John 4, 19-24: The woman saith unto him, “Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped
in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship.” Jesus saith unto her, “Woman,
believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this
mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship
ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is
of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:
for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit:
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.”
What
Jesus is saying to this woman is interesting. She is justifying
her religious point of view and also the way she worships
because many others have the same faith as she does. Jesus
brings light into her spiritual darkness. Like all other Samaritans,
this woman does not know what she is worshiping and what she
adores. They believe that they are doing and believing the
right thing; they thought this to be the kind of worship that
pleases God, but Jesus makes it clear that it doesn’t.
God is not pleased by that.
Traditions and church services change as time goes by, just
as it also was the case here in Samaria. Jesus says that their
traditional way of worship has nothing to do with the truth.
Carrying of statues, kneeling before idols and pictures is
idolatry. Jerusalem is the place, and salvation comes from
the Jews.
Jesus makes it clear to her by using the words “God
is Spirit”. Whoever desires to worship Him must do so
in spirit and in truth. The spirit is the innermost part,
the heart of a person and His word is truth. The future true
worshipers will worship God in spirit and in truth. (Acts
2, 4). John writes that those that believe in His name will
have the power to become the children of God (John 1, 10-12).
Jesus came so that everyone on this earth may have the possibility
to worship Him. Whoever obeys the gospel of Jesus will be
able to worship Him in spirit and in truth. rw
