We live in a spiritual harvesting period. Peter Sammons reflects on what Jesus said.
Setting the Scene
“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you! Open your eyes and look at the fields, because they are already white to harvest. The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. So the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you didn’t labour for. Others have laboured, and you have benefited from their labour.” (John 4: 35-38).
When he saw the crowds, Jesus felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. (Matthew 9: 35-38).
Permanent harvesting
These statements from Jesus remind us that there is always a need for spiritual harvesting and therefore for harvesters. Let’s unpack this a little.
The reference to a ‘saying’, four months to harvest, reflects the reality that in Israel the main biblical harvesting period was the four months from June to September – especially of the wheat harvest. The early harvest(s) had passed, and the “first fruits” celebration had occurred. This, in Jewish lore, was when the entire harvest would be dedicated to the Lord, ahead of the harvest being gathered–in. It was a profound act of faith!
Jesus is described as being the “first fruit” of the eternal harvest (1 Corinthians 15: 20-23). And so He is! From the time of Jesus’ ascension until He returns again is the eternal harvesting period. And that harvesting period is what some call the ‘church era’ – i.e., that time when ‘the church’ acts as Messiah Jesus’ collective ambassador in this world. ‘The church’ is commissioned to bring the good news of Jesus’ Kingdom to a world that is desperate to hear this good news (even if it does not recognize its need) and so to enter-in to it, receiving all its blessings.
For the purposes of this article we note that strictly speaking the word ‘church’ is inadequate, and should better be understood as the Redeemed, and/or the Assembly.
Four months
The ‘four months’ is the harvesting period between the festival of Shavuot (or Pentecost, generally in June) and the festival of Sukkot (or Tabernacles, generally September/October). For Christians today, we live in the Spiritual harvesting period, and at the end of the harvest, Jesus will return. Ultimately He will ‘Tabernacle’ with us here.
As the John 4 verses remind us, there are tasks for both ‘sower’ and ‘reaper’. We all have evangelism roles and tasks; the two roles do not have to be distinct – the sower may also be the reaper! But sometimes it is the joy of the evangelist to ‘reap’ where others have previously done the patient task of ‘sowing’, and indeed of tending as well. It is rare for sowing and reaping to happen virtually simultaneously (something that most evangelists will recognize) and the typical evangelist is usually building on effort and patient work of other Believers. Praise God for that!
Pray for it
I find it intriguing (or a ‘God incidence’, as some say) that the verse numbering in our two Bible segments atop this article are the same – 35 to 38. Undoubtedly these two segments from John and Matthew are especially interrelated in terms of our harvesting commission and task.
In the Matthew 9 verse above, we are told to pray for ‘labourers’ to work in God’s field. We can take this as being both the sower and the reaper tasks. We need both, and we must pray sacrificially for both. Never underestimate the value – and the strategic centrality – of prayer. When did you last pray in this way?
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