Worship in Spirit and in Truth
John 4:19-26
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Message
Worship finds its Hebrew root in the word worthy. Worthy means that the value is measurable.
In this case it is the value we place on God’s love as it is directed to us. That love is inestimable. It is a worth that EXCEEDS OUR ABILITY TO COMPREHEND.
It is that kind of worth or worship that we are to bring into our praise of our Heavenly Father every time we approach Him.
Whether it be at home as we sing a Christian song or hymn while we work or when we are together like today in God’s sanctuary.
We are to be overflowing like Niagara Falls as praise pours out of us in a seemingly endless stream of worship.
We remember people in the Bible who celebrated before God with all kinds of worship. When King David danced before the Ark of the Covenant as it was led into the city. 2 Samuel Chapter 6 Worship should give us cause to dance before the Lord.
In Exodus 12:31 the Hebrews bowed down and worshiped God for sparing them from the Angel of Death that swept over Egypt and made it possible for them to be free after 400 years of bondage. Worship should give us a Holy and reverent fear of God’s Almighty power to free us.
The people of Israel stood for a quarter of the day as Nehemiah read from the sacred scriptures as they celebrated the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. They stood for another quarter of the day confessing their sins and stood for another quarter of a day as they worshiped God. Nehemiah Chapter 8 Worship should get us to our feet as we rejoice at the word of God and to our knees as we confess our sins to God in the light of His holiness and then back to our feet again as we praise God for His grace held out to us by His great sacrificial love for us.
Too many of us fail to comprehend what worship is meant to be. We too often forget these wonderful Biblical examples of worship.
Many of us get it wrong because we are religious instead of spiritual.
Jesus sets us straight about this empty kind of worship this religious obligatory muted worship that so many Christians offer to our Heavenly Father today. Jesus explained it for us as He had a conversation with a woman at a well.
Turn with me to John 4:19-26
In this passage we see Jesus tired from His journey and wanting to be refreshed with a drink of water.
Jesus is in a part of the country that other Jews consider a place for 2nd class citizens. Jesus is in Samaria. The Samaritans are descendants of Jacob yet the Jews shun them because they had married into other races in 721 B.C. when they were taken captive by the Assyrian Empire.
The Samaritans hold that they have the true religion of Abraham and that the Jews of Jerusalem practice a different Judaism.
Ever since that time there has been both racial and religious conflict between these two Jewish branches of Abraham. It was to this kind of racial and religious tension that Jesus walked into when He purposely went to Samaria that day.
On top of all that the first person Jesus spoke to was a woman and a loose woman at that. Dr. J. Vernon McGee tells us that in this passage Jesus “talks with her (Samaritan woman) very skillfully and sympathetically, but He also talks with her forcefully, faithfully, and factually. He doesn’t give her a lecture on integration or civil rights. He isn’t a candidate for some office. He just appeals to her womanly curiosity. He creates an interest and a thirst.” J. Vernon McGee – Thru the Bible Commentary Volume #4 John Chapter 4 page 389.
In that time people wore distinctive clothing that identified them by region and religion and Jesus stood out as a Jew from Jerusalem He was obvious from out of town. The woman is getting her water at mid-day long after the other women have left the well. She did this to avoid confrontation since the other women of the town knew her by reputation as someone to keep your man away from.
Jesus speaks first and asks for a drink of water. Normally a simple and innocent request but not in this circumstance. Immediately the woman reminds Jesus that they are from two different races and two different stations in life. Jesus is breaking the status quo in every way possible.
Her response is as much a derogatory comment as it is a question. Unfiltered it might sound more like this… “You the pure and holy Jew ask me the mixed race and religiously backward Samaritan for a drink from a well in Samaria – really you got to be kidding me – you got some nerve fella.” John 4:9 (paraphrase mine)
Jesus response is direct and to the point. He is tired and thirsty and does not want to get into a debate about a drink of water. So He offers … “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10
Jesus is saying “Lady if you knew who I am and what kind of water I could give you, you would be the one asking for a drink instead of me.” John 4:10 (paraphrase mine)
Jesus mentions God by name and now the Samaritan woman realizes Jesus is a religious Jew so now she extends a bit of respect to Him by addressing Him as “Sir”. But she still doesn’t get it.
Jesus tries to explain to her that He is there to offer her eternal life and a kind of water that satisfies the soul not the throat.
She is beginning to clue in and asks for this special living water. But Jesus makes a request first. “Go, call your husband and come back.” John 4:16
Dr. J. Vernon McGee says that this is the “Master stroke. Although the water is available for all, there is a condition to be met – there must be a thirst, a need. She must therefore, recognize that she is a sinner.” Source: Thru the Bible Commentary Volume 4 John Chapter 4 pages 390-391 Dr. J. Vernon McGee.
She gives an honest answer and admits she has no husband then Jesus tells her she has had five men as husbands but was never married to any of them and the man she is with now is also not her husband.
“Our Lord insists that when you come to Him you must deal with sin. All secrets must come out before Him. Here was a sinner” (self-admitted). Thru the Bible pg. 390 Vol 4.
She realizes she is in the presence of a Prophet not just a religious Jew. At this she tries to switch the subject from herself to their religious differences about where real believers should worship. She suggests that real worshipers should worship in Samaria since it has a particular mountain that is historically linked to the descendants of Jacob.
Her plan backfires as Jesus exposes Himself in order to let her know that it’s not where you worship God that is of importance but that you worship God in Spirit and in Truth. She lets Jesus know that she has had enough of His Bible thumping and tries to shut Him up by cutting to the chase.
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”; It is as if she is saying - So enough already (paraphrase mine) John 4:25
Then Jesus drops a spiritual bombshell on her; 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
At this the Samaritan woman believes and she gets a drink of Living water before Jesus gets His drink of earthly water.
Saints worship is not about the right church, it is not about the right denomination, it is not about the right Bible or the right Minister, worship is about the right Messiah. Jesus my friends, is that Messiah and He has proven so by His life, death and resurrection from the dead and today Jesus is offering you a drink of Living water.
Jesus is giving you and me a chance to find out what real worship is. We must confess our sins, repent and turn away from the world and turn to the fountain of Living Water Jesus Christ.
Then dear Saints we can have church, then we can truly worship from our very hearts and souls and lift high the name of Jesus the name above every name.
Get free of the sin in your life and you will know what real freedom of worship is all about. – Amen.
