Commentary by John Calvin
John 4:35-38
35. Do you not say, There are yet four months, and harvest will come?
Lo, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look at the fields, for they
are already white for harvest. 36. And he who reapeth receiveth reward,
and gathereth fruit into life eternal; that both he that soweth, and he
that reapeth, may rejoice together. 37. For in this is the saying true,
That there is one who soweth, and another who reapeth. 38. I sent you
to reap that on which you did not labor; other men labored, and you
have entered into their labors.
35. Do you not say? He follows out the preceding statement; for, having
said that nothing was more dear to him than to finish the work of the
Father, he now shows how ripe it is for execution; and he does so by a
comparison with the harvest. When the corn is ripe, the harvest cannot
bear delay, for otherwise the grain would fall to the ground and be
lost; and, in like manner, the spiritual corn being now ripe, he
declares that there must be no delay, because delay is injurious. We
see for what purpose the comparison is employed; it is to explain the
reason why he hastens to perform his work. [83] By this expression, Do
you not say? he intended indirectly to point out how much more
attentive the minds of men are to earthly than to heavenly things; for
they burn with so intense a desire of harvest that they carefully
reckon up months and days, but it is astonishing how drowsy and
indolent they are in gathering the heavenly wheat. And daily experience
proves that this wickedness not only is natural to us, but can scarcely
be torn from our hearts; for while all provide for the earthly life to
a distant period, how indolent are we in thinking about heavenly
things? Thus Christ says on another occasion, Hypocrites, you discern
by the face of the sky what sort of day to-morrow will be, but you do
not acknowledge the time of my visitation, (Matthew 16:3.)
36. And he who reapeth receiveth reward. How diligently we ought to
devote ourselves to the work of God, he proves by another argument;
namely, because a large and most excellent reward is reserved for our
labor; for he promises that there will be fruit, and fruit not
corruptible or fading. What he adds about fruit may be explained in two
ways; either it is an announcement of the reward, and on that
supposition he would say the same thing twice in different words; or,
he applauds the labors of those who enrich the kingdom of God, as we
shall afterwards find him repeating,
I have chosen you, that you may go and bear fruit, and that your fruit
may remain, (John 15:16.)
And certainly both considerations ought greatly to encourage the
ministers of the word, that they may never sink under the toil, when
they hear that a crown of glory is prepared for them in heaven, and
know that the fruit of their harvest will not only be precious in the
sight of God, but will also be eternal. It is for this purpose that
Scripture everywhere mentions reward, and not for the purpose of
leading us to judge from it as to the merits of works; for which of us,
if we come to a reckoning, will not be found more worthy of being
punished for slothfulness than of being rewarded for diligence? To the
best laborers nothing else will be left than to approach to God in all
humility to implore forgiveness. But the Lord, who acts towards us with
the kindness of a father, in order to correct our sloth, and to
encourage us who would otherwise be dismayed, deigns to bestow upon us
an undeserved reward.
This is so far from overturning justification by faith that it rather
confirms it. For, in the first place, how comes it that God finds in us
any thing to reward, but because He has bestowed it upon us by his
Spirit? Now we know that the Spirit is the earnest and pledge of
adoption, (Ephesians 1:14.) Secondly, how comes it that God confers so
great honor on imperfect and sinful works but because, after having by
free grace reconciled us to himself, He accepts our works without any
regard to merit, by not imputing the sins which cleave to them? The
amount of this passage is, that the labor which the Apostles bestow on
teaching ought not to be reckoned by them hard and unpleasant, since
they know that it is so useful and so advantageous to Christ and to the
Church.
That he who soweth, and he who reapeth, may rejoice together. By these
words Christ shows that the fruit which the Apostles will derive from
the labors of others cannot give just ground of complaint to any
person. And this additional statement deserves notice; for if in the
world the groans of those who complain that the fruit of their labor
has been conveyed to another do not hinder the new possessor from
cheerfully reaping what another has sown, how much more cheerful ought
the reapers to be, when there is mutual consent and mutual joy and
congratulation?
But, in order that this passage may be properly understood, we must
comprehend the contrast between sowing and reaping The sowing was the
doctrine of the Law and the Prophets; for at that time the seed thrown
into the soil remained, as it were, in the blade; but the doctrine of
the Gospel, which brings men to proper maturity, is on that account
justly compared to the harvest. For the Law was very far from that
perfection which has at length been exhibited to us in Christ. To the
same purpose is the well-known comparison between infancy and manhood
which Paul employs, when he says, that
the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth not from a servant,
though he be lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the
time appointed by the father,
(Galatians 4:1, 2.)
In short, since the coming of Christ brought along with it present
salvation, we need not wonder if the Gospel, by which the door of the
heavenly kingdom is opened, be called the harvest of the doctrine of
the Prophets. And yet it is not at all inconsistent with this
statement, that the Fathers under the Law were gathered into God's
barn; but this comparison must be referred to the manner of teaching;
for, as the infancy of the Church lasted to the end of the Law, but, as
soon as the Gospel had been preached, it immediately arrived at
manhood, so at that time the salvation began to ripen, of which the
sowing only had been accomplished by the Prophets.
But, as Christ delivered this discourse in Samaria, he appears to
extend the sowing more widely than to the Law and the Prophets; and
there are some who interpret these words as applying equally to the
Jews and to the Gentiles. I acknowledge, indeed, that some grains of
piety were always scattered throughout the whole world, and there can
be no doubt that -- if we may be allowed the expression -- God sowed,
by the hand of philosophers and profane writers, the excellent
sentiments which are to be found in their writings. But, as that seed
was degenerated from the very root, and as the corn which could spring
from it, though not good or natural, was choked by a huge mass of
errors, it is unreasonable to suppose that such destructive corruption
is compared to sowing Besides, what is here said about uniting in joy
cannot at all apply to philosophers or any persons of that class.
Still, the difficulty is not yet solved, for Christ makes special
reference to the Samaritans. I reply, though everything among them was
infected by corruptions, there still was some hidden seed of piety. For
whence does it arise that, as soon as they hear a word about Christ,
they are so eager to seek him, but because they had learned, from the
Law and the Prophets, that the Redeemer would come? Judea was indeed
the Lord's peculiar field, which he had cultivated by the Prophets,
but, as some small portion of seed had been carried into Samaria, it is
not without reason that Christ says that there also it reached
maturity. If it be objected that the Apostles were chosen to publish
the Gospel throughout the whole world, the reply is easy, that Christ
spoke in a manner suited to the time, with this exception, that, on
account of the expectation of the fruit which already was nearly ripe,
he commends in the Samaritans the seed of prophetic doctrine, though
mixed and blended with many weeds or corruptions. [84]
37. For in this is the saying true. This was a common proverb, by which
he showed that many men frequently receive the fruit of the labor of
others, though there was this difference, that he who has labored is
displeased at seeing the fruit carried away by another, whereas the
Apostles have the Prophets for the companions of their joy. And yet it
cannot be inferred from this, that the Prophets themselves are
witnesses, or are aware, of what is now going on in the Church; for
Christ means nothing more than that the Prophets, so long as they
lived, taught under the influence of such feelings, that they already
rejoiced on account of the fruit which they were not permitted to
gather. The comparison which Peter employs (1 Peter 1:12) is not
unlike; except that he addresses his exhortation generally to all
believers, but Christ here speaks to the disciples alone, and, in their
person, to the ministers of the Gospel. By these words he enjoins them
to throw their labors into a common stock, so that there may be no
wicked envy among them; that those who are first sent to the work ought
to be so attentive to the present cultivation as not to envy a greater
blessing to those who are afterwards to follow them; and that they who
are sent, as it were, to gather the ripe fruit, ought to be employed
with equal cheerfulness in their office; for the comparison which is
here made between the teachers of the Law and of the Gospel may
likewise be applied to the latter, when viewed in reference to each
other.
__________________________________________________________________
Footnotes
[83] "Pour exprimer la cause pourquoy il se haste de faire la besogne."
[84] "C'est a dire, de corruptions."
|