WEDNESDAY
In John 4 we read of a conversation Jesus has with a Samaritan woman at a well. We are going to pick up the conversation partway through. We will revisit an earlier portion of it later this week.
John 4:19–26 (ESV)
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
The woman is here asking Jesus to weigh in on a popular debate in Jesus’ day. The Samaritans, those who once were a part of the northern kingdom of Israel, thought people were to worship on Mount Gerizim. This is where Abraham first built an altar in the promised land (Gen. 12:6-7) and where the blessings were to be shouted to the people of God (Deut. 11:29-30). Because the Samaritans only accepted the first 5 books of the Bible as canonical, they built their temple on Mount Gerizim. The Jews however, believed the rest of the Old Testament was Scripture as well and God had called Solomon to built the temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. This was a big debate that she wanted Jesus to weigh in on.
Jesus’ answer would have been shocking to her as religious practice in the ancient world was so tied to a temple location. Jesus’ answer is essentially that this argument doesn’t matter anymore. That time has essentially passed away at his appearing and it will be fully passed away after his ascension. When “hour” is unqualified in John’s gospel as it is here it always refers to Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension or events related to those events. So in vv. 21 and 23 Jesus is saying that his arrival, of which his passion culminates, is ushering in a new era of worship. This new era is not tied to a location of worship.
Instead it is in spirit and truth. The meaning of this phrase hinges on what Jesus means by, “God is spirit.” “Spirit” here likely characterizes what God is like. He is characterized by spirit (not only spirit) like humans are characterized by flesh, location, and our physical existence.
“In the same way, ‘God is spirit’ means that God is invisible, divine as opposed to human (cf. 3:6), life-giving and unknowable to human beings unless he chooses to reveal himself (cf. 1:18).”
D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 225.
So, to truly worship God in this new era he must be worshipped in spirit and truth. First, the worship of God must be in the spiritual sphere, like God is spirit. This genuine expression of worship is not to be tied to the physical temple and its artifacts as it was in the Old Testament. This new genuine worship can only be accomplished in the spiritual sphere and therefore it must be empowered by the Spirit of God. Second, it must be in truth. For us to genuinely worship God it must be through Jesus as the fullest revelation of God to humanity. It is only through the person of Jesus (his teaching, his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension) that humans can now truly worship God.
As we have been saying in this campaign, this is one of the great difficulties of the worship of God in this era of redemption history. Worshipping God in spirit can seem much more difficult than worshipping God through the tangible, physical, visible aspects of the temple. In the temple model of worship there were clear directives on what to do. Now we are called to listen to the Spirit of God and allow him to guide our worship. This seems daunting and difficult at first but when we practice it we find it to be more powerful, liberating, and simply amazing to worship God in spirit. I can give you time tested disciplines that can put you in a place to worship God in spirit, but those are not in themselves genuine expressions of worship of God in spirit. You can sit in prayer for an hour of selfish prayer and not genuinely worship God in spirit. You can sing songs all day and never genuinely worship God in your spirit. But the beauty is that you have the Holy Spirit who can guide you into the genuine worship of God in spirit. Worship of God in the Christian life is by nature a little mystical. I’d encourage you to lean into it.
Our worship is also to be guided by the truth of Jesus, what he taught and how he lived. This grounds us from the potential dangers of untethered mysticism. Our worship must always align with and glorify Jesus. If your expressions of worship are leading you away from the worship of Jesus, you’ve lost the truth in worship. If your expressions of worship are leading you away from living the life principles Jesus taught, you’ve lost the truth in worship. True expression of worship always glorify Jesus and submit to Jesus
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Reflection
Reflect on your worship today. Is it mystical enough to be in spirit or are you still seeking to worship in only physical, tangible expressions? Is your worship completely centered on and grounded in the truth of Jesus, exalting him above all?
Put on a favorite worship song that glorifies Jesus and spend a few moments worshipping in spirit and in truth today.