On Line Bible Study - For the Week February 6-12, 2012
Lesson 516
John 4: 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Jesus has just told the woman she has had five husbands. The fact that he knows this is what prompts her response - I can see that you are a prophet ... this 'revelation' inspires her to probe deeper into who Jesus is and what he knows. Is she still earth-bound? Does she truly want to know who / what she is worshiping, or is she trying to find a way to get ahead in the world? She has quickly (abruptly, we might say...) changed the subject away from how many husbands she has had to where to worship.
It's an interesting device, isn't it? Have you ever tried it? Have you ever tried getting around the hard truths of some painful or difficult reality by looking over them and casting your gaze heavenward? Put another way, have you ever tried to spiritually rationalize your intentions to go around rather than work through some personal issue? ("Spiritual rationalization" - now there's an interesting oxymoron!)
Jesus doesn't let her get away with it. In the final analysis, he says, the point is less where you worship than it is that your worship has integrity. We can argue all day - and we have argued - literally for hundreds of years! - about where to go to church. The far more important point is that we worship with humility and honesty - in Spirit and truth...
Father Raymond Brown synthesizes the conversation between Jesus and the woman thus far: "In this scene John has given us the drama of a soul struggling to rise from the things of this world to belief in Jesus. Not only the Samaritan woman but every [person] must come to recognize who it is that speaks when Jesus speaks, and must ask Jesus for living water."
We will give one more lesson to this chapter - then we'll move on to Chapter 5.
It's an interesting device, isn't it? Have you ever tried it? Have you ever tried getting around the hard truths of some painful or difficult reality by looking over them and casting your gaze heavenward? Put another way, have you ever tried to spiritually rationalize your intentions to go around rather than work through some personal issue? ("Spiritual rationalization" - now there's an interesting oxymoron!)
Jesus doesn't let her get away with it. In the final analysis, he says, the point is less where you worship than it is that your worship has integrity. We can argue all day - and we have argued - literally for hundreds of years! - about where to go to church. The far more important point is that we worship with humility and honesty - in Spirit and truth...
Father Raymond Brown synthesizes the conversation between Jesus and the woman thus far: "In this scene John has given us the drama of a soul struggling to rise from the things of this world to belief in Jesus. Not only the Samaritan woman but every [person] must come to recognize who it is that speaks when Jesus speaks, and must ask Jesus for living water."
We will give one more lesson to this chapter - then we'll move on to Chapter 5.
posted by Mark D at 12:01 PM
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