21

John 4:31-34 MEAT TO EAT THAT DOES NOT MEET THE EYE

Introduction:

Jesus had told the Samaritan woman that if she only

knew the gift of God that He was offering to her and if she

only knew who He is that she would ask of Him and He would

give her living water that would spring up into everlasting

life. She did not understand, but she asked anyway,

thinking that He was asking for literal water from the well.

Jesus continued to talk with her in order to to help

her until she did understand and to accept Him as Savior.

After the woman was saved she told the men of Sychar to

come see a man whom she believes to be the Christ.

About the time she left to go into Sychar, the

disciples came to Jesus and sought to get Him to eat. He

told them that He had meat to eat that they knew nothing

about. He had meat to eat which did not meet the eye.

I. The disciples effort to get Jesus to eat

V. 31, "In the mean while his disciples prayed him,

saying, Master, eat." It was almost noon when the disciples

left Jesus to rest on the well while they went into the city

to buy food. By the time they returned, it must have been

fully noon and perhaps past noon. They quite naturally

expected that He would be even more tired, more thirsty and

more hungry. When they gave Him food and urged Him to eat

they were not really prepared for His answer.

II. The surprising response from Jesus

V. 32, "But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that

ye know not of." Jesus, instead of being tired and hungry

seemed rested and energetic. He informed them that He had

eaten some food that they were not aware of. "I have meat

to eat that ye know not of." The word, meat, as used here

means "food." In effect, Jesus said, "I have already eaten,

thank you. I had food to eat that you did not know about."

The disciples were more puzzled than ever. V. 33,

"Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man

brought him ought to eat?" They immediately began to

inquire among themselves if somebody in the group had given

Him food. Nobody had.

They then wondered if somebody other than themselves

could have given Him food while they were gone. They

decided that this was not likely. They wondered how He

could have gotten food without somebody giving it to Him.

Surely He did not have food under His cloak at the time when

they left to go and buy food. They must have been

suspicious that He had used His miraculous powers to get

food. But even that was not what had happened and that was

not what Jesus was talking about.

III. The explanation which Jesus gave

V. 34, "Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the

will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." Now this

the disciples did understand. At least, they partially

understood. They understood that He was talking about God

the Father in heaven. He was talking about His desire to do

the will of God the Father. He was talking about His

witness to the Samaritan woman and winning her to salvation.

Jesus was, in effect, saying to them that having the

opportunity to witness to the Samaritan woman and win her to

salvation had an energizing effect on Him. It had

rejuvenated Him and made Him feel rested and refreshed. It

had taken away His hunger for food. He had been tired and

hungry, but now He was neither tired nor hungry.

God the Heavenly Father had sent Jesus into the world

to seek and to save lost souls. It was a joyous experience

for Jesus to witness to this woman and give her that living

water that springs up into everlasting life.

Keep in mind that Jesus is God, but He is also man.

And He is one happy man at this time. This woman had come

to Him lost and hell bound. But she went away saved and on

the road to heaven. She had come to the well for literal

water, but she had gone away with living water and with

great joy in her soul. She was a happy woman.

Jesus also was a very happy man. He was so happy that

He was no longer hungry for food. He had eaten food for the

soul which had filled Him to the brim with joy.

Listen, it is amazing just how happy Jesus became

because of the salvation of this one soul. The Scripture

tells us that there is rejoicing in heaven when one soul is

saved. This time there was rejoicing right here on earth.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was rejoicing that this woman

placed her faith in Him so that He could save her soul.

IV. An insight into the life and ministry of Jesus

Listen, we get an insight right here into the inner joy

that Jesus experience every time someone was saved under His

preaching. He must have had this same kind of joyous

experience numerous times already. In a previous text we

read that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than

John. Surely that must have meant that Jesus had saved

those people. He saved them or surely He would not have

baptized them. What joy the Lord must have experienced

every time someone trusted in Him and was saved. Even then

during those days when He as baptizing so many people before

they left Judah, Jesus must have had this meat to eat that

the disciples knew nothing about. Even back then, He had

meat to eat that did not meet the eye.

But all of this was taking place in the very early part

of His ministry. There must also have been similar

experiences throughout the remainder of His ministry.

I hope you can get an insight into the total ministry of

Jesus. We know that His life here on earth was not a life

of luxury and ease. It was not a life that was filled with

earthly joys and earthly pleasures. It was a life of

sacrificial labor, hardship and criticism. But there was a

deeper inner joy that filled His soul every day. He was

glad to be able to carry out the will of God. It was a

special joy to be saving the souls of men, women, boys and

girls. It made His life fulfilled.

I would also call your attention to the word "work" in

verse 34. There was much work yet to be done for God the

Father. He had already organized a small group of people

into a New Testament church. He must teach and train these

people. He must prepare them to carry on the work after He

is gone.

There was also the great work that He must do on the

cross of Calvary. He must give His own life a ransom for

the souls of men. The whole work of salvation was dependent

on the work that He would do on the cross. This would be

for Him a most horrible experience. It would bring Him

suffering untold. The physical and emotional pain would be

indescribable. But in spite of the pain and suffering that

He would endure, there would still be untold joy within that

He is able to carry out the work of God the Father and save

the souls of men.

I feel sure that even after Jesus explained to His

disciples what He was talking about, they still could not

very well understand it. Now that Jesus had explained, they

knew that He was talking about the joy of doing the work and

the will of God the Father, but they could not very well

understand just how great that joy must have been for Him.

I am not sure that they ever understood fully.

But I do think that the time came in their own lives

that they had a much better understanding than they did on

that day at the well in Samaria. The time would come after

Jesus had gone back to heaven when the work of God would

depend on them. It would be up to them and other church

members to carry on the work of God after He was gone.

They, of course, could not save souls as Jesus did. But

they could present the gospel message so that the lost could

be saved. They could not establish a new religion as Jesus

did, but they could organize new churches of like faith and

order as the one Jesus had founded. They could not go to

the cross and pay the sin debt for the souls of men, but

they could go to the nations of the world and preach the

gospel there.

I am most certain that as they carried out the work of

God here on earth, they felt a joy similar to that which

Jesus felt at Jacob's well. I am sure that they experienced

this joy because they were energized with a zeal for God

that could only have come from such joy. It was a joy that

was more satisfying than sitting down to eat a good meal.

It was a joy that made carrying on the work of God more

important that dinner time. It was a joy that made life

worthwhile.

V. An insight into our own lives

This is a joy that even we have experienced to some

measure in our own lives. It is, indeed, a joy to be saved

by the grace of God and on our way to heaven. At least it

is for me and I am sure that it is for each of you who are

saved.

It is likewise a joy to be able to serve the Lord. It

is a joy to be a member of a New Testament church. It is a

joy to have a responsibility in carrying out the work of the

Lord. It is a joy to be able to preach His word from the

pulpit. It is joy to be able to teach His word in the

classroom. It is a joy to be able to witness to an unsaved

person and tell him what Jesus has done for me and what

Jesus can do for him.

It is a joy to be able to contribute to the work of God

with my money. I say "my money." It is not really my

money. It is really the Lord's money that He has let me use

for a little while. It is a joy to be able to use a part of

His money for His honor and glory and to carry on His work

in this world.

This is a meat that satisfies the soul that the unsaved

world knows nothing about. They cannot understand why

people sacrifice their time and sacrifice their money and

devote their lifes to the Lord. But to us it is a joy that

is far greater than earthly pleasures.

It is my prayer that we will be faithful to God to

carry on His work in a way that will please Him and bring

glory to His name.

Conclusion:

It is my prayer that we will be able to witness to the

lost and win some of them to Jesus for salvation. I believe

that Jesus gets just as much joy today when someone is saved

as He did when that Samaritan woman got saved. In other

words, I think Jesus would get just as much joy out of

saving you as He got out of saving her.

I am going to call on you who are unsaved to put your

trust in Jesus right here today and get saved. I am going

to call on each of you who are saved to commit yourself to

doing the work of God in order that you may experience that

inner joy which Jesus talked about in this text.