Secondly, the Lord associated together 'worship' and 'salvation',

implying that worship could not be understood, and would not be acceptable

apart from salvation.  This salvation said Christ, was 'of the Jews', because

to them had been committed the oracles of God, to them pertained the promises

and the covenants and the service of God, and most important of all, from

them must come, as regards the flesh, the long promised Saviour.  True

worship therefore is regulated according to divine revelation, is at the

heart, evangelical, and is intimately associated with the Person and Work of

the Saviour.  Judaism itself drew all its power from these sources.  It was a

divinely given religion of types and shadows to one people, Israel; it found

its fulfilment in the Person and redemptive mission of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Who alone made its rites, ceremonies, sacrifices and observances of any

'But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall

worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such

to worship Him' (John 4:23).

What are we to understand by 'true' worshippers?  What are we to

understand by worship that is 'in spirit and in truth'?

Alethes is used when truth as opposed to falsehood is in view.  Thus in

John 4:18 where it is translated 'truly'.  Alethinos is truth when opposed

not so much to a lie, but as substance is opposed to shadow.  So we have such

expressions as 'the true Tabernacle' (Heb. 8:2); 'the figure of the true'

(Heb. 9:24), obviously in contrast with the typical Tabernacle and its

furniture.  So in John's Gospel we read of 'the true Light', 'the true Bread'

and 'the true Vine' as fulfilments and contrasts with their respective types.

So 'true' worshippers are not placed in contrast with idolators, worshippers

of false gods, but they are contrasted with Old Covenant worshippers whose

worship was typical and shadowy 'which stood only in meats

and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed until the

time of reformation' (Heb. 9:10).

Two reasons are given for thus worshipping the Father:

He seeks such worship.  This is a unique passage.  No other

passage of Scripture uses the word 'seek' in this way.  It is a common thing

for worshippers to be bidden 'to seek' the Lord, but here, it is the Father

that seeks!  If He thus seeks, shall He not find?  If He thus finds shall He

not be pleased?  If He thus finds, must not blessing be the result?  Is not

therefore true worship near the heart of all true acceptable and fruitful

The second reason resides in the very nature of the God we would

worship.  'God is Spirit'.  Pneuma ho theos.  It is no more necessary to

insert the indefinite article here and read 'God is a spirit' than it would

be to translate the similarly constructed passage of John 1:1 and read 'The

Word was a God', or that the Word became 'a flesh'.  To this Samaritan woman

a statement concerning the essential Being of God is made that transcends

every other revelation found in Holy Writ!  All titles under which God is

pleased to make Himself known in the Old Testament Scripture are really

gracious accommodations to our finite capacity to understand.  The God Who is

spirit is beyond our powers of experience or comprehension.  We do not know

the mode of being of One Who is not conditioned by time and space, Who is

invisible, inaudible and intangible (John 1:18; 5:37).  Now if our Saviour

had intended to teach this woman the essential nature and being of God, our