“Worship The Father In The Spirit And In Truth!”

“Worship The Father In The Spirit And In Truth!”(Jn.4:19-30).
During prayer, Muslims pray facing the Kaaba in Mecca. This is a borrowed Jewish tradition where Jews prayed facing Jerusalem. Early Christians who were Jews copied this Jewish tradition as they prayed, facing Jerusalem to honour the temple.
However, there was a shift when the teachings of Jesus were properly understood.
In every way, Jesus’ teaching was a radical paradigm shift that tore down Jewish hegemony in all dimensions.
Today’s pericope is a dialogue between Jesus and a Samaritan woman in an isolated place. This in itself was totally wrong. Worst of all the discussion with the woman was a sensitive theological concept worthy of discussion only among rabbis(groomed biblical scholars of the time).
Jesus destroyed Jewish religious, cultural and political hegemony when he engaged that Samaritan woman in a discussion. Firstly he begged the woman for water to drink. This surprised even the woman who wondered why a Jew would ask a Samaritan for water to drink. Jews hated Samaritans and didn’t want to contaminate themselves by mingling with them.
Jesus’ discourse with the woman became highly theological. In the discourse we discover the reason why Jews in other regions prayed facing Jerusalem. The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Jesus’ response was all-inclusive, destroying the Jewish Yahwist exclusivity – the false claim that God is our own alone!
It is true as Jesus told the woman: “salvation is from the Jews.” Yet the harsh truth is “The time…has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
My friend, there is no better way for us to celebrate Pentecost than to worship God in the Spirit and in truth. Truth alone prevails!
Pentecost Monday prayer: Holy Spirit, indwell me so that I worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. Amen!
Welcome back to a new working day and week! Have a blessed working day and week!
Rev Babila Fochang.
25/05/2026.