23. But the time will come and has already come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such worshipers for Himself.
However, the time will soon come when Judaism will lose its right to be considered the one true religion to which the eyes of all mankind should turn. This time, one might say, has already arrived, according to at least, a turn towards him is noticed. Christ characterizes this coming era as a time when true, those. Worshipers or worshipers of God who are fully worthy of this name will bow to the Father (cf. v. 21) in spirit and truth. The expression “spirit” here denotes the opposite of the flesh and everything that has a carnal character that limits the freedom of the spirit. The Jews and Samaritans had the idea that the success of prayer depended on external conditions, mainly on the place where the service was performed. Soon this connectedness of man famous place will no longer be: people everywhere in all places on the globe will bring worship to God. But besides this, another change will soon take place: serving God will be done “in truth,” i.e. all falsehood that existed in Jewish and all other worship services will end, when hypocrites also participated in worship and were considered true worshipers of God (Matthew 15:7 et seq.). Divine services will be performed only from a sincere heart, in a pure state of mind.
Here, then, Christ does not say a word against worship not at all denies the need for man, as a being living in the flesh, to express his feelings before God in known external ways (cf. Matt. 6:6). He speaks only against those narrow views of worship that existed then among all peoples, not excluding the Jews. That he recognizes the need for external worship is evident not only from His own example(He, for example, before turning to the Father “lifted up His eyes to heaven” - John 11:41, knelt down during prayer in Gethsemane - Luke 22:41), but also from the fact that He, speaking here about future worship of the Father, uses a verb that denotes the bending of a person to the ground, i.e. external expression of prayerful feeling (προσκυνειν...)
24. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.
God pleases those who bow to Him in spirit who stands above attachment to one specific place are acceptable because He Himself there is a Spirit A being who stands beyond all boundaries of time and therefore is close to every soul that seeks Him (Acts 17:24-29).
25. The woman said to Him: I know that the Messiah will come, that is, Christ; when He comes, He will tell us everything.
The Samaritan woman does not dare to make any objections to Christ regarding His teaching about the advantages of the Jewish people and about the new worship of God: she sees in Him a prophet. But at the same time, she is afraid to admit what the unknown prophet is telling her. She herself is not able to understand these most difficult questions of religion, although she previously turned to Christ for a solution to one of them. Only the Messiah, she says, will explain everything to us (expression: that is Christ belongs, no doubt, not to the Samaritan woman, but to the evangelist, who added it for his Greek readers). How the Samaritans then imagined the Messiah - nothing reliable can be said about this question. One can, however, plausibly assume that the Samaritans could not help but assimilate some of the Jewish ideas about the Messiah. They called Him Tageb, those. restorer, and they said that he would restore the tabernacle of meeting with all its vessels and explain the hidden meaning of the law of Moses. Tageb will act, however, not only as a teacher, but also as a king, to whom Israel and all the nations of the earth will submit.
26. Jesus says to her: It is I who speak to you.
Since the Samaritan woman obviously belonged to the people who waited with all their souls for the Messiah and His salvation, Christ directly reveals to her that He is the Messiah she is waiting for. In the same way, He revealed Himself to John’s disciples at the very first conversation with them, since they were prepared to believe in Him (John 1:41). The Samaritan woman expressed her readiness to believe in Christ as the Messiah by recognizing Him as a prophet (v. 21).
27. At this time His disciples came and were surprised that He was talking to a woman; however, not one said: what do you require? or: what are you talking to her about?
Among the Jews, it was considered not entirely appropriate for a man, and especially a rabbi, to talk to a woman on the road. But the disciples did not dare to express their bewilderment out loud to their Teacher.
28. Then the woman left her waterpot and went into the city, and said to the people: 29. Come, see a man, who told me all things that I have done: is not this the Christ? 30. They left the city and went to Him.
The Samaritan woman, meanwhile, probably embarrassed by the arrival of the prophet’s disciples, who could ask their Teacher what kind of woman was talking to Him, hastened to leave and quickly inform her fellow citizens about the appearance of the amazing prophet, so that her fellow citizens would have time to talk with Him before His departure let's hit the road. She herself does not dare to directly declare in the city that the Messiah spoke to her: she provides the solution to the question of a prophet more than she, knowledgeable people. At the same time, however, she does not hesitate to remind her fellow citizens of her dishonest life and speaks, in a word, so convincingly that a crowd of people follows her.
(water bearer- a vessel for carrying water that a woman could carry. Note ed.)
31. Meanwhile the disciples asked Him, saying: Rabbi! eat. 32. But He said to them, “I have food that you do not know.” 33 Therefore the disciples said among themselves, “Who brought Him anything to eat?” 34. Jesus says to them: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
In response to the disciples’ offer to refresh themselves with the food they brought from the city, Christ says that He has other food and this food consists in the fact that He can do the will of His Father and accomplish, or more precisely, bring to completion the work of the Father (τελειοΰν). Christ does not want to say by this that He does not need ordinary food: He only makes it clear that, under certain circumstances, the fulfillment of the divine will is also a means for Him that strengthens His bodily strength and sometimes replaces ordinary food for Him.
It should be noted that Christ considers His mission here as the completion of that great work (έργον), which the Heavenly Father began to accomplish in humanity long ago. It was the Father Himself who prepared the Samaritan woman and her fellow tribesmen for faith in Christ, it was He who awakened in the souls of these semi-pagans the desire to know the truth, and the task of Christ was only to develop those germs that were placed in the hearts of people by God.
35. Do you not say that there are still four months and the harvest will come? But I say to you: lift up your eyes and look at the fields, how they are white and ripe for harvest.
Christ wants to instill in His disciples greater modesty in understanding their purpose. He does this in figurative form. Since the conversation was about food and, in particular, about bread, which, of course, the disciples brought with them from the city, Christ naturally turns his thoughts to the fields where the bread grew. The well near which Christ sat was located on a certain hill, from where the fields that belonged to the inhabitants of Sychar were visible. “You say - this is how we can convey the figurative saying of Christ - that there are still four whole months left before the harvest, and this is absolutely correct. But there is another harvest, more important for us - the conversion of souls, and this harvest here in Samaria must begin now, because the fields have already turned white - the spiritual bread is already ripe.” From the visible, Christ turns the eyes of His disciples to the invisible. However, it can be assumed that even then, her fellow citizens, led by the Samaritan woman, began to head out of the city from the city (cf. v. 30) and Christ could point to them to His disciples, saying: “Lift up your eyes.”
There is one very important idea that is often heard in the polemics between Orthodox and Protestants. “Why are you building such huge ones, spending so much money and resources on building a place of worship of God, Who clearly said: “The time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem... But the time will come and has already come when the true the worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such worshipers for Himself. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21, 23-24). Do you really think that God needs these temples, magnificent vestments, expensive decorations? - they ask us with undisguised satisfaction. But it is this last thought that should encourage us. This means that the people who speak to us are not far from Orthodoxy, which means that we can understand each other, because this is what is based on Orthodox attitude to the temple: God doesn’t need it!..
The Gospel cannot be understood if we approach it only from the point of view of Divine logic. Christ did not come to tell us what God needs. God is All-Satisfied and He lacks nothing. The Savior revealed to us the truth about what man needs! This is a very important idea. It permeates the entire Gospel. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain why Almighty God heals the blind not with one command, not only with a word, but uses so many unnecessary substances and incomprehensible actions for this: “Having said this, He spat on the ground, made clay from the spit and anointed the eyes of the blind man with clay, and said to him : Go and wash in the pool of Siloam, which means: sent. He went and washed, and came seeing” (John 9:6,7). It is not clear why the Lord, who in one word created the Universe, “cannot” immediately heal the blind man, but lays hands on him several times and uses other actions: “taking the blind man by the hand, he led him out of the village and, spitting on his eyes, laid hands on him and asked him: does he see anything? He looked and said: I see people passing by, like trees. Then he again laid his hands on his eyes and told him to look. And he was healed and began to see everything clearly” (Mark 8:23–25). It turns out that in the Gospel we see God, who comes to us, listens to us and understands our weaknesses, who speaks to a person in a language of space and time that is understandable to him: satisfies the hungry with bread (Matthew 14:17-21), touches the eyes of the blind (Matthew 20:34), the bodies of lepers (Luke 5:13), the beds of the dead (Luke 7:14), although he can do everything with one word, with a thought. And this gospel truth about the Creator, this humiliation of Him, incomprehensible to us, amazes us, plunging us into bewilderment: why does He need all this?..
However, the Gospel reveals to us not only the truth about God. The Savior came to bring people the truth about themselves. And this truth is devoid of vain illusions: we are weak and cannot tear ourselves away from the realities of reality by sheer willpower, we cannot help but take into account what we see around us: “And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to come to Jesus , but seeing the strong wind, he got scared and, starting to drown, shouted: Lord! save me” (Matthew 14:29–30)…
Of course, God does not need it; He does not need magnificent decoration, vestments, or the solemnity of the Divine service. However, this is only part of the truth. There is another one. And it is also justified in the Gospel, like the first. We are creatures of space and time, which means our heartfelt feelings, our reverence, and gratitude cannot be limited only to emotional movements. God has placed in us an amazing connection between the physical and the mental. Therefore, any disposition of the heart naturally has a material form of expression. And this is Divine truth, in which the will of the Creator is hidden.
And the first commandment of Christ’s ladder of virtues says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). What is “spiritual poverty”? This is humility, that is, honesty with oneself. And this evangelical honesty prompts us to admit to ourselves that in everyday life we rarely remember God, we cannot think about heavenly things when the world is madly fussing around us. Even when contemplating the beauty of nature in solitude, we rather enjoy aesthetically than thank the Creator. This means that we need specific time, specific space, “conquered from sin and vanity,” which will help us finally break away from thoughts about earthly things. We need an image that will turn our gaze to the sublime, we need a fragrance that will distract our sense of smell from worldly attachments, we need an action that will tear our imagination away from thoughts about everyday affairs and plans, we need singing that will help pacify the soul from the noises of a crazy world... This and there is that humility from which the path to God begins. There is no contradiction with the Gospel in this confession. On the contrary, this is the only way in our life to justify the meaning of the coming of the Savior in the form of a simple Palestinian Carpenter and the crucifixion by the insane, powerless creature of our Almighty Creator!
The Lord brought to humanity the truth about our weaknesses and illnesses, He also showed us the truth about God, Who speaks to man in a language accessible to him of external actions and images, through material objects. This is the Gospel truth, which is impossible to understand logically, but you cannot escape from it without abandoning your connection with the Living God. Therefore, we should not replace it with the convenient self-delusion that God is in our souls, for the Apostles spoke about something else, they preached “Christ crucified is a stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks” (1 Cor. 1:23)…
Yes, we will say firmly, God does not need a temple, but it is necessary for a person whom the Creator loves so much! And in this amazing contradiction we clearly see Christ’s truth about man and his communication with God, we recognize the hidden meaning of the Gospel: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).
“But the time will come, and has already come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such worshipers for Himself: God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
(John 4:23-24).
These words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman were His first recorded instruction on the subject of prayer. They give us some amazing initial glimpses into the world of prayer. Father is waiting for fans. Our worship satisfies His loving heart and makes Him happy. He is looking for true worshipers, but many of those He finds are not what He would like them to be. True worship must be done in spirit and truth. The Son came to open the way for worship in spirit and truth and to teach it to us. One of our first lessons in the school of prayer should be to understand what it means to pray in spirit and truth, and to know how we can achieve this.
Our Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman about three types of worship.
The first is the ignorant worship of the Samaritans. “You do not know what you are bowing down to...” (v. 22).
The second is the reasonable worship of the Jews, who have true knowledge of God: “... and we know what we worship, for salvation is from the Jews” (ibid.).
And the third is a new spiritual worship, which He Himself wants to introduce us to: “But the time will come, and has already come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth...” (v. 23).
The words "in spirit and truth" do not mean warmly, from the heart, or sincerely. The Samaritans had the five books of Moses and some knowledge of God. And, undoubtedly, not only a few among them sought God in prayer with all their hearts and fervently. The Jews had a true, complete revelation of God in that part of His Word that was handed to them and among them there were people who called on God with all their hearts, but not “in spirit and truth” in full meaning of these words. Jesus says: "... the time will come, and it has already come." Only in Him and through Him will the worship of God be in spirit and truth.
Among Christians there are also three categories of worshipers.
Some, in their ignorance, barely understand what they are asking for. They pray zealously, fervently, but receive little. Others, having more correct understanding, try to pray with all their heart and mind. They often pray very fervently and sincerely, but do not achieve the full blessing of worship in spirit and truth. And we must ask the Lord to accept us into the third group of worshipers and teach us how to worship in spirit and truth. Only this is spiritual worship, and the Father is looking for this kind of worshipers.
In prayer, everything will depend on our understanding and practice of worship in spirit and truth. “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth” (v. 24).
The first thought that the Teacher implies is that there must be agreement between God and His worshipers. This is consistent with the principle operating in the universe: the correspondence between an object and the organ by which it is perceived or known. The eye is sensitive to light, the ear to sound. A person who truly desires to worship God, that is, to find Him, know Him, possess and enjoy fellowship with God, must be in agreement with Him and have the ability to perceive Him.
Since God is Spirit, we must worship Him in spirit. What does this mean? A woman asked our Lord: Is Samaria or Jerusalem the true place of worship? He replied that from now on, worship is no longer limited to any specific place: “Believe Me, that the time is coming when you will worship the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem” (v. 21). God is Spirit, unlimited in space and time. In His infinite perfection He is the same always and everywhere. Worship of Him should not be limited to place or form, but should be spiritual, because God is Spirit. This is a lesson of great importance.
How much our Christianity suffers from the limitations of time and place! A person who is accustomed to pray earnestly only in church or in a prayer room, most spends his time in conflict with what surrounds him at the moment of prayer. His worship is a matter of a fixed place or hour, and not of his whole being. God is Spirit. And He is always the Spirit, and He is always in truth. Our worship should be the same, namely, the spirit of our life. “God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth” (v. 24).
The second thought is that worship in spirit must come from God Himself. Since God is Spirit, only He can give the Spirit. He sent His Son to enable us to engage in such spiritual worship by giving us the Holy Spirit. This is His own work, as Jesus speaks of when He twice mentions “the time will come” and then adds “and it has already come.”
Jesus came to baptize with the Holy Spirit, which could not be poured out until Jesus was glorified (John 1:33; 7:37-38; 16:7). Having dealt with sin, Jesus entered the Holy of Holies in heaven with His blood. There He received the Holy Spirit for us (Acts 2:33) and sent Him to us as the Spirit of the Father.
When Jesus redeemed us and we took the position of children, only then did the Father send His Holy Spirit into our hearts so that we could cry “Abba, Father.”
Worship in spirit is worship of the Father in the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of sonship. This is why Jesus uses the name of the Father here. We will not find a single Old Testament saint who applied the name “child of God” to himself or called God Father. Worship of the Father is possible only for those who have been given the Spirit of the Son. Worship in spirit is possible only for those to whom the Son has revealed the Father and who have received the Spirit of sonship. Only Christ opens the way and teaches worship in the spirit.
Worship in spirit and truth does not mean only sincere worship, it also does not mean only conformity to the truth God's Word. This expression has a deep and divine meaning. Jesus is the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17).
Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Old Testament with its promises was a shadow of future blessings. Jesus brought and gave reality, the essence of what was hope. In Him is blessing and strength eternal life become our actual property and experience.
Jesus is full of grace and truth. The Spirit is the Spirit of truth, and through Him we receive grace in Jesus, which comes from the Divine life.
And thus worship in spirit is worship in truth. Such living communication with God is a real connection and harmony between the Father, who is the Spirit, and the child praying in the spirit.
The Samaritan woman could not immediately understand what Jesus told her.
The meaning of Pentecost had yet to be revealed in its full meaning.
We are not sufficiently prepared to understand such teaching when we first enter the school of prayer. We'll know better later.
Let us begin to learn by taking the lesson as He gives it. We are carnal and cannot offer God the worship He expects. But Jesus gave us the Spirit. Let our hearts in prayer conform to the words of Christ's teaching. Let us have a deep consciousness of our inability to offer God the worship that pleases Him, and a childish ability to learn while waiting for Him to teach us, and a simple faith that is obedient to the breathing of the Spirit. And above all, let us hold fast to the blessed reality that the secret of prayer in spirit and truth lies in the awareness of the fatherhood of God, the revelation of His infinite fatherly love in our hearts and faith in His infinite love for us as His children. This is the new and living way that Christ has opened for us. That we have the Son Christ and the Spirit of the Son living in us and the revelation of God as Father makes us true worshipers.
Lord, teach us to pray!
Blessed Lord! I bow to the love with which You taught a woman who would not even give You a cup of water how to worship God. I rejoice, believing that You will instruct in the same love every disciple who comes to You, whose heart longs to pray in spirit and in truth. O my holy Teacher! Tell me this blessed secret! Let me understand that worship in spirit and truth has nothing from man, but comes only from You. It is not only a matter of time and timing, but the outpouring of Your life. Teach me to approach God in prayer with the consciousness of my ignorance, that I have nothing in myself to bring to Him, but, at the same time, remind me of what You have provided me with, My Savior, and cause the Spirit breathed in my baby talk. I bless You because in You I am a child and I have the freedom of a child coming to the Father. In You I have the Spirit of sonship and worship in truth. Give me, Blessed Son of the Father, a revelation of God as Father, which will give confidence in prayer. May endless fatherhood God's heart will be my joy and strength for a life of prayer and worship. Amen.
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