Joh 4:22 | KingComments | STEP | Now the woman is aware that she is in God’s light, she speaks about worship, about honoring God. A heart that is convinced of its sins and convinced of God’s grace for sinners, starts to desire to worship God. This is what we witness in the woman. She expresses her longing for worship and at the same time her difficulty how and where to do it by indicating two places of worship. The woman speaks about “our fathers” who “worshiped in this mountain”. For her, worship has always been connected to a long tradition. It is the same for countless Christians today. They come together in a church or a building because their parents and grandparents did the same. They have never wondered what the woman begins to wonder: What is the true place of worship? The woman also knows that for “you”, that is the Jews, Jerusalem is the place of worship. Now she wants to know from the Lord Jesus which of the two is the true place of worship. He answers her question, putting faith in Him first. This is shown by the fact that He begins His teaching about worship by saying “woman, believe Me”. He makes it clear to her, that for faith, Jerusalem and Samaria as places of worship will both disappear entirely. Now that the Father is revealed in and by the Son, worship is no longer connected with any particular place on earth. Although both Jerusalem and Samaria will disappear, they are not equal places of worship. The woman and all Samaritans have a worship that is not focused on the true God. They do not know what they worship. God has not committed Himself to them and has not revealed Himself to them as Yahweh . Their worship is directed to an unknown god, a product of their own religious imagination. For the Jews, “we”, it is true that they do know what they worship. To them God has revealed Himself and also said where and how He wants to be worshiped. To the Samaritan woman the Lord therefore maintains Jewish worship. At that time this is still God’s chosen service because out of them is the salvation that is in the Christ ( ). The Samaritans are imitators and hostile to God, otherwise they would have submitted to God’s ways and Word. The Lord speaks of “what”, not ‘who’ is worshiped. Although God has revealed Himself in Judaism, this announcement is still only partial. The whole service is arranged in such a manner that someone who has no faith in God can also participate in it. In addition, God lived in darkness, behind the veil, and the common people were not allowed to approach Him. That is why worship is a ‘what’, meeting a precept, without necessarily having an inner relationship with God. When Christ died, that changed. Then God came out and revealed Himself through the Spirit as Father in the Son. Christians therefore know ‘Who’ they worship and not just ‘what’.

‏ John 4:22

The Place of Worship

Now the woman is aware that she is in God’s light, she speaks about worship, about honoring God. A heart that is convinced of its sins and convinced of God’s grace for sinners, starts to desire to worship God. This is what we witness in the woman. She expresses her longing for worship and at the same time her difficulty how and where to do it by indicating two places of worship.

The woman speaks about “our fathers” who “worshiped in this mountain”. For her, worship has always been connected to a long tradition. It is the same for countless Christians today. They come together in a church or a building because their parents and grandparents did the same. They have never wondered what the woman begins to wonder: What is the true place of worship?

The woman also knows that for “you”, that is the Jews, Jerusalem is the place of worship. Now she wants to know from the Lord Jesus which of the two is the true place of worship. He answers her question, putting faith in Him first. This is shown by the fact that He begins His teaching about worship by saying “woman, believe Me”. He makes it clear to her, that for faith, Jerusalem and Samaria as places of worship will both disappear entirely. Now that the Father is revealed in and by the Son, worship is no longer connected with any particular place on earth.

Although both Jerusalem and Samaria will disappear, they are not equal places of worship. The woman and all Samaritans have a worship that is not focused on the true God. They do not know what they worship. God has not committed Himself to them and has not revealed Himself to them as Yahweh. Their worship is directed to an unknown god, a product of their own religious imagination. For the Jews, “we”, it is true that they do know what they worship. To them God has revealed Himself and also said where and how He wants to be worshiped.

To the Samaritan woman the Lord therefore maintains Jewish worship. At that time this is still God’s chosen service because out of them is the salvation that is in the Christ (Rom 9:4-5). The Samaritans are imitators and hostile to God, otherwise they would have submitted to God’s ways and Word.

The Lord speaks of “what”, not ‘who’ is worshiped. Although God has revealed Himself in Judaism, this announcement is still only partial. The whole service is arranged in such a manner that someone who has no faith in God can also participate in it. In addition, God lived in darkness, behind the veil, and the common people were not allowed to approach Him. That is why worship is a ‘what’, meeting a precept, without necessarily having an inner relationship with God. When Christ died, that changed. Then God came out and revealed Himself through the Spirit as Father in the Son. Christians therefore know ‘Who’ they worship and not just ‘what’.