True Worship

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Scripture: John 4:21-24 (ESV)

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.”

Devotion:

            This scripture is taken from Jesus meeting with a Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4. This encounter is significant because Jewish people had no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus breaks the taboo with questions for the woman. Finally, the woman says to Jesus: “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.” (John 4:19-20 ESV) Setting up Jesus words in the above scripture. Jesus’ response to her is still a very important message for us in the church today.

            Jesus declares that worshiping God will no longer be confined to certain location. There is no longer a physical place where God’s presence rests. God is being freed from the temple built by hands and will now reside in the hearts of the people who worship him. There was no “right” temple to worship God in. Just as today there is no “right” church or denomination where one must worship in order to truly worship God.

             We have seen during the present covid-19 experience that our God cannot be housed in a physical building, but God’s people can worship him outside the confines of a church. While meeting together as a church is always a joyful experience if for whatever reason you cannot do this God can still be present to you wherever you are.

            Jesus rather than getting into a discussion about where to worship he changes the conversation from where one is to worship into one about how you are to worship. Jesus says we must always worship God in “spirit and in truth.” This was a radical statement when Jesus first said it and it remains radical today. Those who worship in spirit must be born again in the spirit. As we see in John 3:6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Those who worship in truth must be “worshipers [who] participate in the divinely revealed reality of truthfulness or steadfastness/dependability, a category that epitomizes the way God reveals the divine reality to human beings.”  [1]

            How does your worship stack up against these ideals? Let us pray that we may be believers who worship God in spirit and in truth.

            Prayer:

            Lord just as you taught your first disciples how to pray and worship. Now teach us to worship you in spirit and in truth that our worship may be acceptable in your sight. Help us to see the ways in which our worship is lacking in your sight. Lord help us to worship you in ways that please you and bring glory to your name. Amen.


[1] Gerald L. Borchert, John 1–11, vol. 25A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 208.

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