Today’s Scripture:
“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” — John 4:24 (ESV)
Reflection
Today’s passage is a continuation of yesterday’s passage. The woman says that she wants the living water that Jesus gives, and Jesus tells her to call her husband. The thing is, she has had five husbands in the past, and the person she is currently living with is not her husband, so Jesus kind of exposes her sin. When she brings up a point about worshiping on that mountain, Jesus says that in the near future, worship will not be limited to a certain place. The Samaritans had a syncretic religion (APHUG word!), and they didn’t worship the one God in truth. The phrase “but salvation is from the Jews” shows that the promised Messiah is from the line of the Jews, and they know who they worship: the one true God, and later, Jesus. God’s true followers worship him in spirit and truth now, because God is spirit, and isn’t limited to a certain place. Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah.
I think it’s interesting that Jesus exposes the Samaritan woman’s sin because as Christians, we are so scared to do so ourselves. Whenever we are out in our daily lives, we often overlook and neglect the sins that we see our brothers and sisters do instead of pointing them out like we ought to do. Jesus wasn’t scared to point out sin. I think we should do the same, but the Bible makes it very clear what to do and what not to do. We should be humble, loving, and gentle instead of being self righteous. This means we should examine ourselves as well and see if we are guilty of the same type of sin. It’s scary to confront others about their sins, and it’s even sometimes scary to admit our sins, but this is all necessary to further God’s kingdom.
What does it mean by spirit and truth? I think to worship in spirit means to worship in a place out of this world. It’s how our church service is believed to be spiritually brought into God’s throne room every worship service. But even in our own daily lives, we should have a certain way to spiritually worship God. It’s complicated, but it’s starting to make sense to me more and more each day. I think to worship in truth is to first, acknowledge sin, and then to be godly in intention as well. It’s so easy to lose sight of God during corporate worship, but I would say it’s easier to really connect to God individually, when nobody is watching except God. Worship shouldn’t be superficial, but it should be grounded in the true Word of God.
I think the book of John is really rich in theology, and I’m discovering something new each day. The next time I have one of my moments with God, I want it to be in spirit and in truth, meeting God at a spiritual level, and also being truthful in my intentions and confessions.