God Doesn't Care About Where You Worship, But How You Worship! John 4:20-26

John 4:20 "Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, 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 the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the 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, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

The Samaritian woman differentiates herself from Jesus by saying, "you Jews claim the place we must worship is in Jerusalem".  She brings up the topic of the right place to worship.  We know from history that the first temple built by Solomon was built in Jerusalem around 1000 A.D.  The capital of the Southern Kingdom (compromised of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin) was in Jerusalem. The other ten tribes of Israel compromised the Northern kingdom, whose capital was in Samaria.  The two kingdoms split apart after the death of Solomon in 930 B.C.  The northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 B.C.and the southern kingdom in 586 B.C. by the Babylonians. 

After the two split in 930 B.C., they argued over taxes and labo, which caused them to be at odds for the next two hundred years. The Samaritans thought since Moses had commissioned a blessing on Mount Gerazim, that there place of worship was more sacred. (Guzik) Over time the Samaritans worship became a mixture of Judaism and other religions, as they intermarried with their captors (Gentiles).  This is why Jesus says, "You Samaritans worship what you do not know". 

Jesus teaches that true worship is not about a place, but about the worshipper. and how they worship God. True worship is not found in places and trappings but in Spirit and in truth. (Guzik)  Worship is about the truth of who God is, and the truth about who we are as we come before him.  

The woman not quite understanding what Jesus is referring to, points to a time that the Messiah will come, and He will teach them what true worship looks like.  Since the Samaritans believed in the first five books of the Old Testament (the Torah), they too believed the Messiah would come and restore Israel to its former glory.  Jesus says this about how knowing Moses (which is the same as saying the Torah) would lead them to recognize him as the Messiah in John 5:46-47

"If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

Deuteronomy 18:15 says this, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him."

Finally, we get to the climactic part of the encounter when Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah to the woman.  He says, "I the One speaking to you am He."  If there is any doubt Jesus didn't believe or regard himself as the Messiah, they haven't read this text!  Jesus reveals himself to a hated Samaritan, a woman, and a sinner who had committed adultery many times.  Tomorrow we will learn how she responds to his personal revelation. 

When you go to church, do you worship God in Spirit and Truth?  Do you get caught up in the place of worship, or how you place your heart before God? How does the Holy Spirit, who lives inside of you, help you to worship in both Spirit and truth?  How does God's Word, the bible, help you to worship in Truth?