John 4:23-24 - How God Must be Worshipped

John 4:23-24

"But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirt and truth."

Message: How God Must be Worshipped

Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."

What the Lord is Saying: Jesus in the last lesson has mentioned worship and today's passage has always been an interesting one to me as Jesus speaks of true worshipers. Jesus is pointing us toward worshiping the father in verse 21 and now again here in these verses to "worship the Father in spirit and truth." For us, maybe this is not as significant as it was in that day. But maybe it is because Jesus seems to be pointing out the importance of how we worship rather than where we worship. 

Tabletalk mentions this and I think it is significant:

Due to the connection between sacred space and proper, divinely appointed worship, first-century Jews and Samaritans debated the location God chose for people to bring Him sacrifices. The Samaritans believed Mount Gerizim, not Mount Zion, was the place the Lord had chosen. Upon learning that Jesus was a Jewish prophet, the Samaritan woman asked Him to weigh in on the debate. Interestingly, Jesus gave an answer she was likely not expecting—the debate between worship on Zion or Gerizim was about to be rendered obsolete. People would worship not only on Zion or Gerizim but anywhere they approach God in spirit and truth (John 4:21–24).

I do think that phrase "In spirit and truth" is an interesting phrase. Jesus has been mentioning the spirit often in the last few chapters, during his time in Judea and Samaria. The little 's' spirit is the place in our human spirit where the Holy Spirit of God resides. This is another way in which man stands out and is different. He has a spirit and the spirit is a place the Holy Spirit speaks to us and resides. The Holy Spirit will operate and then our lives will be lived out in such a way to express the Spirit's work in and through us. I love going back to chapter 3, verse 5 and seeing where Jesus says that "we must be born of the Spirit to enter the kingdom of God." The Spirit must awaken in us a desire for things of God. Our sin is exposed and now we can choose to surrender our lives and follow Him or not. 

Thus, "in spirit" has no limitations on time and space. Places are not bad but the essence of our faith is not being caught up in a church structure but rather in the matter of worshipping God within our spirit. And it is noteworthy that spirit precedes truth. We need the spirit to be defined to know the truth. We align ourselves with Him and worship with Him there is spirit and in truth. Truth is in harmony with the will of God and His nature. 

Summary: True worship is not at a building though this is not bad, but true worship is God's Spirit speaking to our spirit and walking in the truth of the will of God and His nature. 

Promise: True worship does not consist in merely going through the motions but in setting our hearts to love, thank, and praise our Maker while we come before Him privately and publicly.

Prayer: God, what an exciting passage to behold the community I have with You that is distinct and different. Thank you for speaking to me and for your Holy Spirit making known to me the beauty of worshipping you. You speak to me in a way that I don't always comprehend and yet you give me truth in this communication. It is different. You have sent your spirit to be with mine and I praise you for this and thank you for the special union we have. Thank you for awakening me and help me be a conduit to others. Help me understand better how to communicate to others these true words. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.