The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 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" (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 4:16-26

In yesterday's reading, Jesus was tired and thirsty from travel: He is on His way from Judea to Galilee, and passing through Samaria. His disciples are away buying food. He stopped by a well and asked a Samaritan woman to get Him a drink of water, something very out-of-the-ordinary for a Jewish man of the time! He is at Jacob's well. She asked Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans, John's Gospel tells us. Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." She asked Him, "Where do you get that living water?" and whether or not He was greater than "our father Jacob." He said, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but who ever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." At this point in the conversation, Jesus shifts the subject, and reveals that He knows her. In fact, He knows her thoroughly. We are speaking of matters of faith; Jesus has revealed concepts about "living water" -- water "springing up into everlasting life," the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus' revelation of her life reveals a kind of infidelity, in biblical language this is a concept also used to refer to a lack of faith to the one true God.

The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship." The dispute between the Samaritan people and the Jews centered, among other things, on the proper place for worship: for the Samaritans that is on Mt. Gerizim, and the Jews at Jerusalem on Mt. Zion. The Samaritans hadn't accepted any prophet after Moses, but they did await the Prophet predicted in Deuteronomy. Apparently, this powerful dispute between Samaritans and Jews prompts her question to Jesus. We note again in that the Samaritan temple on Mt. Gerizim had been destroyed by the Jews in 128 B.C. The issue of the proper place for temple worship was an important ancient understanding even among the tribes of the Jews as reported in the Book of Joshua.

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews." Jesus frames the arc of the history of worship of God in responding to this question -- He makes it clear that He is here to introduce a new type of worship, and it is linked to His gift of living water. The place of worship will no longer matter. But He also makes clear the significance of Jewish religious tradition: God has worked through relationship with Israel. "Salvation is of the Jews" refers to Jewish spiritual history. My study bible helpfully notes: "Jesus Christ affirms that valid revelation comes from Judaism. 'The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations' (St. Athanasius). . . . Note that Jesus' disputes with the Jews involve chiefly the Jewish leaders, not the people themselves, and certainly not the spiritual heritage of Judaism. The Messiah was prophesied within Judaism; the Incarnation took place among the Jewish people. God's universal gift of salvation arises within the context of His promises to the Jews and their religious tradition."

"But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him." Jesus introduces a concept that radically altars the notion that disputes over places of worship are relevant to His mission, His revelation. As my study bible puts it, "While the Jews and Samaritans historically argued about where true worship takes place, Jesus teaches that worship is not tied to any certain geographical place. Instead He turns to the heart of the matter: the object of worship, God Himself, and how worship takes place." More than that, this is an invitation -- as I read it -- specifically to her and to others like her. "The Father is seeking such to worship Him." Who are those capable of worshiping in spirit and truth?

"God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." An invitation is issued: God is seeking those who are able to worship God in spirit and truth -- and here is the reason. God is Spirit. The initiation of this understanding of worship comes from God, begins with God, who calls those toward God who can worship and receive in this nature.

The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." Jesus has begun to reveal the nature of the Gift He is here to offer, the grace of the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of calling those to God who can worship in spirit and in truth. Here, He reveals Himself, fully, to this woman, in His Messianic identity. He is calling her now directly, not merely alluding to a mysterious living water. The words "I AM" (ego eimi) are literally here in the Greek, revealing a name of God. (It literally reads: "I am, who speak to you.") My study bible says, "This is the first instance in John of Jesus' use of this formula of self-revelation. . . . Jesus reveals Himself to be more than the Mosaic Prophet and more than the Jewish Messiah; indeed, He is the Incarnate God Himself."

Once again, we have to marvel at this instance of revelation, of Theophany. Why does Jesus reveal Himself to this woman? He is here alone, in a sense, without His disciples. Why a woman? Why a Samaritan woman? Why this particular woman? It plays into our sensibilities and understanding that this is deadly serious: to worship God in spirit and truth means that any time, any place, anywhere, and possibly for any one of us, God is present and we may worship God. The requirements are here in this invitation: God is seeking those true worshipers who will worship God in spirit and truth. And it is connected to this Gift He bears, of the living water that springs up into everlasting life. "Where do we get this water?" we may ask along with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well. While we continue to marvel at this revelation, to this woman, in this time and place, let us consider what vibrance these words have for us today. God the Father still calls us to worship in this way; God still seeks true worshipers who will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The invitation is being issued as we speak, as we read, as we think; here, now, today. How do you respond right where you are now? What does it mean to you that God is Spirit -- and to be called to worship in spirit and truth?