Prepare for Worship (weekend of November 5)

One of the key passages in our personal worship this week has been John 4, where Jesus explained to a Samaritan woman that “true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” These words are often quoted but have you ever really thought about what “in spirit and truth” means? 

 

This is the most explicit teaching we have from Jesus on the subject of worship, so it’s worthy of our meditation this weekend. I have often heard the words “in spirit and truth” used to describe how we are to worship, based on an interpretation of “spirit” as something more like “spirited” and “truth” as “good doctrine.” Practically speaking, then, the lesson we are to take away is to be exuberant when we sing and to make sure our lyrics are theologically precise. And while the Bible certainly does teach us that our worship is to be characterized by joy and the true gospel of Jesus, I do not believe that that is the emphasis of this particular passage. Instead, I am persuaded that what Jesus (via John’s Holy-Spirit-inspired writing) means to tell us is that “true worshippers” are those who are enabled to do so by the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is the gift of salvation in Christ. In other words, this text is not primarily concerned with how but where–or, more precisely, in whom–we worship. 

 

The woman asked Jesus, in paraphrase, “In what temple should we worship God?” And Jesus answered her specific question with an equally precise answer. “We should worship God in the temple of spirit and truth.” Had Jesus intended to say, “Worship in a spirited way” or “With doctrinally rich lyrics,” then He committed a twofold offense, first by ignoring (or misunderstanding, one may argue) the woman’s actual question and, second, by addressing an issue that was apparently not even on her mind. In what temple (i.e. where) should we worship? In Christ Jesus. The locus of God’s presence with man is not found in a building but in a person. 

 

The setting of their conversation is another clue to the meaning of Jesus’ words. 

“So [Jesus] came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.” (vv. 5-6)

There was great tension between Jews and Samaritans, in part due to a disagreement about whether God had commanded His worship to be offered on Mount Gerazim (which the Samaritans justified by passages like Deut. 11:29-30; 27:2-7, 12; cf. Jos. 8:33) or on Mount Ebal, where David had built the Temple. John tells us that Jesus (a Jew) and this woman (a Samaritan) were having a conversation about worship in Sychar, by Jacob’s well, from which both Mount Gerazim and Mount Ebal would have been plainly visible. Their surroundings would have loomed large over their conversation, like the proverbial elephant in the room. Jesus literally stood between the two mountains in question to identify Himself as the true Temple, which is a consistent theme throughout John’s gospel. 

 

Furthermore, that this all took place at Jacob’s well introduces one of Scripture’s most prevalent themes: a Bridegoom’s pursuit of a Bride as analogous to Christ’s relationship with the Church. Like the promiscuous Samaritan woman at the well (see verses 16-18), we the Bride of Christ have played the harlot and betrothed ourselves to worldly suitors. But Jesus comes along and lovingly restores our purity, redeems our failures, and offers us living water (another theme in John’s writings) from His own bottomless well. 

 

We who have received Him by faith are the true worshippers Jesus described in John 4. He is the “Spirit and Truth” in whom we worship. Let us find our rest and delight in Him together this Lord’s Day.