Worship In Spirit & In Truth-John 4:1-26
Notes
Transcript
Handout
As we begin this morning, please turn in your copies of God’s Word to John 4. We will be looking at the first 26 verses this morning and will be reading from verse 19-24 in just a few moments.
Last Sunday morning we started a brief series on Worship with a message entitled “Worship-Begins with A Proper View Of God & A Realistic Assessment of Ourselves.” As we looked at getting a Proper View of God, we were reminded that God’s power and majesty go beyond our ability to comprehend. Just the hem, the fringe of His robe completely filled the Temple of God in Heaven....just the hem! That He is still in complete control, even with what took place at the Capital this past week, or in the face of a pandemic that has affected many in our church, or when things don’t go the way we would like them to in the political world.
We discovered from Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 when looking at our Proper Preparation For Worship, that we have a tendency to take our corporate worship lightly. Not preparing ourselves and our hearts in advance of our time or worship. Not thinking through the worship songs we sing together on Sunday mornings.
Lastly, under the heading A Realistic Assessment Of Ourselves, we looked at the manner with which both Isaiah and Ezekiel approached their time in the presence of the glory of God, each approached with a sense of deep humility and fearful reverence. How the woman from Luke 7:36-50 worshipped God completely without pretence. So often, during our times of worship, we are easily sidetracked by other things, the cares of the world, the ballgame this afternoon, where or what we will eat after church today....or a whole host of other things. Instead of focusing on the greatness of our God. Even though the woman in Luke 7 was in a room filled with other people, in her worship of Jesus, it was as if the only ones present were her and Jesus.
This is the type of worship God desires from all of us.
Bakers Encyclopedia of the Bible describes worship as: The Expression of reverence and adoration of God. Then goes on to state: The 1500 years from the days of Abraham to the time of Ezra (c. 1900–450 bc) saw many great changes in the form of worship in ancient Israel. Abraham, the wandering nomad, built altars and offered sacrifice wherever God appeared to him. In Moses’ time the tabernacle served as a portable sanctuary for the Israelite tribes journeying through the wilderness. Solomon founded a lavish temple in Jerusalem which lasted more than three centuries until its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 bc. As we saw in our time in the Old Testament Books of Nehemiah & Ezra, When the Jews returned from exile they built a new temple which, though less splendid than its predecessor, at least until Herod the Great renovated it, served as the center of Jewish worship (until it was destroyed in) AD 70. [Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Worship. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 2164). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.]
Though Abraham was largely a Nomad, in building altars on which to offer sacrifices to God, he set the stage for set places of worship that the Israelites held onto throughout their history, and while the Temple in Jerulsalem was destroyed in AD 70, the foundations remained and to this day, the Jews still pray at the western Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. To a certain degree, for the Nation of Israel, worship had largely been all about Location, Location, Location.
But that thought process isn’t reserved for just the Jews, we we’ll find out in this mornings passage that the Samaritans also had the same thought process. Unfortunately, today’s believers continue to struggle with this concept.
With that as an introduction this morning, would you please stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word? We will be reading in John 4:19-24. Next Slide
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.”
May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word. Please be seated. To begin with this morning, we find out that: Next Slide
Obedience is a Big Part of Worship. John 4:1-6
While obedience may not appear to be a part of worship, it is, in fact, very much a part of worship.
Jesus was continually seeking the face of God, that He might always be about the Will of God.
In seeking and obeying the will of God, Jesus was worshipping God.
The passage we are looking at this morning, takes place a good year or so before the place we are in our journey through the Gospel According to Mark. As today’s passage begins, Jesus in in Judea, just north of Jerusalem. This is early in His public ministry. If He were to stay put near Jerusalem, His ministry will be a short one, He was too close to the religious leaders in Jerusalem and they were already to the point that they wanted Him out of the picture. With Jesus growing popularity, He submits Himself to the Will of the Father and heads north to minister in the Region of Galilee, which is where we have spent most of our time in Mark. Next Slide
Map
Generally, when the Jews went to Galilee from Judea, they went way out of their way to bypass the Region of Samaria. The Samaritan’s were both physical and spiritual half-breeds and enemies of the Jews. They all hated one another. But in this morning’s passage, Jesus has a divine appointment that took He and the disciples directly through the center of Samaria. We clearly see that divine appointment in verse 4, look at verse 4, what do you see? (“And He had to pass through Samaria”). What do you mean, “He had to pass through Samaria”? His disciples had likely made hundreds of trips to and from Galilee to Jerusalem and had never passed through Samaria, they always went around it. Jesus had to “pass through” because He had a divine appointment.
You can see by the blue dashed lines the normal routes Jews would take to Galilee. The Red line is the route Jesus and His disciples took. This was an extremely dangerous route, but Jesus knew that as long as He was at the center of the will of the Father, He need not fear, because the Hand of God was upon Him.
This truth holds true for us as well. As long as we are at the center of God’s will, we need not fear anything, because God’s Hand is upon us. This doesn’t mean we won’t face great trials, dangers or hard times, but it does mean that God is with us each step of the way.
If you haven’t watched the new Series on the Life of Jesus called “The Chosen”, which I strongly encourage you to do, Episode 8 in Season 1, gives an excellent dramatization of this Biblical event.
There is little doubt that Jesus’ disciples were very concerned with the route Jesus was taking them to Galilee, but He is the One that had called them to, not lead Him, but Follow Him, so Follow Him they did.
Towards the middle of the first day, when the sun was at it hottest point, they arrived near the Samaritan village of Sychar. About a half a mile south of Sychar was Jacobs Well. Here Jesus sits by the well and sends His disciples into Sychar to get some food for the day and the rest of their journey. While Scripture is clear that He was tired, more importantly, He had a divine appointment.
Not much time passed before He was joined at Jacob’s Well by a Samaritan woman. There are a couple of things I want you to note as we look at this woman. The first, women didn’t come to draw water during the heat of the day. This was a task reserved for the cool of the evening. Additionally, there were multiple other wells she could have drawn water from, that were closer to Sychar that Jacob’s Well. We find out as we read on, that this woman was an outcast, even among the pagan Samaritan’s she was an outcast. There is something else I believe may have happened. It is highly unlikely that Jesus disciples didn’t walk right past this woman on their way into Sychar, probably looked down at the ground rather than look this pagan woman in the eyes. The reason I believe this, is seen in Jesus response to the disciples in verse 35. Look at verse 35, what does He say to them? Next Slide
35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Sure they may have wanted to be a part of Jesus plan to make them “fishers of men”. But, like Jonah in the Old Testament, there was probably a big part of them, that wanted to have a say in who it was they fished for, and this Samaritan woman, or any other Samaritan or Gentile, for that matter, would not have been on that list. Yet here they are in the Region of the hated Samaritans and Jesus tells them to “lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for the harvest.” We won’t look at it this morning, but in the verses following this morning’s passage, we see Jesus Worshipping the Father by being obedient to Him and reaping a harvest.
Yes, Obedience is a big part of Worship, and in this area of worship, the disciples were operating at a deficit.
Back in verse 7, we see this Samaritan woman come to Jacob’s Well to draw water. My guess is that her plan was to quietly draw water and leave as quickly as possible. There is a reason she came to this distant well in the heat of the day, and it wasn’t for conversation. But Jesus, obedient to the divine plan of the Father, speaks to her.
“Give Me a drink.” Now, please don’t read a rudeness in Jesus request. We see no indication that she took offense at the way He asked for water. But she is taken aback that He even speaks to her. She was an outcast even among her own people, yet here Jesus is, a Jew, a part of the Nation that had a “We’re better than anyone else in all of the earth” mindset, asking her for a drink. Before long, during their conversation, she realizes Jesus was unlike anyone else she had ever spoken to before. Not only did He not look on her with disdain, but there was something in the way He spoke, and this went beyond this knowledge He had into private things in her life only she knew fully. Like the fact she had been married 5 times and was currently living with a man who waw not her husband. But it also appears He knew a whole host of other details as well, because after her return to Sychar she tells the people: Next Slide
29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”
But before she returned to Sychar, their conversation goes back and forth before it settles on the topic of worship, and this is exactly where I’d like to settle with our remaining time this morning as Jesus discusses with her what true worship really looks like.
After Jesus confronts her about the painful details of the sinful path she had chosen, she attempts to change the discussion, or so it looks, but I am wondering if what is really taking place it her moving to a place of repentance and confession. Do you see what she says in verses 19-20?
Next Slide
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.”
She moves directly to worship. You see, places of worship, for both the Jew and the Samaritan, were also places of confession. It is as if she is admitting her sinful lifestyle and wondering where she needs to go to make things right with God. This brought up a point of contention between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans only believed in the first 5 books of the Old Testament, while the Jews believed in the entire Old Testament. As a result, the Samaritans only accepted places of worship Abraham had established, places he built altars to God. The Jew knew that the Temple of God had been built in Jerusalem, so that is where they went for worship and confession. The Samaritans also knew they were not welcome at the Temple in Jerusalem. As a result, she asks Jesus about the place they ought to worship. There is little doubt that she expected Jesus to give her a specific place. Instead He says:
Next Slide
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.”
This sent both the worship of the Samaritans as well as that of the Jews in a tail spin. Next Slide
True Worship Has Nothing to Do with Location, Location, Location. Vs. 21
Jesus makes it clear that worship is no longer going to be about Location, location, location. It was now going to be more about the location of the individual heart. That is what Jesus is saying in verse 23 when He says; “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit”.
Next Slide
Worship The Father in spirit.
When He talks about worshiping “the Father in spirit”, the spirit He is referring to is not the Holy Spirit of God, but the human spirit. In other words, true worship comes from the heart of the individual. It is an internal thing, not an external conformity to ceremonies or rituals or a specific location. It must be from the heart. Next Slide
Worship The Father in truth.
Moving on Jesus continues that “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth”. Truth calls for this heart of worship to be consistent with what Scripture teaches and centers on in the incarnate Word of God. This was an area both the Jews and the Samaritans struggled with. Both focused on outward rules, regulations, rituals and locations.
So, what changed? What was it that made the long held traditions regarding worship null and void. Actually, the question is better asked “Who was it that made the long held traditions regarding worship null and void?” And the Who was the long awaited Messiah. That is what we see as we continue on in verses 25 & 26 where we read;
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.”
She was still struggling with what Jesus was saying to her, but she knew, because the Samaritans, like the Jews, were waiting for the coming Messiah. She knew, based on what we read in Duet. 18:18, that the Messiah would bring with Him answers. Jesus response to her in verse 26 is one of the areas where our English translations don’t do a thorough enough job in translating. Part of the reason is that most would stare at the page blankly if they were more thorough. You see, when Jesus says “I Who speak to you am He.” The word “He” was added by translators to make it flow better. It is actually “I Who speak to you Am.” In other words this is one of the many “I Am” statements Jesus made during His ministry. Statements where He publically declared that He was God in the flesh. While this entire encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well was powerful, this was the most climactic point of the whole encounter.
Undoubtably this woman was rocked by Jesus statement here. She knew nothing of the prophecies Jesus had to fulfill to be the Messiah, nothing of the miracles He had performed. It was His knowledge of the details of her life, details it would have been impossible for anyone outside of herself to know, combined with His claim to be the long awaited Messiah, that confirmed to her the truth of His claim. Worship for her was forever changed, no longer dependent on a location, or following rituals or regulations. It was now a heart issue, and based on what we read in verse 29, her heart was ready to “worship in spirit and in truth.” Which Jesus pointed out in verse 23, is exactly what God seeks.
As we close out this morning, perhaps you may be wondering, How do I worship in spirit and in truth? We will find out more details on this in the next couple weeks, but the groundwork was laid for the answer to this question last Sunday morning. To begin with it begins with “A Proper View of God.” The majestic all powerful God, the God Who is present everywhere, Who knows all things, even down to sins you thought were hidden from His sight, and loves you anyway. Then it moves to a Proper Preparation for Worship, not just our corporate worship when we meet together, but the daily worship that takes place as with seek Him every day and throughout the day. But it also includes A Realistic Assessment Of Ourselves, understanding what this woman understood, what Isaiah and Ezekiel understood, as they approached their time in the presence of the glory of God, each approached with a sense of deep humility and fearful reverence. How the woman from Luke 7:36-50 worshipped God completely without pretence. These are some of the characteristics of what it means to worship the Lord in spirit and truth. May our worship be characterized in this way.
Let’s close our time in “spirit and truth” worship this morning in prayer.