Jesus’ words about worship to
this unnamed Samaritan woman occur in the context of His witness to bring this
woman to saving faith. We might not think that witnessing is the right context
to talk about the priority of worship. But Jesus takes her implicit question
(4:20) about whether Samaritan worship or Jewish worship is correct and uses it
to zero in on the aim of the gospel: to turn sinners into true worshipers of
God. We learn:
Since God is seeking true worshipers
who worship Him in spirit and truth, we should make it our priority to become
such worshipers.
Jesus tells this woman that a
significant transition is about to take place (4:23), “But an hour is coming,
and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and
truth.” Jesus’ presence began this change from the old covenant to the new.
Under the old way of worship, place was significant: all Jewish males had to
appear before God in Jerusalem for the three annual feasts (Deut. 16:16). But
in the new way which Jesus inaugurated, He is the new temple (John 2:19-21).
Believers are being built into a holy temple in the Lord (Eph. 2:21; 1 Pet.
2:5). Thus where we gather to worship is secondary. How and whom we worship is
primary.
Unbelievers, such as the
Samaritan woman at this point, often mistakenly think that if they go through
the proper externals of “worship,” then things are okay between them and God.
As long as they go to a church building and go through the weekly rituals, they
figure that everything is fine. But they haven’t dealt with God on the heart
level. They haven’t repented of their sins of thought, word, and deed. So Jesus
tells her that it’s not the externals that matter as much as the internal. We
must make it our priority to become true worshipers of God in spirit and truth.
Note three truths from these important verses:
God is seeking true
worshipers.
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