John 4:36 Commentary and Bible Study

What are the wages? Well of course, there is an eternal dimension to this. But immediately, he ‘gathereth fruit unto life eternal’. Those are tremendous words. He ‘gathereth fruit until to life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.’ The main rejoicing is the privilege of involvement in the great harvest and the work of God.This verse is very important in connection with John 15 and is the great interpretative instrument of that passage about fruit bearing. ‘Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.’ John 15 worries a lot of Christians, and so they have a desire to interpret it away. Verse four says, ‘Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.’ And verse five: ‘I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.’People say, ‘This cannot be to do with the harvest of souls. This cannot be to do with soul winning; it is much too challenging. How can it be the calling of every believer to be involved in this in some shape or form?’ So there is a tendency, especially these days, to interpret John 15 as though the fruit is entirely and exclusively the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of godliness. Well there is no doubt that the fruit bearing includes that, but not exclusively so. Look at verse John 15:16: ‘Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.’ We shrink perhaps from witness, even sometimes within the family circle, so we are very ready to interpret John 15 as holiness and righteousness. That way, it does not challenge us so much.However when you go back to John’s Gospel chapter four, and you see the foundation for it, and you read verse 36 – ‘And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal.’ It is all in the context of the harvest of souls: lives being changed, people being blessed, people finding Christ, and having real depth and joy and happiness.