed to learn as Dad’s caregiver.
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