Faith & Love: A One Year Bible Reading Plan - Part 1Sample

Over the years you may have heard numerous talks and sermons on the two people that Jesus meets with – the woman at the well and the official with the dying son. It’s clear that the impact Jesus has on these two people is not just life-changing for them, but for everyone else around them.

The woman begins to tell everyone she meets about the man who ‘told me all I ever did’ and asks them ‘can this be the Christ?’ Many come to meet Jesus because of this woman’s story and believe.

The same with the official – his whole household hears about Jesus and all believe because of the story he tells them.

But there’s another moment in this chapter that you might notice for the first time.

We read in verse 8 that the disciples had gone to the city to get food and then later return (verse 27). You might assume that they come back with food because they try to encourage Jesus to eat.

But they come back alone – they have gone to the same city, yet no one follows them back to meet Jesus. It’s clear they didn’t tell anyone about Jesus, the words He had spoken or the miracles He had performed.

If they had, we might expect that many would follow them back.

Perhaps they had become so familiar with Jesus and His words that they had lost some of the wonder of who He was that others needed to hear. We risk making the same mistake.

Let your response be what Jesus encourages in verses 35-38:

‘Look, lift up your eyes, the fields are ripe for harvest, I sent you to reap.’