John 4:20-26 (ESV)
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
This passage is the end of a conversation with a woman who Jesus has meet at a a well, looking for water. She is a Samaritan women who Jesus has just outed was married five times and is currently living with a man, not her husband. Jesus has confronted her with her sin. Confront might be a harsh word. He actually told her about the living water He wanted to offer her and told her to go get her husband. She stated she has “no husband.” This was when Jesus told her He knew she had five previous husbands and was now living with a man, who was not her husband. So, this woman has had a hard life by any societies norms. She is amazed that He knows this. But, rather than deal with this truth about her life, she wants to know a question about worship. It is a question about a where to worship. It is a question about disputes in worship. It is a question about how nations are divided about worship. But, Jesus goes right for the core challenge. Worship is not a place. Worship is a spiritual act. Why? Because God is “spirit.” This is the same type of description of God as, “God is love (1 John 4:8)” Or, “God is light (1 John 1:5).” This speaks to the fact that God operates in the spiritual realm. That does not mean that our worship does not take on a physical form. It is means that to worship God we start on the inner being of the spirit and express our worship through the outer being of our senses and behaviors. But, it begins on the inside of our spirit. This is why when Jesus came he said:
Matthew 5:21-22 (ESV)
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
Matthew 5:27-28 (ESV)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Anger and lust begin in the spirit. They manifest in behavior but they begin inward. This is why we worship in the spirit. Because that is what matters to God. Because God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth.
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