In Spirit and Truth
John 4:19-24
We, as Christians, speak often of worship, and constantly turn to John 4:24 to
demonstrate the need for us to worship God in spirit and in truth. Most of the
time when we speak of such matters, we are referring to the "acts of worship"
done in the setting of the assembly. Yet, when one examines the New Testament to
see what it says regarding worship and the assembly, we can see that the text
delineates between two forms of worship: proskuneo, direct worship, the
rendering of obeisance to and prostration towards (cf. 1 Corinthians 14:25,
Revelation 4:10, and many others), and latreia, indirect worship, the spiritual
service rendered to fellow humans and to God (cf. Romans 12:1). The New
Testament never confines worship to the assembly, for anything we do in service
to God is worship proper: in fact, very little is said regarding "worship"
explicitly in the "assembly," and the purpose of the assembly is primarily the
encouragement and edification of the brethren (1 Corinthians 14:26, Hebrews
10:24-26), with direct worship also taking place. Indeed, the passage that we
most often refer to demonstrate the authority of worship explains these things
the best: John 4:19-24:
The woman saith unto him, "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers
worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship." Jesus saith unto her, "Woman, believe me, the hour
cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the
Father. Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know; for
salvation is from the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the
Father seek to be his worshippers. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him
must worship in spirit and truth."
John 4:24, of course, is often taken out of its context and used to demonstrate
the need to engage in worship to God in the assembly with both soul and mind
according to the determination of God from the Scriptures. While the passage
certainly supports this argument derived from it, are we to accept that such is
the sum total of Jesus' message to the Samaritan woman and to us? Let us examine
this passage further along with the rest of the New Testament to see.
Before we begin, let us examine the context of the passage, and particularly the
nature of the interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman and the question
she asks.
We first learn of the Samaritans in 2 Kings 17:22-41, where the Kings author
demonstrates that the Samaritans were the Mesopotamian peoples whom the
Assyrians settled in the land of Israel when they exiled the ten tribes. At
first, they did not recognize the LORD, but once the LORD established His
presence by sending lions through the people, they requested to know more about
the God of the land, and the Assyrians sent a priest of Israel. These people,
according to the Kings account, kept worshipping their other gods but added the
worship of Yahweh. In Ezra 4:1-10, we see that the Samaritans wanted a hand in
helping to build the Temple in Jerusalem, and when rebuffed, did all that was in
their power to halt the project.
More on the Samaritans can be gained from Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews. In
book 11, chapter 8, Josephus records that the Samaritans gained approval from
Alexander the Great to build a temple on Mount Gerizim; in book 13 and chapter
9, after the Jewish leader John Hyrcanus conquered the area 200 years later,
Josephus records that the temple was not being used.
The Samaritans exist until this day; they only accept the first five books of
the Old Testament as authoritative, and believe that Mt. Gerizim, not
Jerusalem/Mt. Zion, is the right place to worship God. They sacrifice animals on
Mt. Gerizim to this day.
Having seen such things, we can understand why the Samaritan woman was surprised
that Jesus, as a Jew, would give the time of day to her, a Samaritan (John 4:9),
and why she would ask Him regarding where God was to be worshipped. It is also
important to note that Jesus does affirm that salvation comes from the Jews, and
that the Jews worship what they know while the Samaritans worship in ignorance
(John 4:22), a strong affirmation of the worship in Jerusalem.
If Jesus had just responded with verse 22, there would be little else to talk
about. Jesus' response, however, looks toward the future and speaks in
transcendental terms, and we should certainly look into such matters.
Jesus begins by effectively rendering the question of the Samaritan woman moot:
the days are coming when God will not be worshipped in either Jerusalem or on
Gerizim. This presents a strong contrast to what has existed so far in the
Jewish covenant, where ritual and location were strongly emphasized.
Jesus then goes on to establish that God is spirit, that God seeks those who
would worship Him in spirit and in truth, and this will be coming and is
actually present now. The timeframe is manifestly a reference to Jesus and His
covenant, since the language is similar to that used of the Kingdom in Luke
17:20-21. The passage also demonstrates that God does desire us to worship Him,
and to be the ones doing so "in spirit and in truth." But what, precisely, does
this mean?
The standard answer, of course, is that we are to have our spirit engaged in our
assembly worship and that our assembly worship is to be done according to the
standard of God. This is all well, good, and true, but you could say that just
as easily about the old covenant (cf. Isaiah 1:10-21, Hosea 6:4-7). What is
Jesus' larger point?
When we consider passages that speak of worshipping God in spirit, we turn to
Romans 12:1:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
The word "service" here is the Greek latreia, that indirect worship to God that
we are to continually offer to Him. When we consider this evidence-and consider
how worship is never explicitly associated with the assembly, and that the
thrust of the assembly is encouragement and edification of the saints, the
picture begins to get clearer; Jesus is affirming in John 4:20-24 that in the
new covenant, worship will not be relegated to a building and the offering of
animals and other rote rituals, but will be represented by people serving God
according to His standard. As God is a spirit, and not physical (in an earthly
sense), so the worship God desires is according to the spirit, and not according
to the physical. When we are the living and holy sacrifice God wants us to be,
we are worshipping God in spirit and in truth, and we can be the people God has
earnestly sought.
Everything said here certainly applies also to how we should compose ourselves
in the assembly; after all, all spiritual acts done in the assembly are indeed
worship, both directly and indirectly. In fact, the distinction made between
proskuneo and latreia is somewhat tempered by the fact that Jesus refers to this
worship in John 4 with proskuneo. So, just as proskuneo worship is also latreia
worship, since direct worship is spiritual service, and under the new covenant,
our latreia-spiritual service-is called proskuneo. When we act in service to God
according to His standard, we humble ourselves and render obeisance to Him, and
can be the people whom He has sought.
Perhaps we need to give consideration to what the Scriptures say about our
worship as Christians and change our perspective on what we view as worship
versus what we do not consider as worship, and change our attitudes and
vocabulary accordingly. Let us seek to be the people whom God has sought,
worshipping Him in spirit and in truth at all times.
By Ethan R. Longhenry
From Expository Files 13.11; November 2006
