Friday after Quasimodogeniti
Scripture: St. John 4:28-38 (NKJV)
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
Devotion
Our text continues with the woman at the well. Having received the water of life, we see that it has the same effect in her as it does in anyone when Christ is not rejected: she bears witness to others about the person of Jesus Christ.
The woman must have been convincing about this Man at the well Who knows all things about her; as the men of the city go immediately to see for themselves. As the disciples return to give Jesus food to eat, He reveals to them that He is not concerned about life here, but only about the food which gives life to all men, for it is the Father’s will that all men believe that He is the promised Christ and be saved.
Still today, it is our Father’s will that we are more concerned about the food that lasts for eternity, Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, than life here! Like the woman at the well, we can tell everyone how this Man Jesus Christ knows all about our lives and theirs, and still does not condemn us; but that He is the promised Savior Who traveled into Jerusalem to suffer at the hands of sinful men and die for the sins of world and then rise victorious on the third day. Yes, He has done the laboring and we are reaping the benefits. May we be strengthened to tell others of this Messiah as did the woman at the well.
We pray: Christ, Who once for sinners bled, Alleluia! Now the First-born from the dead, Alleluia! Throned in endless might and power, Alleluia! Lives and reigns forevermore. Alleluia! Amen.
