John 4:31-42
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?”
When I was in seminary, we used to laugh about the disciples’ obsession with food. Every time Jesus does a miracle, the disciples start worrying about where their next meal is coming from. It’s very funny when you think about it.
I believe that the Gospel writers intentionally portrayed the disciples as slow to understand so that they wouldn’t rush out ahead of the readers. When they have to be told something ten times for it to sink in, we hear it ten times as well. When they mistake heavenly things for earthly things, we get the change to sort them out along with them. It’s a wonderful gift the writers have given us.
God feeds us all the time with physical and spiritual food. Jesus’ conversations with his disciples remind us to keep our eyes open for both.
Prayer: Lord Jesus: As I walk through the remaining weeks of Lent, open the eyes of my spirit to see all that you’re doing right in front of us. AMEN