The rift, the dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans was explained in a previous post. As stated, it was a source of hatred between the Jews and Samaritans. While there were other factors involved, it boiled down to where you worship God. The Jews contended that Jerusalem is the only place for valid worship but the Samaritans were not welcome there, so they worshipped on the mountain. Was this valid? The woman at the well would want an answer to this question.

When Jesus demonstrates prophetic insight into the woman’s life of sin, she recognizes Him as a prophet (perhaps even begins to suspect who He is). Some would say that her next statement was a deflection to get the topic off of her sinfulness. I don’t think so. She is busted anyway. Anyway, here is this Jewish prophet sitting in front of her so she goes straight to the heart of the dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans. I think she wants an answer to a long standing question: is it valid to worship here on Mt Gerizim or not?

Jesus gives her, a Samaritan woman who was living an adulterous life, a revelation that he had not even given to his own disciples or to anyone else up to this point in His life and ministry on the earth. Why her? Well, why does the Lord reveal Himself to anyone: because anyone who seeks Him, finds Him. I believe this woman was tired of the sin and cried out to God. There was a thirst in her heart to truly know God. Believe me. When you are trapped in sin and you recognize there is no way out, and you begin to recognize the futility and the emptiness, you get thirsty for something else. That’s the moment when you are ready for Messiah. For her, there He was, sitting, waiting for her.

The revelation the Lord gives her resolves, in one statement from Him, this dispute between Samaritans and Jews about worship – a dispute that had kept them divided for centuries.

The Revelation that Ended the Dispute

Jesus could have handled this statement from the woman by confirming that God is worshipped only in Jerusalem in accordance with Deuteronomy 12:11-14. But that would have perpetuated the dispute which had to be resolved for Ezekiel 37:15-28 to be fulfilled. Jesus was here to resolve it through a sweeping change to the whole perspective about worship. Of course, Jesus is making sweeping changes to everything – without violating the Law of Moses. The revelation of Jesus to the woman that would change everything the Jews understood about worship was this:

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

John 4:21-24

These few statements from Jesus are packed with revelation He had never made up to this point in His ministry:

• The time of Messiah was here and it would fundamentally change worship of God.
• From this time forward, worship is no longer location specific. Worship does not exclude the location in Jerusalem but it reveals the key aspect of true worship as spiritual, not physical.
• God is Spirit. An explicit statement about the nature of God that affected how He is to be worshipped. Its not where you worship but how you worship: in Spirit, and in Truth.
• Truth matters in worship. Jesus said in His prayer to the Father (John 17) that His followers would be sanctified in the truth and that “thy Word is truth”.
• Since God is Spirit, His worshipers must align their worship with His nature. True worship is in Spirit and Truth. The implication is also one about the nature of man: that mankind is also spiritual in nature and this must form the basis of our worship. This likely connects with salvation as Jesus had explained to Nicodemus in John 3.

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 3:5-6

True worship would now come out of a spiritual connection with God that is based in salvation, and salvation is only available by faith in Jesus Christ. Without the truth of the Gospel, how can we know Christ? Without Christ, how can we be born of the Spirit? Without the Spirit, how can we worship the Father in spirit? Without Christ it is not possible to worship as the Father requires. Without Christ we are not of the Spirit; without Christ we are not of the Truth.

The Reconciliation

John 4:21-24 puts this impasse between the Jews and the Samaritans to rest once and for all. In regards to true worship, the temple on Mt Gerizim doesn’t matter just like the temple in Jerusalem does not matter. Dispute resolved. Jesus never rebuked the woman or the Samaritans for worshipping God on the mountain. Indeed, there was an altar to the Lord on Mount Ebal and in Shechem, so the Lord was worshipped in this very place before.

I think the Lord appreciated the fact that worship of Him was their desire. Again, there was not indication from Christ that worshipping the way they were and here on the mountain was wrong. The only issue was an incomplete knowledge of God. That was about to be resolved as well because the Lord and the disciples stayed with the Samaritan community at Sychar for a few days. This is a significant amount of time the Lord set aside to spend with these people. We might speculate on what the Lord taught them while he was there. I believe the Lord stayed for several reasons:

• He was welcomed there. They believed He was Messiah. The Jews pretty much rejected Him.
• The disciples needed the connection with these people. Remember, when they arrived, they wanted nothing to do with them – the rift, the racism, the hatred. What better way to begin reconciling the tribes of Israel than by sharing some meals and opening a dialogue between people who hated each other – with Messiah as the arbitrator. We could sure use that today.
• The Lord is looking to the near future when he would establish the Great Commission. In that mission statement, He would specifically mention Samaria.

Here is something else that is very interesting: the division of Israel into two kingdoms actually began over a matter of worship. Solomon had established high places dedicated to worship of foreign gods.

Furthermore, on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. He built high places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods.

1 Kings 11:7-8

Recall that the judgement of God against Solomon for his idolatry was to divide Israel into two kingdoms, which happened essentially here in the same place where Jesus met this woman – very near Shechem. The prophecy in Ezekiel 37 is that reunification would happen, not through the agency of men but by God Himself. So the kingdom that was divided by God over a matter of false worship of false gods in high places on the Mount of Olives, would now be put back together by God in human flesh: Messiah.

I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. They will not defile themselves with their idols, their detestable things, and all their rebellious deeds. I will save them from all their unfaithfulness by which they sinned. I will purify them; they will become my people, and I will become their God.

Ezekiel 37:22-23

Messiah came to this place – the very place where Israel was divided – to overturn the worship of false gods by a restoral of worship of the one true God. Worship would no longer be location based but instead based in spirit and in truth. Only God could accomplish this as indicated in the prophecy. In the very place Israel was divided it would be put back together, or at least that process of fulfillment would begin.

One final revelation to the woman – something she must have already known as she spoke with this man who was “declaring all things” to her.

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

John 4:25-26

Location centric worship was changed to heart centric worship. This not only put to rest this long standing dispute which opened the door for the reunification of the tribes of Israel, but it also was a prerequisite for worship in the church that would soon be established by Christ through His apostles. The vector for the salvation of all people who would believe the message of the Gospel would run from Jerusalem through Samaria and to the ends of the earth…all enabled by a short meeting between Messiah and a sinful woman who was thirsty for God.

How about you? Tired of the emptiness of sin? Are you thirsty for Living Water?

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:13