True Worship: The Woman at the Well, Part 2 (John 4)
John takes us to Jacob’s well in Samaria—a place loaded with historical animosities between Jews and Samaritans. While exploring his theme of belief, John teaches us about worship and hungering for God’s will.
Review – The Woman at the Well (John 4)
The thesis of John’s gospel is the only way to gain eternal life in the kingdom of heaven is to believe Jesus is the Christ. John chose certain aspects of the ministry of Jesus to highlight certain themes.
- Theme 1: The importance of testimony. Why should we believe what we haven’t seen for ourselves? We believe because of the testimony of those who saw it.
- Theme 2: The only way to receive eternal life is to believe in Jesus. What’s the point of all this testimony? That we believe in Jesus. Why is believing in Jesus so important? Because he’s the only one who can grant us eternal life.
- Theme 3: Those who believe do so because of the activity of the Spirit of God. We don’t manufacture belief. The Spirit gives it to us.
John highlights three themes in chapter 4.
Theme 1: There is a miracle, testimony concerning the miracle, and then belief that Jesus is the Messiah because of that miracle and testimony. The Samaritans follow the same pattern. In contrast to the Jewish noble who requires a sign to believe.
We’ll look at the last two themes in this podcast.
Theme 2: John 4:19-26
- Jesus has just shown he knows facts about her he has no way of knowing.
- She realizes he’s a prophet, but from her perspective, he’s the wrong religion.
- Why should she, a Samaritan, listen to a Jewish prophet?
- Jesus gives a two-part answer.
- First, the Jews are correct; the Samaritans are wrong. For example, the Samaritans accepted only the first 5 books of the Old Testament; they worshiped at a temple in Samaria; and they didn’t believe the Messiah would be from the line of David.
- Second, true worship is not about where you worship but about the inner spiritual state of the worshiper.
- It matters more who you are inside than that you go through the religious motions on the outside.
- While the rituals expressed their inner commitment to God, the rituals themselves contained no magic. They were meant to express a reality about the person’s spiritual state.
- To worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23) is to worship God in my spirit in response to the truth.
Theme 3: John 4:31-28
- Jesus is preparing the 12 to be his apostles. He wants them to see the world the way he sees the world.
- They should not be surprised that he spoke to the Samaritan woman. Speaking to the lost is what he came to do.
- Doing God’s will satisfies Jesus in the same way a good meal satisfies hunger. It motivates him and keeps him going.
- The reality of life is harvesting requires patience. After you plant seeds, you must wait months before you can harvest the results.
- The Samaritans were prepared to hear the gospel when Jesus and his apostles came to town because of years of preparation.
- The apostles will get to experience the joy of harvesting because of the hard work of others.
Please listen to the podcast for more detail and explanation.
Next: 12 Sabbath Conflict and the Authority of Jesus (John 5)
Previous: 10 Living Water: The Woman at the Well, Part 1 (John 4)
Series: Gospel of John: Believe and Find Life
Study: Gospel of John Bible Study Resources
Podcast season 25, episode 11