In Spirit and In Truth

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH

John 4:15-30

15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." 16 He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."  17 "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."  19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."  25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." 26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."  27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

NIV

We are in the midst of the conversation between Jesus and this Samaritan women. Jesus had just offered her living water that springs up within to eternal life. It would seem anyone who has any common sense at all would respond exactly the same way this woman did,  “Sir, give me this water.” Although as we see, she was only looking with her physical eyes, as she was only thinking of not being thirsty and having to keep coming to the well for water. That would make her life a whole lot easier. So Jesus clears the situation up, and tells her something of a more spiritual nature in his divine knowledge of her life, having had five husbands and now living in sin with a man who she is not married to. She is quite a sinful little lady and a Samaritan to boot, and Jesus is sharing the good news with her. He did not tell her that she had to clean up her life in order to hear the truth, he just wanted her to come to the terms with the truth. After perceiving him to be a prophet, not yet seeing him as the Messiah, she started thinking more in terms of spiritual things. She makes this statement of the differences between their religious beliefs about worship. Jesus makes it clear that there is a time when the physical place we worship is not of importance, but that if we are true believers that we will worship the Father in spirit and in truth because these are the kinds of believers the Father seeks. It is interesting Jesus makes it clear we are to worship the Father, not him. We have met Christians who are Jesus only believers, which is to say they worship only Jesus because he is our Savior. However, we also should come to terms with the fact the Father is the one who sent Jesus and it is at the right hand of the Father where Jesus now sits. Yes, the Father has given all authority to his Son, Jesus, but the Father is still the Father and not the Son. Oh, here we go, into the triune Godhead. But the point is that Jesus tells her the point is to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Although it is true Jesus came to die on the cross, to be that perfect Lamb of God, that takes away our sin, he also spent his days revealing the Father to the people. He clearly said that if we have seen Jesus, we have seen the Father. We wonder if we, the church, actually worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Do we sort of wrap the whole Father, Son and Spirit together by using the term, God? Of course, we do pray the Lord’s Prayer which does indicate we are praying to the Father. So then perhaps we are worshipping Yahweh, the Father, after all. But what does, spirit and truth mean? What we know is God is not in physical form, he is a Spirit and so we cannot worship him with our physical form, or with our lips, so to speak, just with words, but we must worship him with all our heart, soul, spirit and strength. It is not through rituals, or religious practices, such as certain doctrines or dogmas. It is about worshipping the Father with our whole inner being. The truth is simple, as Jesus is the truth. So then we worship the Father through the Son, or in other words, we see the Father through the revelation of the Son. We can know the true nature of the Father through all his dealings with the Old Testament people, specifically Israel, but Jesus has given us the complete revelation of the Father, his grace, his mercy, his justice, and his love. So as we worship, let us remember we do so in spirit and in truth.