The harvest is plentiful. (John 4:35)

When Jesus spoke these words, He was just outside the city of Sychar in Samaria. His disciples had gone to the city to find food, and Jesus had just met the woman at the well (see John 4:1-27).

Jesus’ encounter with this woman was life-transforming. He spent a significant amount of time talking to her about her personal life, answering her spiritual questions, and treating her with a level of dignity that had rarely been afforded to her. It was the first seed Jesus ever sowed into the heart of a Samaritan. The woman was so moved by His compassion that when she returned to her village, she told the people, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (John 4:29).

This woman so enthusiastically shared her testimony of Jesus that the entire village of Sychar went out of the city to find Him (John 4:30). Thus, from the moment Jesus first sowed His seed into the heart of this Samaritan woman to the time He reaped His first major harvest among the Samaritans would only be a matter of hours. This was indeed quite remarkable. Certainly, it often takes quite a period to reap a sizable harvest of souls in any new region of the world.

As the village of Sychar went out to meet Jesus, He and His disciples were on the outskirts of the city, where He was speaking to them about doing the work of God. From Jesus’ words, it seems likely that He and His followers were standing near a wheat field at the time, similar to the one my wife and I stood in that day in the nation of Ukraine.

As Jesus spoke to His disciples, He was apparently standing in a position that enabled Him to have a wide view of the nearby wheat fields. Meanwhile, His disciples were so focused on what He was telling them that they were unaware of the streams of people coming from the village and making their way through the fields to where they were located. At this moment, Jesus told the disciples, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest.…”

Naturally speaking, it should take at least four months for the seed to be reaped as a full-grown harvest. But that time frame didn’t apply in the case of the Samaritan woman. The seed had been sown into her heart just a short time earlier — yet it was already time to reap! That is why Jesus told his disciples, “…Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

When the disciples turned around and looked, they saw multitudes pushing through the vast wheat field as they made their way to Jesus. It must have been an amazing sight to the disciples. After all, this Samaritan woman had gone to her town only a few hours earlier, and already there was such a large response to her testimony! Jesus had only sown seed into one Samaritan woman’s heart, but He was already reaping a massive harvest of souls.

I want you to notice that Jesus said that “…they are white already to harvest.” Jesus was not referring to the unripe wheat fields but to the people who were coming to see Him. One scholar has noted that workers in small villages were known to wear white workers’ garments. This village of workers was so affected by the Samaritan woman’s testimony that they dropped what they were doing and immediately went to see Jesus, still dressed in their white workers’ garments. When the Lord saw a crowd of people coming toward Him dressed in white, He didn’t see white garments; He saw a harvest that was white and ready to be reaped among the Samaritans.

As the crowd approached Jesus, He told the disciples, “And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth” (John 4:36,37).

Jesus was the One who sowed the first seed into the heart of the Samaritan woman, but now it was time to reap — and it requires many more hands to reap than it does to sow. Jesus was the Sower, but the harvest could not be fully reaped and retained without the help of His disciples. Jesus felt great joy as He watched this harvest of souls coming in so quickly. However, now it would also be the disciples’ great joy to help Jesus swing the sickle and bring these souls to God. Jesus sowed the seed, but it was essential for the disciples to help Him reap.

In John 4:38, Jesus said, “I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.” Jesus alone had sown the seed into the woman's heart at the well. When He did this, His disciples were in the village looking for food. But now, the disciples were privileged to participate in a vast reaping extravaganza for which they had done no work at all! They were entering into a white harvest that was ready to be reaped because Jesus had taken the time to sow seed into a single person’s heart.

Spiritual harvest often comes more quickly than natural harvests. It may take four months for wheat to be ready to be reaped. However, don’t think that it will always take a long time before you see people respond to the Word you sow into their hearts. The souls of men are often ready to be reaped for the Kingdom of God very quickly after the initial sowing.

Also, please don’t think that your role in sowing seed is small and insignificant. Remember, Jesus sowed a single seed into one person's heart, yet that isolated, solitary event produced a huge harvest that an entire village came to Jesus Christ. In the same way, the seed you sow into someone’s heart today may be the very seed that produces the next massive harvest for the Kingdom of God!

So the next time you find yourself talking to someone about Jesus Christ or sharing the truths of God’s Word with a stranger, don’t allow the devil to tell you that you’re wasting your time. You may be planting the very seed that will bring salvation to an entire group of people. And when the harvest is ready to be reaped, don’t be threatened by people who join you in the reaping process of what you have sown.

Harvests always require more reapers than sowers, so be thankful that one plants and others come alongside to help you reap.