Spirit and Truth
Spirit and Truth. We continue the series of devotions called, "Words of Christ," with this conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Beginning with the subject of water, Jesus has now moved on to discuss living water which ends with His revelation to her as the Christ.
16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."
17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."
Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."
19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."
21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things."
26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
John 4:16-26, NKJV
Spirit and Truth
We continue our series, "Words of Christ," with this conclusion of a conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. This Bible passage has also been covered in a devotion from John 4 in the series of devotions on this site from the Gospel of John. Our purpose here, however, is to focus on the actual words of Christ.
You will remember that Jesus began this discussion with the subject of water. Sitting at Jacob's well, Jesus had asked the Samaritan woman for a drink of water. Jesus then spoke to her of living water.
In the verses shown above, the conversation has taken a dramatic turn. First, Jesus asked the woman to bring her husband. She responded that she had no husband. Jesus, knowing everything about her commended her, for she had actually had five husbands previously and was now living with a man who was not her husband.
Why do you think Jesus brought up this subject? It certainly seems quite unrelated to their previous conversation. Jesus was establishing two very important points. First, He was helping her to see that He was not just a mere man. As the Messiah, He knew everything about her. Second, Jesus was showing her (and us) that no one is too great of a sinner to come to the knowledge of Christ. Jesus came to save sinners! Therein lies our hope!
As we continue this conversation, we see the point that Jesus is making with this woman. She mentions the subject of worship and compares the worship of the Samaritans with the worship of the Jews. Jesus is introducing a very extraordinary point to this woman. The Father is seeking all those--Jew and Gentile alike--who are seeking to worship Him in Spirit and Truth. In other words, the focus here is not where the worship takes place. The focus changes from worship happening at the temple or the mountain to the Spirit of God.
Who do we worship? Do we worship God or do we worship an idea? Do we focus our beliefs on the truths presented to us in the Word of God, or do we focus our beliefs on the ideas of men--whether they are priests, pastors, missionaries, etc.? Do we focus on the traditions of men, creeds, or religious practices, or do we focus on the Word of God?
I am not attempting to demean traditions, creeds, religious practices, priests, pastors, or missionaries. We, as believers in Christ, need to focus on the Word of God. As we look to traditions, creeds, religious practices, etc., we need to compare all of them to the Bible. For, the Bible is God's Word of truth. In it we find all of our hope, not only for this life, but for the life to come.
This idea was totally foreign to the Samaritan woman, and is often, sad to say, totally foreign to people of our day as well. Jesus plainly presented Himself to the Samaritan woman as the Messiah--the Christ. Indeed, Jesus is our Messiah--our Christ--as well. We rest our hope on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness (as the song writer, Edward Mote) has proclaimed).
My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus' name.
Refrain:
On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
all other ground is sinking sand,
all other ground is sinking sand.
Jesus masterfully went from a conversation about water to presenting Himself as the Christ, the Messiah, to this woman. He also presented the truth that we worship God today in Spirit and truth. We may worship in a building, but our true worship takes place in our heart of hearts. As we meet with others of like minded faith, we all, corporately, worship this amazing God. No city or Temple can hold our God, for He is omnipresent--present everywhere.
Let us, then, go this day with songs of praises on our lips and joy in our hearts. We have found the Messiah--the Christ. He is our Savior--the only way, the only truth, and the only life. Through Him, we have access to our Father God. Through Christ we look forward to an eternal kingdom. This world is not our home--our home is in heaven, above.
What an amazing God we serve!
God Bless You,
Linda
Devotional Reflections from the Bible
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