John 4:16-26 – God is looking for true worshippers

Knowing God and how one will conduct his or her life are inter-related. Personal relationship with God will certainly provide the impetus in right living. Jesus shows this to be the case in His conversation with the Samaritan woman. To receive the living water He had offered, Jesus needed to deal with her blatant abuse of her sexuality. So He told her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” Taken aback, she then gave an answer that was not exactly wrong. The man she was presently living with was technically not her husband. She was not married to him. Although she had been married to five different men before, this present man she was living with was one she was not married to. In a sense what she told Jesus was true. So here’s a paraphrase of her response to the Lord, “You’re spot on.” But what she said following that was perceptive. She said, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.” In saying this she was not making an attempt to evade the embarrassing knowledge Jesus had concerning her life. Her perception was a common view of Jews and Samaritans of her day. They believed that a prophet could have special insight into people’s problems. Prophets were believed to have intuitive gifts. So it was not a surprise to her that Jesus should have knowledge concerning her misused sexuality.  

The revelation concerning her sin could have triggered the desire to do what’s right. While she came to terms with her wrong, she was unsure of what to do to get right with God. She surmised that the only answer to her sin problem was to return to God in worship, and perhaps offer a sacrifice. Her dilemma, however, was where should her worship be offered. According to her forefathers, Mount Gerizim should be the place, but to the Jews, it should be at Jerusalem. Very much like believers in our days, many are also in a quandary not only concerning the function of worship, but also the where to and the how to. Yet we cannot soft pedal the importance of worship because it’s such an important and compelling devotion that is rightly due to God. 

What the Lord said concerning worship shows how important it is to do it rightly, and also to do so with the right understanding. Verse 22 implies that the Samaritans did not have complete knowledge in their worship. This is true because they relied only on the first five books of Moses, hence their revelation of God was grossly incomplete. Whereas the Jews who had a more complete revelation of God had led the way in worship. Like the Samaritans, many people who worship God have inadequate knowledge. Worse still, some even worship Him in ignorance.

Jesus asserted that the hour has come, and God is seeking for true worshipers, who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. Notice it is not “in the Spirit” but “in spirit.” To worship in spirit is to worship God sincerely and honestly from the depth of one’s very being. By truth He meant to worship God based on complete revelation of Him. It is to worship according to what God had revealed concerning Himself through His Word. Hence knowing God through the Word is important. True worship is coming to God with an inner attitude of sincere and honest reverence and awe, being truly assured of Who He truly is. People who would worship God in such a spirit and truth are the kinds that the Father is still seeking. 

Jesus then proceeded to remove the peripheral issue in worship. He said that God is spirit. And since He is spirit, He is everywhere present, and so where one worships Him is inconsequential. These words imply that the place believers gather to meet God in worship should not be our focus. What’s important is that we make time to gather in His name, to know Him whom we worship, and to approach Him with the right attitude and in the right manner. On hearing Jesus’ sensible and logical explanation, she was led to recall the coming of the Messiah. So she honestly spoke her heart and said she knew that Messiah would be coming and when that happened, He would reveal everything concerning true worship. So Jesus told her that He is the Messiah the whole community was looking forward to. What she had heard was from the Messiah whom they were looking forward to.    

The Father is still seeking true worshipers today. Those that would honor Him from the depth of their being, sincerely and honestly. Those whose worship is based on true revelation God had made concerning Himself through the whole counsel of His Word. Hence, we must seek to know Him through the Word. And when we come to worship, we must be wholly present: spirit, soul and body. We must fully engage Him with our mind and with the certainty and assurance of Who we are worshiping. He is the all- powerful, all-present and all-knowing God. Let’s not lift our hands in praise to Him but allow our hearts to drift far away from Him. Let’s offer worship worthy of our God!