Part 3 of a study on John 4:1-42
Sooo...the story continues and Jesus is still sitting at the well with the tramp. She's been offered a new life (living water) by Jesus and she also just realized that He knows absolutely everything about her (mistakes and all) and He still wants to be with her. When you run into a love like this, it changes everything!!! When you find a love like that you know you can ask anything in the world...and she does, but it's not what you think. She turns to Jesus and asks, "Why do you Jews believe that the only place to worship God is in Jerusalem?" Okay...I don't know about you, but that's probably the last thing that I would think that would come out of a slut's mouth. But it makes you think...
Maybe she was raised in a religious home
Maybe she was the one who always "went to church"
Maybe she was "hurt by the church"
Maybe she had religious rules instead of love
Maybe that's why she went on her wild spree...to find love
And after she has found her love in Jesus, she asks one thing...and it's a religious question. hmmm.
And Jesus answers her, "It no longer matters whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. True worshippers worship Him in Spirit and Truth. He is looking for those who worship him that way. God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth!!!"
I absolutely LOVE this. You know why??? Because Jesus keeps telling the religious people that all their worship is fake because it is without love. And then Jesus tells the slut, the one who has been looking for love her entire life, how to love and how to worship. Jesus is FREAKIN AWESOME!!!
Sooo...worship (love) in spirit and in truth. What does that mean???
TRUTH--that's simple...all that means is...let your love for God be real. Sincerity. Don't be like the pharisee's of Jesus' day and the religious people of our day. Don't be fake. Cut the B.S. and fall in love with God and let that be real in your life.
SPIRIT--this is a word full of meaning...spirit in the greek means "breath." So Jesus is basically doing away with all religious aspects here. No more temple, no more only Jerusalem, no more you have to sacrifice this animal. Jesus says worship is loving God with every breath that you take. Worship is bigger than church walls and church traditions. It encompasses all of life. And we can't do this on our own. We all are dirty. We all still mess up. We all are unholy. That's why He sends His HOLY Spirit. And He BREATHES his breath of life into us because "in Him we live and move and breathe." (Acts 17:28) Sooo...with every breath He gives us we are to love Him with all of it.
Sooo...Jesus answers her question, saying places don't matter anymore. To worship, to love...all you need is the air you breathe. And God is searching for those who love him like that.
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO!!!
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Sources
The Bible