Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (Part 2)

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

The Gospel of John 

July 8, 2024

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (Part 2)

For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

John  4:24

At the time of the Gospel of John, the phrase ‘living water’ was a common way of referring to running water, as in a stream or river. Such water was considered to be pure and fresh as compared to standing water in a pond or well. Jesus was telling the woman that worshipping God in truth and spirit was not about on which mountain (church) you worshipped. It meant turning away from her present life, which was symbolized as stagnant water, and receiving God’s new life, which Jesus symbolized as living water.

Isn’t it interesting that two millennia later, people still grossly misunderstand Jesus’ simple teaching to the Samaritan woman. So many people love their local church or denomination (or non-denomination) more than they love the Kingdom of God. For these people, truth and spirit have been reduced to the doctrine and teaching of their local church. There are also many other people who think worshipping God in truth and spirit can be accomplished apart from God’s chosen means to build his Kingdom, which is through the local church. These people shun the local church in favor of their own spiritual experience.

Each group has the potential of an authentic encounter with God, and each group has the potential of being deaf to Jesus when he says, “I Am the Messiah!” (John 4:26). Next Sunday, if there are just two or three followers of Jesus, gathered in his name in your local church, God has promised to be present! I pray that you and I will be counted among those two or three, and that we will go expecting an encounter with the living Messiah.

My Takeaway: “True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). 

Sē’lah

 

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.