Mensa Otabil - Worshipping In Ignorance
- Watch
- Donate
We’re continuing our study from John chapter 4 and Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman by the well. It’s a very interesting encounter that teaches us how the gospel is communicated and how different people respond to the message of the gospel. So far, we have read that Jesus started talking about water, presenting living water to the woman. The conversation became personal when Jesus said, «Go, bring your husband.» It later ends up that the woman is living with a man to whom she is not married and has already had five husbands. In response to this very personal issue, the woman changes the conversation into a significant religious argument between Samaritans and Jews. So, how does Jesus respond to this diversion into a religious argument? That’s what we’re reading about today.
In John chapter 4, verses 21 to 22, 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.» So Jesus said to the woman, by the way, «Lady, both the Jews and the Samaritans have got this wrong. It’s not going to be on this mountain, Mount Gerizim, and it’s not going to be in Jerusalem, because a new hour is coming.» That’s what Jesus meant-the hour is coming. In other words, a new era, a new dispensation, and when that dispensation comes, it’s not going to be about which religious practice is preferred. It’s not going to be which religious grove or which shrine is holier than the other places. He says it’s not going to be on this mountain or in Jerusalem; the hour is coming.
Jesus is indicating something is going to happen in the future. What was He talking about when He said the hour is coming? He’s talking about His own death and resurrection. What Jesus is saying is that when I die and resurrect, God will relate to human beings on a totally different basis. It’s not going to be tribal gods, holy mountains, sacred groves, special worship places, or special temples. That’s not how God is going to relate to us. If your argument is about whose religion is better or who has the holiest sight, Jesus says that is wrong because this hour that is coming would change the way God relates to us.
Then Jesus went ahead and said, «By the way, you Samaritans don’t even understand what you worship,» because the Samaritans were part Jews. They were Jews who were taken from part of the northern kingdom into Assyria and developed a whole religious belief that was contaminated. They were practicing some form of Judaism but not fully Judaism. That’s why Jesus says you don’t even do it right from a Jewish point of view. He says salvation comes from the Jews. What does that mean? Does it mean the Jews are the most holy or pious people or that they are automatically a saved people? No. Jesus meant God’s promise of salvation came through the Jews, through Abraham. That’s all He meant because when Jesus Christ comes, everybody else must decide what they want to do with Him.
Salvation is of the Jews doesn’t mean the Jews have authority or prerogative in terms of salvation; it simply means that the Savior is coming through the Jewish people-it’s as simple as that. But the answer of Jesus Christ is that it’s really not in Jerusalem or on this mountain. If He were talking to us in Ghana, He would say it’s not a sacred grove and it’s not this temple or that shrine. The hour is coming, and tomorrow we will start looking a little closer at this hour that Jesus is talking about and what kind of worship God is seeking.
Let us pray. Say with me: «Heavenly Father, deliver me from spiritual ignorance. Help me to have a real relationship with You. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.» Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom! Peace and life to you.