Vers. 21-24.-.The spirit of the troe worship. Our Lord acts a prophet's part in answer to her inquiries. L THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE l>"'EW wonsHIP. "Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father." 1. All localized worship was soon to end. (1) The Samaritan would no longer worship at Gerizim, nor the Jew at Jerusalem, as two centres of worship. (2) Nor would Jerusalem become the fixed centre of worship for all people through all time. Our Lord foresaw the coming destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, and the desolation of Samaria itself. (3) The Christian dispensation knows nothing of holy places or 1,hrines. 'l'he holiness of a Christian Chnrch belongs, not to the place, but to the body of worshippers. :Men are to lift holy hands in every place, from the rising to the setting of the sun (:Mal. i 11). (4) The hour for the establishment of the new worship was to date from the resurrection or the &~cension of Christ. 2. The fatherhood of God emancipates worship from every limitation qf time and space. Men will worship God as a Father. The title is characteristic of this Gospel (1) God was the Father of all men by creation. "Have we not all one Father?" (:Mal. ii 10). (2) But he is specially the Father of all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles. "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. iii 26). (3) The common fatherhood of adopting grace obliterates all distinctions of natio&. and custom and privilege. Jew and Gentile stand henceforth on a platform of equal priority. IL THE OBJECT OF TBE NEW WORSHIP. "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews." 1. The Samaritans were ignorant of God's character, though they worshipped God. (1) It was said of their ancestors that "they knew not the manner of the God of the land.n (2) They were themselves cut off from all the prophetic revelations after Moses, and especially from the more spiritual developments of Jewish history. Their relation was little better than a strictly legalistic monotheism. 2. The Jews understood the character of the God whom they worshipped. (1) There was no break in the continuity of historical revelation to the Jews, for they remained as pupils in God's school, though with varying fidelity, all the way from Moses to John the Baptist. The language implies their superior advantages as the pol88SSOrB of a larger Bible. "Much every way : chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of God " (Rom. iii. 2). (2) :Mark the close connection that exists between the revelation of God's will and the possession of salvation. "For salvation is of the Jews." (a) The promises of salvation come to us through the Jews. (b) The mea.nB of salvation were revealed to them. (c) The Author of the salvation was a Jew, a descendant of Abraham and Son of David. (cf) Hitherto the bulk of the saved were Jews. ill. THE SPIRIT OF THE TRUE WORSHIP. "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth." 1. The characteristics of troe worship. (1) Spirituality, (a) as opposed to all carnal, Gentile ideas of God; (b) as opposed to the idea of a God worshipped in temples made with hands, or worshipped with carnal ordinances. (c) It signifies a worship in which the human DR, IV, 1-54.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 185
soul holds intimate communion with the Divine Spirit. Thus the Apostle Paul speaks of "the God whom I serve in my spirit" (Rom. i. 9), and of" praying in spirit" (Eph. vi. 18). Thus Christians are temples of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. vi. 19). (2) Tnith, (a) as opposed to the false worship of the Samaritans or the Gentiles generally; (b) as opposed to Jewish ordinances, which were but shadows without substance; (c) as dis- tmguished from sincerity, for a false worship may be perfectly sincere. (d) It is a worship regulated (a) by the true ideas of the gospel; (/3) by the manifestation which Christ has made of his Father's character. 2. The groond or reason of this true worship. " God is a Spirit." The worship must correspond to the nature of God. (1) He is a Spirit, without body, parts, or passions, therefore free from all the limita- tions of time and space, "Behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee ; how much less this house that I have builded l " (1 Kings viii. 27). (2) Believers ought to worship God truly because of his spirituality. (3) It is God·s desire to be worshipped spiritually. "For the Father seeketh such to worship him." He is thus worshipped in a manner agreeable to his will and suitable to his nature. Vera. 25-29.-0ur Lor~s revelation of himself, and its remarkable effects. The woman longs for fuller information. I. HER PRESENT IDEA OF THE MESSIAH. "I know that Messias cometh." 1. She expected, like all the Samaritans, the advent of a Messiah, according to the ancient pro- phecy, " God will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee" (Deut. xviii. 18). 2. Her conception of his character and office entirely differed from that of the Jews. "When he comes, he will tell us all things." She recognized him as a Prophet, not as a King. (1) Her idea was true, but incomplete; for Messiah possesses dominion as well as truth. (2) Her growing faith sees in him (a) an authori- tative Expounder of truth, as the Greek word signifies; (b) and assigns no limits to the extent of his revelations. II. Otra LoBD's REVELATION OF HillSELF ANSWERS TO THE RECEPTIVITY OF HER FAITH. "I that speak unto thee am he." 1. Be reveals himself to her as he never revealed himself to the Jews till the last moment (eh. xvii. 3; Matt. xxvi. 64), because he saw that she was not subject to the dangerous illusions of the Jews. She did not ask, like the Jews, "If thou be the Messias, tell us. plainly" (eh. :x. 24). 2. It is the Lor~s delight to reveal himself fully to those with an honest simplicity of heart,~who desire to know him. III. THE WOMAN'S SILENT BUT EXPRESSIVE RESPONSE TO THE REVELATION, 1. She made no answer to Jesus, but her soul was immediately filled with a new hope, and her life took on a new interest. 2. She communicated at once to her neighbours the substancs of her own remarkable discovery. "She left her water-pot," as a sort of pledge of her speedy return, "and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man who told me all things that ever I did. This cannot be the Christ, can he?" (1) She becomes the missionary of Jesus to her countrymen, not to her husband only. (2) She is not ashamed to a.waken painful memories of her own past life. (3) She believes more than her words imply, for her question suggests the a.flirmative answer of hope.