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a) Jesus leads the adulteress to repentance (John 4:1-26)
JOHN 4:16-24
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. 22 You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshippers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
After Jesus had aroused in the woman the thirst for living water, and granted her wish for God’s gift, he showed her the barrier that prevented her receiving this gift – her sin. He did not accuse her harshly by saying, "You are an adulteress," but gently asked her to call her husband to him. This request struck a painful chord in her. Like all women she longed for the protection and care of a husband. But she was lonely and despised, and unwilling to disclose her shame to Jesus. So she shielded herself by saying, "I have no husband."
Jesus confirmed his claim to be the truth, who knows all secrets. He knew she was abandoned and alone, seeking love through lust, falling from one sin into another.
Every adulterous act is a calamity, twisting the conscience, and sickening our inner feelings, notable in women. A woman still longs for her husband even after this split, anxious for reunion and understanding.
Now she realized that Jesus was no ordinary man; his was a prophetic insight. Deep down she knew that only God could help her. But where could she find him? By what means? Prayer and ritual had become alien to her. For years she had not attended any religious services, and yet she longed for deliverance and peace with God.
After Jesus had aroused in her a thirst for cleansing, he led her onwards to realize that the site for worship was not the vital matter, rather it was the Person to worship. He announced that God was the heavenly Father. He thus bestowed on her his own salvation in the essence of knowing God. He used the key term "the Father" three times. It is not genius or piety that creates the knowledge of God, but faith in Christ alone.
Jesus made clear that not every god deserved the title of Father. Samaritans used to venerate various gods. Whereas Jews knew who was the Lord, who had revealed himself in history, and promised that a Savior for the world would appear of David’s house.
Biblical religion was to become worldwide. Since then the worship of God was freed from links with a particular temple. Believers were to be the Temple of God, with the Spirit indwelling them; their whole life was becoming the worship of God’s glory. Christ’s redemption was to become their distinction, as they entered the vastness of His love. They have chosen life that is upright, honest, clean in His power. Their heavenly Father has renewed them. Their heartfelt adoration is full of praise. God is pleased when His children address Him spontaneously, with thanksgiving and devotion as "Our heavenly Father."
God is Spirit, not an idol or phantom. He is our Father, and we know His Spirit. He knows our weakness and our inability to approach Him. He came to us in the Son, cleansed us by His sacrifice to receive His Spirit. God wants to have many children; only His children can offer true worship in spirit and truth. We pray to the Father to fill us with His Spirit and truth and grace so that our lives may become a response to His love.
No one can worship God fittingly, so Jesus gave us the gift of the Spirit. In Him we become faithful suppliants, joyful servants, and bold witnesses. Then our lives will be worship of our loving Father in the Spirit’s power flowing from Christ’s cross.
Christ has cleansed the temple to institute true worship. The Father was revealed in Christ to that sinful woman. Confessing her sin and a thirst for living water, Jesus gave her grace.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we thank you that you desire that we honor you from our hearts, and be sanctified in our walk, praising your grace. Purify our worship. Make us servants who follow your Son, who glorified you always. Fill us with the Spirit of prayer, to respond at all times to your word flowing from the Gospel.
QUESTION:
- What prevents true worship, and what truly effects it?
JOHN 4:25-26
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes,” (he who is called Christ). “When he has come, he will declare to us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.”
The woman felt the power and truth of Jesus’ loving words and she wished to see the fulfillment of the promises that he was giving her. She remembered that prophecy of the coming appearance of Christ. Her hopes were set on his name and she believed that only he could inform her about the true worship of God.
Strangely, Jesus did not reveal himself so clearly as he did here before this woman, on any earlier occasion. He said he was the expected One, sent from God, filled with the Holy Spirit. "I myself am God’s gift to man; the word of God incarnate and the Salvation prepared for all."
The woman failed to see that Messiah implies the King of kings, the chief of prophets and the High Priest. She may have heard that his coming would be linked with resurrection and the spread of peace on earth. She may also have heard of the political dreams of the Jews associated with this name. But all she wanted was a Savior to redeem her from sin and so she believed that Christ could do this.
At this Jesus said, "I am the One speaking to you." Heavens plans and the promises of prophets meet in this expression "I AM." No mere man could more explicitly claim that he was the Messiah. The anti-Christ was to come, who will make such a claim falsely. But Christ is love incarnate who does not despise any ignorant sinner, but will have mercy even on an alien woman of Samaria. He is mercy not judgment.