We’re still in John 4 in the story of the Samaritan woman and Jesus at the well. Jesus has offered her the Living Water that only He can offer but there are some matters that need to be cleared up before she can truly receive this living water. Last week she was confronted with the matter of sin. We saw that she as well as we need to confess our sin and renounce it before we are able to receive Christ.
Tonight, we look at the subject of worship. Man’s whole concept and approach to worship is changed by Jesus in tonight’s passage. This woman is troubled. We see that in verses 19-20.
There are 3 facts that we are shown in the following verses.
FACT ONE: The place of worship is not what is important. (v. 21)
FACT TWO: True worship and salvation are from the Jews. (v. 22)
FACT 3: True worshippers worship God in spirit and truth. (V. 23-24)
Let’s look again at verses 19-20. READ. As I said, this woman was troubled. Jesus had just confronted her with her sin, and she could either respond or react. She could have reacted by being angry, ignoring it all, neglecting the fact that she was a sinner, arguing with Jesus, or just counting it all a bunch of foolishness.
But she didn’t react. Instead, she was stirred and convicted. We can see that she sensed two things. First, she sensed that Jesus was a prophet, a man who was in touch with God. So, she saw Jesus as a man who could help her.
Second, she senses her sin and the need to take care of it, to truly worship God. But the question on her mind was, “Where is she to worship?” There was a dispute about where God’s presence really was—a dispute about where a person could truly meet God.
You might remember a few weeks ago when I explained about how the Jews hated the Samaritans. They wouldn’t let them help rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem so the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerazim. So, the Samaritans believed that God’s presence was on Mount Gerizim: the Jews said He dwelt in Jerusalem.
Standing before her was the prophet who convicted her to worship. He was a prophet so He could help her and direct her. So, she asked Him where to worship. Where could she find help from God?
Our lesson to learn from this is: When a person finally realizes they are a sinner and want to repent of that sin so they can truly worship God, they need to turn to God immediately. And if they don’t know how to turn to God, they need to ask a person who is in touch with God. Hopefully that is you. And you need to always be prepared to help lead them to worship, and prayer, and repentance, and salvation.
READ v. 21. What we see from this verse is that the place of worship is not what is important? Do you agree? Jesus is telling us here that a time is coming that would change the whole nature of worship. The way men approached God was going to experience a big eruption. Worship of God was going to radically and completely change. What do you think Jesus was talking about?
There was an historical event coming that would change worship. He was referring to His death and the coming of the Holy Spirit. The place of worship is no longer the temple or any other particular location on earth. God’s presence now dwells in the hearts and lives of His people. His people worship Him wherever they are, and they can worship Him every day all day long.
It was Paul that wrote in 1 Cor. 6: 10-20 – “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.”
Yes, some worship on Mt. Gerizim, some worship in Jerusalem, but the PLACE is not what is important? So, what is important? What’s important is the OBJECT of worship. The worshipper needs to remember to be sure that you are worshipping the Father, God Himself.
Can someone be in the temple, or in the church sanctuary for worship and not be worshipping? What do you mean? Jesus said to the woman, “You worship what you don’t know.” In verse 22, for true worship to happen, a person’s whole being must be focused on the only true and living God to be truly worshipping. Let’s be honest, are you 100% focused on God during worship? Or do your thoughts wander?
READ v. 22. Whoa! What does that mean? This woman, at this point, was ignorant of Jesus being the Mediator between her and God. So, Jesus says, “Salvation is from the Jews.” Let’s talk a minute about this.
The word “salvation” in the Greek has the definite article the, the salvation. So what Jesus was saying is that the Messiah, who is the salvation of all men, comes through the Jews, not from any other source.
Jesus said “we.” So, He identified Himself with the Jews. He was a fully born Jew, not of another nationality, nor was He a mixture of bloods.
Let’s talk a minute about the Jews. How did they start? Where do we fit in the picture? God found and chose Abraham and through him established the Jewish nation. ( Gen. 12: 1-5; 13: 14-17; 15: 1-7; 17:1-8. 15-19. And more). God challenged Abraham to worship Him supremely. If that man would worship God supremely, then God would cause a special people to be born of his seed. So, Abraham was the first Jew. In the OT, the Jews and their land were continually pointed to as the very special people and land of God.
The Jewish nation failed to obey God. The whole plot of the OT centers around God’s pleading and dealing with the Jews. Time and again He gave them the opportunity to obey Him, but at every turn they refused to heed His pleading.
God had no choice but to make another move, so He chose one faithful family within the Jewish nation, the family of David, and gave that family one great promise. The promise was that of the Messiah, God’s great King. God’s Son was to come through the line of David and establish an eternal nation of people who would love God supremely.
The Jews misinterpreted God’s Word by saying the seed of Abraham included only the Jewish nation. They said that the eternal kingdom promised to David was the Jewish nation and that nation only. By misinterpreting God’s Word, the Jews failed to be the missionaries to the world that God had chosen them to be.
So, God made a third move. He sent His own Son into the world through the Jewish nation. God sent Him so that the world through Him might be saved. Man rejected Christ and sentenced Him to die. Now, if the world were ever to be saved, it was not clear that God had to make every move Himself.
This He did once-for-all. God took the sins of all men and laid them upon His Son while he was being slain upon the cross. He allowed His Son to bear the sins of the world. Then He raised His Son from the dead—never to die again. In this, God began to build a lasting kingdom of righteousness, a new nation that is presently being made up of men from all earthly nations who are willing to follow Jesus Christ supremely.
These people are identified as His church, as a body of people who genuinely believe and follow Him. They are destined to be the inhabitants of the new heavens and earth. So now all the people of the nations of the world now have the opportunity to become children of God, the special people of God.
READ 23-24. True worshippers worship God in spirit and in truth. Note the change in worship. A time is coming and has now come. Christ changed worship. Before Christ, men worshipped God in special places, in temples and before altars. Since Christ, place and locality mean nothing. Christ has opened the door into God’s presence from anyplace in the universe.
Jesus said man is to worship in spirit and truth. What does it mean to worship in spirit? It means to worship God with the spiritual drive and ability of your soul, seeking the most intimate communion and fellowship with God. It means worshiping God with the spiritual core of one’s life and being, trusting and resting in God’s love and care.
What does it mean to worship God in truth? To approach God in the right or true way. There’s only one correct way to approach God and that’s through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way, THE TRUTH, and the life.” It means worshiping God sincerely and truthfully, not coming half-heartedly with a wandering mind and sleepy eyes.
Remember God created man so that we would worship Him. So, God seeks those who worship Him in spirit and truth.
One last point about the subject of worship. It’s not the place that is important in worship but how a person worships God. In spirit and in truth. There’s no other way.
So, before this Samaritan woman could accept the Living Water Jesus offered, she had to deal with the matter of worship. She probably looked at worship like a lot of people today do. She viewed worship and simply something we go to church on Sundays to do. There was not spirit or truth in it.
Our lesson from this passage is to think strongly about our motives before we come into this place of worship. What are you coming for? What are you expecting? What frame of mind are you bringing? Only then can we truly accept what God offers—the Living Water of Jesus Christ.
