Anchor My Faith

We are to Worship the Father

Scripture: John 4:20-21

Trying to move the conversation away from the sin problem in her life she responds with, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship” (John 4:20 ESV). At this time Jesus doesn’t try to turn the conversation back to her sin, but he does take control of where this conversation will go. Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father” (John 4:21 ESV). Her response was to a physical location, but Jesus comes back and tells her that neither on the mountain or in Jerusalem will be the place of true worship. Jesus is not going to argue with her over which location is best but is hinting at something better.

The place of worship in the Old Testament was very important, but with Jesus a new concept was being introduced. The requirement of a single temple in a single city was to be replaced with worship in many places. Consider Hebrews 10:24 – 25 (ESV): “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” As the gospel spreads throughout the world, it is not possible to come to one place to worship. In the book of Acts, we find the establishment of local churches as a means of satisfying our need to encourage one another and to worship together. We are able to worship God in any place.

The ability to worship apart from the temple in Jerusalem is made possible by the fact that each believer is a temple where God dwells. Consider the following: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple” (1 Corinthians 3:16 – 17 ESV). “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:19 – 22 ESV). The transition that Jesus is bringing about, is moving from the temple in Jerusalem to a temple constructed from believers. This will be a beautiful temple of believers indwelt by the Spirit of God for the purpose of worship and service. As a temple we can worship God alone, but are encouraged to worship in groups of various sizes. One day we will be able to worship as one large group in heaven.

Let us come back to the conversation between the woman and Jesus. The location is not important, but the worship of the Father is. “Father” is key here, because to be a father requires God to have children. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12 ESV). Jesus wants her to understand that it is not the place of worship that is important, but whether you are a child of God, thus making him your Father. She needs to understand that she must to be born again through belief in his Son.

Also, Jesus wants her to understand that the Father has one unique Son and he is standing before her. The Father is to be worshiped, but true worship will not happen apart from Jesus Christ. It is not where you worship, but who you worship. We will look at this in our next lesson.

Prayer

Father, how often our worship is focused on God without understanding the role of Father and Son in true worship. Father, I have notices that as we distance our self from Jesus our worship seems to become less personal and more in terms of God without the important connection to salvation in Jesus Christ. Father it seems that as a result, Christianity is becoming more like a religion and less of a personal relationship. Father, I pray concerning this apparent drift away from the person of Jesus Christ.