A Worship Lesson from Sychar, Samaria

Commentary on John 4:20-26

Khen Lim




Jesus with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well (Image source: openingtogod.wordpress.com)

In His encounter with the unnamed Samaritan woman, Jesus had a remarkable dialogue right at Jacob’s Well in Sychar in which talk centred, not surprisingly, on water. Not any ordinary water, mind you, but living water.

Yet in John’s moving account, Jesus reveals the Samaritan woman’s hidden sin and shame after which she moves into the centrepiece of their dialogue, asking, “So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshipped?”

Jesus replied, “Believe Me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the One you worship while we Jews know all about Him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming – indeed it’s here now – when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (Jn 4:20-26)

That dialogue is not just powerful stuff but it is revealing about Who and how we worship. It is easily the most significant single biblical verse for guiding the essence of what we’re pursuing together when we gather to ready ourselves for corporate worship and that is precisely what we want to focus on that is, what God expects of our worship. Jesus says that the only way to truly worship God is to do so in ‘spirit’ and in ‘truth.’ He also said that the time is now when that standard will be set as our reference marker for truly worshipping His Father.

There are two parts to that worship – in spirit and in truth. Jesus says that these two parts flesh out the quality of our worship and in that alone lies the very core importance of how we must follow. Against this standard, we can see how our own personal and corporate worship measures up to that which Jesus had laid out. Bear in mind the word ‘must’ in the last verse above: “For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (v.24, bold effect added). In other words, Jesus doesn’t regard this approach as an option but that we are to possess the two parts in our worship.

In Truth

If we are to partake in true worship, then we must be in truth ourselves. Scripture is filled with verses of God’s Word being the truth, teaching us that to engage in true worship, our minds must be renewed with a fullness of understanding Scripture. What this means is that we won’t get away by merely peeking at a few standout verses.

Psalm 119:160 says, ‘The very essence of Your words is truth; all Your just regulations will stand forever.’ Scripture says in John 17:17, ‘Make them holy by Your truth; teach them Your word, which is truth.’ 

Truth can only come from knowing God’s Word in its fullest expanse.

In Spirit

Unlike anything we read from the Old Testament, Jesus’ proclamation of worshipping in Spirit is revolutionary and unique but it is the cornerstone of the New Covenant in which things are different. In the days of old, the Holy Spirit did not dwell in people but instead, He would descend unto them for a time or to fulfil a particular task but after that, He takes leave. It was the patriarch Ezekiel who revealed that this would be different (Ezek 36:26-27):

“And I will give you a new heart and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put My Spirit in you so that you will follow My decrees and be careful to obey My regulations.”

When Jesus tells of people who worship in spirit (and truth), it is what Ezekiel referred to as the ‘new spirit.’ This is in fact that one (of two things) that God is looking for. The days of the Early Church pretty much reveal the extent of worshipping in the spirit to the point that the apostle Paul dedicated a significant portion of his letter writing on the subject of spiritual gifts and its orderliness during church services (see 1 Cor 12-14).

Seeking the right balance

The two elements – spirit and truth – of worship require balancing. Most of us find it difficult to achieve this. We’re either going to be heavy on the truth but not the spirit or the other way round. Some people, for example, are cerebral enough to analyse everything in search of truth but fail to connect with the spirit side of their worship. They may scour for details with a fine-toothed comb but they may leave you feeling detached and cold.

There are also those who are very immersed in the spiritual experience but has no understanding of the core of the truth in worship. They become critical and judgemental. They lack the fruit of the Spirit and so their feelings are void of love, joy, peace or patience. They may worship but they may also remain unkind, unrestrained, argumentative and harsh.

Not attaining that vital balance will create problems. On the one side are those who may have great head knowledge but their infamy is in the things they’re against rather than the things for. On the other side are those whose spirited hearts rule their worship but are vulnerable to divergent doctrines and deviant influences through a lack of scriptural understanding.

The head and the heart

The worship of Christ must be centred on the involvement of the head and the heart but not one without the other. It necessitates the true doctrine of the Father and the Son and their joint quest to rescue sinners as well as the due emotion concerning that doctrine. To be spirit-filled in worship is to be true to the heart in which one’s fullness of emotions focus on the true perception of God. Knowing and embracing the truth tells of a head that is centred on how the heart feels.

The togetherness of the spirit and the truth is compelling and symbiotic. Truth without emotion is dead orthodoxy. The church may be full of admirers but as a result, they are superficial. Emotion without truth creates a lot of cries of frenetic emptiness, resulting in shallowness in people who also lack discipline in rigorous thought.

The brand of worship called on by God must and can only come from those who plumb the emotional depths with purpose of heart entwined in a meaningful love and desire of sound doctrine.

Fulsome worship

We return to the word ‘must’ in which Jesus added in verse 24: ‘For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.’ Remember, Jesus is saying to us it is not an add-on option. To worship in truth and in spirit is what we must purpose ourselves to do. In the previous verse, He says, ‘The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way.’ God our Father seeks those who partake in true worship and this can only come if we do not leave out one or the other. When we are not ‘true worshippers,’ Jesus says we are not the ones the Father is seeking.

Spirit and truth are here to stay in our worship of God. It is only then that we can witness His enduring power and glowing presence manifest among us congregants in a way that befits a wonderfully powerful and loving God. It is the signature worship style that God is looking for in each and every one of us in every church worthy of His Name.