John 4 Verses 31-38

John 4:31 “In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.”   

 “In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”  The disciples were concerned about Jesus physical need for natural food.  However, the meat Jesus was seeking to eat was doing the will of the Father and finishing his work.  We find out what the will of the Father is in John 6:38-40: “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.  And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.  And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”  This points us to the covenant of redemption stated for us in Rom. 8:29, 30: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”  In the covenant, the Father chose a people to be his before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4) and predestinated them to be conformed to the image of the Son.  Jesus came to finish the work by calling, justifying, and glorifying those whom the Father chose.  This is the meat that the Father gave unto the Son. 

“Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”  There is a natural harvest of natural food and there is a spiritual harvest of people into the kingdom of God.  Matt. 9:36 “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”  In this passage Christ is clearly setting forth a harvest of his multitudes that he had compassion on.  The harvest is for them to be brought unto the church kingdom of God here on earth.  The Lord taught them to pray that He would send forth laborers into His harvest.  The purpose of laborers in the harvest is to bring the harvest into the place prepared for it.  The place here for God people is His church.   

The time the Lord spoke to the disciples it was still four months until the natural harvest of food, but the spiritual harvest of his people, the fields were already white to harvest.   

“And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.”  The wages that the reapers in this harvest receive and the sowers in this harvest receive is the joy they receive in the ingathering.  The Lord told the disciples that they were sent to labor to gather a harvest that they had not labored to sow.  They were entering into other men’s labors.  It would seem to me that this has primarily reference to the Old Testament prophets.  These Old Testament prophets were blessed to write the scriptures that the disciples would use to gather the saints into the harvest with.  They were entering into the labors that others had sown.