“And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.”
'Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. — the harvest imagery applies to missionary work: the reaper (evangelist) receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life. The eschatological note—sower and reaper rejoice together—suggests that the harvest belongs to the end time, yet it happens in the present through Jesus' revelation.
Church Fathers on John 4:36
Say you not, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest?
Now you are expecting a material harvest. But I say to you, that a spiritual harvest is at hand: lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. He alludes to the Samaritans who are approaching.
And he that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit to life eternal, that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together.
Read all 10 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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