The Mountain of Spirit and Truth
Brooklyn Museum - The Woman of Samaria at the Well (La Samaritaine à la fontaine) - James Tissot
Have you ever been torn between two places? Maybe you have heard the expression, “Stuck between a rock and a hard place”?
Oftentimes, we can be emotionally, physically, and even spiritually, tied to a specific place. We can see our decision to be somewhere as either the one place or the other. Particular places have particular meaning and significance in our lives, and it can be difficult to see beyond them.
In the account of the Samaritan woman at the well, in the gospel of John chapter four, this issue of place comes up in conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman who came to draw water from the well.
“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.’ 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 4:19-21, ESV).
The Samaritan people lived and worshiped on Mount Gerizim, and the Jewish people worshipped in Jerusalem on Mount Zion. The Samaritan woman was pointing out the differences of place and worship for two different people groups who were at odds with one another, as Jews hated Samaritans. Jesus was pointing the Samaritan woman away from a specific place of worship to a specific person of worship, the Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus said, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” (John 4:22-23, ESV).
God is not looking for the right physical place of worship, or for geographical accuracy. God desires the right focus of worship, and the right heart of worship, not worship on Mount Gerizim or Mount Zion, but worship on the Mountain of Spirit and Truth. God desires for people to worship him in spirit and in truth.
Jesus said, “‘God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’” (John 4:24-26, ESV).
When we get the identity, the person, and the place of Jesus right, we get our placement of worship right.
May we worship Jesus in spirit and in truth as we worship on “the Mountain of Spirit and Truth”.
A Collect for the Third Sunday in Lent: “Heavenly Father, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you: Look with compassion upon the heartfelt desires of your servants, and purify our disordered affections, that we may behold your eternal glory in the face of Christ Jesus; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Book of Common Prayer, 2019).
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Brooklyn Museum - The Woman of Samaria at the Well (La Samaritaine à la fontaine) - James Tissot
