“I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.”
King James Version (KJV)
4:38 I - he Lord of the whole harvest, have sent you - He had employed them already in baptizing, #John 4:2|.
Joh 4:38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour. The verb "sent" is past, and refers to some event before the present incident. The disciples had baptized multitudes, "more disciples than John" (Joh 4:1); so many that John's disciples reported "all men come unto him" (Joh 3:26). They had baptized these (Joh 4:2), reaping the fruit of John's labor.