True Worship
Notes
Transcript
Jesus’ Discussion of True Worship
Jesus’ Discussion of True Worship
19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 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. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
key verse -
Through the discussion on worship Jesus brought the discussion that He was the Christ
This all came about through the discussion that she brought up....
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
We will focus today on John 4:20–26.
And oh how full of God’s greatness this text is.
We have seen in verses 1–15 that Jesus is the living water which he offers to the Samaritan woman at the well, and which she totally misunderstands.BTW thats ok!
We saw last time (verses 16–19) that Jesus is a surgically penetrating prophet who lays bare our souls and knows us to the bottom of our being and pursues us anyway. “You have had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband.”
Today - Now we will see Jesus as the Savior who unlocks the mysteries of true worship, and who is otherwise known as the Jewish Messiah (verse 26). And so much more.
Worship here is used 9 times in this text
Strongs - properly, to kiss the ground when prostrating before a superior; to worship, ready "to fall down/prostrate oneself to adore on one's knees" (DNTT); to "do obeisance" (BAGD).
There was ancient dispute Samaritans - worship on MT Gerizim
Jews - Temple Mount in Jerusalem
What we find here is mass confusion on what worship is :
Similar today
Here in this text there was confusion about the place of worship
But the real issue is the object of our worship.
Remember the woman brought up the subject:
After identifying her sin of having 5 husbands - she called Him a prophet and asked Him we worship here and you(the Jews worship in Jerusalem)
But instead of confessing her sin and repenting, she threw out an intellectual “red herring.”
A distraction - she brought it up now Jesus would turn this conversation around to point to Himself as the messiah.
Could He solve an ancient dispute?
Samaritan religion held that the one place of divinely ordered worship was on top of nearby Mount Gerizim, whereas the Jews said it was on the temple mount in Jerusalem.
Who was right in this controversy?
So many are caught up into the aspects of worship they forget the object of worship
Music
Building
Location
Atmosphere
You can have all of those but miss the object of worship.
Illustration - We were in Jerusalem and at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
People were taking pictures
Kissing the slab that Jesus was on
Chanting creeds
But one things was missing
Worship of Christ the redeemer
This woman defined worship ...
There is an identification of Jesus Christ as the messiah or the chosen one.
I. A Detour from Worship
I. A Detour from Worship
20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
She raised a religious question, one that would steer the discussion away from that area.
It happens all the time, as any experienced soul-winner knows.
We go from where is you husband to - our fathrers worshiped on this mountain ....
A distraction?
When the issues began to become plain and personal, at once the question is raised: “Where did Cain get his wife?” or “Are the heathen lost?” or some such irrelevant religious issue.[1]
We Worship Not Limited to Location
First focus with me on verses 20–22. To get away from his prophetic probing of her heart, the Samaritan woman leads Jesus into a discussion about worship.
But even here she wants to keep things on the external surface of worship not the heart of worship. She wants to talk about “where.” Verse 20: “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
Key - Jesus is willing to go with her into this topic, but is not willing to let her limit the issue to location.
He will press into the heart of the matter. Verse 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.’”
Mountains Irrelevant for Worship
Jesus starts with a denial. A negation. You wonder about where? You are concerned about location?
Ma’am there’s a day coming — sooner than you think — when both these mountains will be irrelevant for true worship.
That’s amazing for a Jew to say.
Really - (this got her attention)The day is coming, he says, when Jerusalem, the holy city, the city of David, the place with the temple of God, will not be the focus of true worship.
“Instead of where we worship, Jesus focuses on whom we worship and how we worship.”
This is not the answer she expected. She expected a good argument that Jews defend Jerusalem as the focal point of worship, and Samaritans defend Mount Gerazim.
But Jesus rejects the whole argument. Instead, he says we are on the brink of something new:
“The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father
4:22. Jesus was firm in His declaration of the issues involved.
The Samaritan religion was confused and in error: You Samaritans worship what you do not know. They were not the vehicle for the salvation of mankind. Israel was the nation chosen by God to have great privileges (Rom. 9:4–5).
When Jesus said, Salvation is from the Jews, He did not mean that all Jews were saved or were especially pious. “Salvation is from the Jews” in the sense that it is available through Jesus, who was born of the seed of Abraham.
How could a Jew say a new day was coming when you will not worship in Jerusalem.
Example during this crisis we do not worship in a building we worship the savior
The church has left the building......
II. A Description of Worship
II. A Description of Worship
23 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. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Now Jesus describes worship....
With the advent of the Messiah the time came for a new order of worship.
True worshipers are those who realize that Jesus is the Truth of God (3:21; 14:6) and the one and only Way to the Father (Acts 4:12).
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Next Jesus informed the woman that, with His coming, God no longer had a certain place on earth for worship.
Now those who believe on the Lord Jesus can worship God at any time and in any place.
True worship means that a believer enters the presence of God by faith and there praises and worships Him.
His body may be in a den, prison, or field, but his spirit can draw near to God in the heavenly sanctuary by faith.
Jesus announced to the woman that from now on worship of the Father would be in spirit and truth.
2 examples
#1 The Jews - not in spirit
The Jewish people had reduced worship to outward forms and ceremonies. They thought that by religiously adhering to the letter of the law, and going through certain rituals, they were worshiping the Father.
But theirs was not a worship of the spirit. It was outward, not inward. Their bodies might be bowed down on the ground but their hearts were not right before God. Perhaps they were oppressing the poor, or using deceitful business methods.
True worship has to be “in the spirit.” Judaism was largely a worship of the letter rather than of the spirit.
It was concerned with rites and rituals, forms and ceremonies, sacrifices and offerings, feast days and fast days, circumcisions and sabbaths. All of that was to be set aside in favor of a spiritual form of worship.
#2 The Samaritans - not in truth
The Samaritans, on the other hand, had a form of worship, but it was false.
It had no scriptural authority.
They had started their own religion and were carrying out ordinances of their own invention.
Real worship had to be “in truth.” Samaritanism was largely a worship of the false, rather than worship in truth. It was concerned with a hodgepodge of religious ideas. At best it was a sterile hybrid thing, lifeless, dead, and false.
Thus, when the Lord said that worship must be in spirit and truth, He was rebuking both Jews and Samaritans.
But He was also informing them that, now that He had come, it was possible for men to draw near to God through Him in true and sincere worship.
4:24 God is Spirit is a definition of God’s being. He is not a mere man, subject to all the errors and limitations of humanity.
Neither is He confined to any one place at any time. He is an invisible Person who is present in all places at one and the same time, who is all-knowing, and who is all-powerful. He is perfect in all His ways.
Therefore, those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
There must be no sham or hypocrisy.
There must be no pretense to being religious, when inwardly one’s life is corrupt. There must be no idea that in going through a series of rituals, God is thereby pleased.
Even if God instituted those rituals Himself, He still insists that man approach Him with a broken and a contrite heart.
III. A Disclosing of Worship
III. A Disclosing of Worship
25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
Something is happening she jumps right to the messiah -
wow
Evidently the woman had picked up echoes of the truth concerning the messiah.
She is starting to connect the dots!
No doubt the preaching of John the baptist and the recent stirrings of messianic hopes in Israel had been talked about in Samaria.
She had at least some understanding along these lines. She voiced what little she knew and believed: “I know,” she said (and this stands in contrast with Nicodemus’s pompous “we know” in 3:2), “that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things” (4:25). The pronoun he is emphatic.
What Jesus said to her was literally, “I who speak to you am.”
The word He is not a part of the original text. Although the sentence is clearer with the word He included, yet there is a deep significance to the actual words of the Lord Jesus. In using the words “I am” He used one of the names which God applied to Himself in the OT. He said, “I AM is speaking to you,” or, in other words, “Jehovah is the one who is speaking to you.”
He was announcing to her the startling truth that the One who was speaking to her was the Messiah for whom she had been looking and that He was also God Himself. The Jehovah of the OT is the Jesus of the NT.[1]