We studied worship on Sunday. Our reading of John 4:1-26 will help lay some foundation for our continuing consideration of worship.
Verses 1-9 give us a bit of back-story, or in other words tell us how these two people came to this encounter. Jesus, we're told, was traveling from Judea to Galillee, and "had to go through Samaria." That is an interesting assertion by John. The fact is that Jews in that day routinely chose to cross the Jordon River to avoid having to traverse Samaria when traveling between Judea and Galilee. The wording makes you wonder why Jesus 'had to' take that route. You also see that these two saw, in one another, enough to know that it was an improper and unlikely conversation by the standards of their day and cultures.
Verse 10 gives us the powerful truth: if you knew the gift and the giver... that would change everything. That is a thought provoking statement.
In the next section, verses 11-15, we see that the woman misunderstood Jesus. She was focusing on the physical and temporal. He was talking about the spiritual and eternal. It is a big but in verse 14 that clarifies this misunderstanding: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. This is pretty common of encounters with Jesus in the gospels. Consider the encounter with Nicodemus just a chapter earlier--Jesus spoke of being born again, and Nicodemus was wondering how a fully grown man could crawl back into a mothers womb. Or, consider those statements of Jesus that stirred so much controversy--when he told his followers they must eat his flesh and drink his blood, or when he told them that they could tear down the temple and that he would rebuild it in three days.
The next section, verses 16-24 play out almost exactly as we would imagine they would--when Jesus hits close to home (go call your husband) the woman shifts the conversation to theology (hey, so where do you think is the proper place for worship?). I think it is a wonderful picture of Jesus' love and mercy that he lets the woman move the conversation. He could have said, 'Wait a minute. Let's talk about these failures of yours!' But He didn't. He was happy to let the conversation move on, and to make this point--genuine worship of God will be in spirit and truth.
Finally, the woman ends this conversation with a profession, essentially saying: 'One thing I know--the Messiah is coming, and he will straighten all this out!' To which Jesus says, 'Hello! Allow me to introduce myself.'
Another but in this passage is found in verse 19. The woman attests, "Our (Samaritan) fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." Look back to the beginning of the text--and the beginning of this post. Recall that it was a well engrained reality--separation between Samaritans and Jews. Jesus' answer to this lady's statement isn't to agree with either position. Instead, he focuses on a new reality--all men, Samaritans and Jews alike--must worship in spirit and truth. This is what matters. The gospel: It is a great equalizer.
Comments