The
Samaritan woman has been honest with Jesus about the man she is now
living with. She may have gotten uneasy because Jesus knew all about
her sinful life, so she changes the subject. “Sir,”
the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers
worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where
we must worship is in Jerusalem.” This Samaritan woman first saw Jesus as a Jew. Now she sees Him as a Prophet of God. As Jesus speaks His word to her, she is growing in the knowledge of Him.
When the kingdom of Israel divided, Jereboam, king of the northern tribes, built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim. (see 1 Kings 12: 24-32) Jews and Samaritans had a long-standing argument over which of the temples was the true place of worship. She wanted Jesus to answer this for her. Perhaps she wanted to know where God can be found! Because of the two temples, there is some confusion.
When the kingdom of Israel divided, Jereboam, king of the northern tribes, built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim. (see 1 Kings 12: 24-32) Jews and Samaritans had a long-standing argument over which of the temples was the true place of worship. She wanted Jesus to answer this for her. Perhaps she wanted to know where God can be found! Because of the two temples, there is some confusion.
Jesus
gives her the answer. It is not the temple in Jerusalem or the one
on Mount Gerizim. Jesus will teach her a “new” way of worship.
No more outward ritual. Now a person is to worship within in Spirit and in Truth. “Believe
Me, Woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither
on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you
do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the
Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth, for they are the kind
of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit and His worshipers
must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.” John 4: 21-24
Please
allow me to break this answer of Jesus down for you.
Woman
Jesus
didn't call this Samaritan woman by name. He called her “woman.”
Adam when he was holy named his God-given bride “woman.” The
“woman” in Genesis was also holy because she came out of a
sinless, holy man. It was after the original sin that Woman had a
name change to Eve.
Woman
is an honorable title. It is a title of respect and honor. It
means “queen.” The first Woman was the bride of a king – Adam.
The law of first mention applies here. The first Adam called his
holy bride “Woman.” The Second and Last Adam (Jesus)
called
His Bride “Woman.” Jesus
referred to women many times in the New Testament but He only used
“Woman” as a title five times in the Gospel of John and once in
the Gospel of Luke. As Adam called his God-given bride “Woman,”
Jesus calls His God-given Bride “Woman.” When Jesus used that title
in addressing a particular woman, He was speaking to His Bride who is
made holy by His righteousness.
- Luke 13:12: “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” Those who are set free belong to King Jesus as His Bride-to-be.
- John 2:4: “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.” Jesus is speaking to His earthly mother who was the first to know that her Son is the Messiah before He was even born. She too is a part of His Bride-to-be. She was with her Son Jesus from the beginning to the end.
- John 4:21: “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming and now is when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem worship the Father.” Jesus is speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well to whom He had just revealed Himself as the Messiah. This woman believed in Him and brought a whole town to Jesus. She too is a part of His Bride-to-be. Christ's Bride will worship in Spirit and in Truth. God is Spirit and Truth and the Holy Spirit is the One who will lead us into all Truth.
- John 19:26: “Woman, behold your son.” Again Jesus is talking to His earthly mother. He is giving John -- the disciple who drew closest to Jesus when He walked the earth -- to His earthly mother as her son. The Bride of Christ is made up of males (sons) and females (daughters) who truly believe in Jesus and His finished work on the cross, and worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. We are His soon-to-be Bride.
- John 20:15: Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus was speaking to Mary Magdalene. She was weeping because she could not find Jesus after He had died and was buried. She was seeking Him but couldn't find Him! She didn't realize that He had been resurrected from the dead. Jesus called her “Woman” first and then called her by her name “Mary.” When He called her by name, she recognized Him. Mary Magdalene was also a committed follower of Jesus who followed Him right to the end. She too is a part of His Bride-to-be.
- In light of all of this, I can only come to the conclusion that Jesus was referring to His Bride when He used the title “Woman” in speaking to these particular women. Jesus, like Adam when he was first created, is holy and will have a holy Bride based upon His righteousness, not her own. The first Adam's bride was also holy because of his righteousness. She was formed from a piece of a holy man as Christ's Bride comes from a holy Man and is shaped and formed by Him into a "new" creation. All of these women believed in Jesus and followed Him. He says, “Believe Me.” He wants her to know and trust His Word that there will be a "new" way of worship.
Jesus
is speaking about the time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit after
His death, resurrection and ascension to the Father. God is Spirit
and Truth. Therefore, true worshipers will worship God in Spirit and
in Truth (Jesus).
Jesus
had to die to pay the penalty for sin and make us holy so the Holy
Spirit could reside in us. The blood of Jesus cleansed us of all
unrighteousness in preparation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit
upon flesh. What is holy cannot reside in an unholy place. Jesus had the fullness of the Holy Spirit. He gave us
the Holy Spirit without measure. However, we still have sin. Sin reduces the power of the Holy Spirit in us. The more we allow
His cleansing, the greater and fuller Jesus and the Holy Spirit
reside in us.
When
the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us, we will then worship in Spirit
and in Truth from the heart.
Without Jesus and the Holy Spirit, our spirit is dead in sin. In
order to truly know God, we must know Jesus.
Father
– a “New” Name used for God
There
are many names in the Older Testament for God, but none as intimate
as “Father.” Jesus called God His Father. There is no love that
can match the love of a parent for a child except the agape love of
Our Heavenly Father for His Son and for His sons and daughters who
believe in His Son. The other names for God in the Older Testament
revealed a particular character or trait of God, but Jesus' name for His
Father revealed the love and close intimate relationship that He and
the Father shared, and that those who love Him share also. Jesus
instituted a “new” Law – the Law of love. God is our Heavenly
Father who loves us as He loved His only Begotten Son.
Jesus
didn't call God El Shaddai, or Jehovah, or Jehovah Jireh, etc. He is
so intimately connected to the Father in love and purpose that they
are One. No one called God “Father” until Jesus His only Begotten Son. It was prophesied in the Older Testament that God is Israel's “Father” but no one addressed God by that name in the Older Testament. God called Himself the Father of Israel (see Jeremiah 31:9), and in the prophetic Psalm 89, it says, "He will call out to Me, 'You are My Father, my God, the rock of my salvation." v26 Jesus did this in fulfillment of all of the Older Testament prophecies. He is the only pure, spiritual Son of God. The prophet Isaiah said that God is the "Father" of the Israelites but the Israelites didn't address Him with that title. (see Isaiah 64:8) This was reserved for Jesus. Luke 10:22: "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and to whom the Son wishes to reveal Him." Jesus and the Father are One. He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. Only the holy Son can reveal His holy Father in heaven.
Jesus made it clear throughout the Gospels that God is our spiritual Father. Jesus calls God Father, and He wants us to know Him as our Heavenly Father who is as connected to us as He is to His Son Jesus. Because of Jesus, we become the Lord's spiritual sons and daughters. (Galatians 3:26; 2 Corinthians 6:18) Before Jesus, God had not been reproduced – He had no pure, spiritual Son. After Jesus, God has many sons and daughters who are made righteous through the blood sacrifice of His Son.
Jesus made it clear throughout the Gospels that God is our spiritual Father. Jesus calls God Father, and He wants us to know Him as our Heavenly Father who is as connected to us as He is to His Son Jesus. Because of Jesus, we become the Lord's spiritual sons and daughters. (Galatians 3:26; 2 Corinthians 6:18) Before Jesus, God had not been reproduced – He had no pure, spiritual Son. After Jesus, God has many sons and daughters who are made righteous through the blood sacrifice of His Son.
Worship
Neither on this Mountain or in Jerusalem – a “new” place of
worship
This
woman is seeking the truth. She has been taught that God's presence
is in the temple on Mount Gerizim. No doubt she is surprised at
Jesus' answer. She is focused on the place of worship, but Jesus
wants her to focus on the heart of worship.
Jesus
wants this Samaritan woman to know that a time is coming when the
place where people worship isn't important. The spirit of worship
will come from the heart. Jesus' death on the cross and His
resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit supplied a “new”
temple in the hearts of those who worship in Spirit and in Truth. He
arose to establish a new and better temple – an eternal temple in
the hearts of believing humanity. The temples made of stone were
destroyed. Jesus is the Living Temple of God in the flesh and in the
spiritual Promised Land in heaven. He was not destroyed and lives
eternally in the heavenly throne room, as we will live eternally with
Him. This Temple is made by the power of God not man. The temples of
the Older Testament were a foreshadowing of the reality in Christ and
the hearts of His followers. Instead of a temple, Jesus calls it “My
Father's house.” This
is a more intimate name for His dwelling place. The Bible says that
we who belong to Christ are to be built up into a spiritual house for
the dwelling place of God.
Jesus
could have answered this Samaritan woman very differently. He could
have quoted scripture that said that God's dwelling place was to be
in Jerusalem. But Jesus tells this woman that God can be found in
the hearts of humanity through Spirit and Truth. God will be
everywhere not in a set place. And those who have Jesus and the
love of God in their hearts – no matter what nation, tribe or
tongue – will be in the eternal New Jerusalem forever. In the New
holy Jerusalem, God won't see Jews and Gentiles. He won't see
denominations. He will see ONE NEW MAN just as He began with one new
man in Adam. When Adam was created, there were no Jews or Gentiles,
males or females just one newly created holy, spiritual man with flesh.
All offspring were in this one man. All spiritual offspring are in
the One New Man – the Body of Christ. It will be the same in the
New spiritual Jerusalem in heaven. We will all be One with the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- one "new" man.
After
Jesus died and was resurrected, the earthly temple in Jerusalem was
destroyed. When Jesus was resurrected, the true and Living Temple
arose. The earthly temple was the “heart” of Jerusalem. God's
presence in the shekinah glory was there. Jesus, the Eternal and
Living Temple where the presence of God resides, is now in the
hearts of His followers. He is the very presence of God in our
hearts and minds who is living and active. With Jesus and the Holy
Spirit within us, we are the eternal dwelling place of God.
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