John 4:19-24, True Worship

19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." 

At first it sounds as if the woman wants to change the topic from her multiple marriages to discuss esoteric religious differences about the true place of worship. Yet her question goes to the heart of the matter. She really wants to know who Jesus is. How could this stranger know about her husbands? The Samaritans only recognized the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. They had no loyalty to David or Solomon, who planned and built the temple in Jerusalem. Their messianic interpretation, based upon Deuteronomy 18:15-18, anticipated a second Moses, who would reveal the truth and restore true worship. She wants to know where Jesus fits in. 

Again, Jesus is direct, telling her that she is ignorant, not knowing who or what she worships. He returns to a time before Moses, back to Abraham, saying that the promise is through Abraham. This is how God is bringing salvation to the world – through His chosen people, the Jewish people, and now specifically through Jesus. 

Then Jesus adds that the Father seeks worshipers. We do not seek God; he seeks us, explaining one of the reasons why God sent his Son into the world: to seek the lost. True worship begins with God seeking us, calling us to Jesus. And this worship happens through the Holy Spirit, empowering us to worship not an abstract concept but a living, breathing person named Jesus.