Monday, December 29, 2008
Worship must be in spirit and truth. That is the imperative we must follow in our churches, but we know that what we consider true varies from church to church (and even from one person to the next). So, we find the need to hold the idea of truth in John 4:24 to within the limits of the immediate context; or, we would have to say no one is actually ever engaged in true worship. I go with the immediate context.
The woman's question focused on the proper place to worship. Jesus is showing her it is who you worship that is important. Note the final phrase of vs. 23 - the Father is seeking those whose worship is true. The time of where is past.
The woman's question focused on the proper place to worship. Jesus is showing her it is who you worship that is important. Note the final phrase of vs. 23 - the Father is seeking those whose worship is true. The time of where is past.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
My last post was the short answer, but we must be careful not to miss the point. It is far too easy for us to define God down to someone we can manage. Something I noticed years ago in reading the Old Testament was the care with which God would identify Himself when addressing mankind. The burning bush incident with Moses is a good example. God wanted Moses to know He was the same God who had appeared to Abraham.
People have a natural tendency to view God as being less than He really is. We are not comfortable with concepts beyond our comprehension and God exceeds our rational abilities at every level. I frequently meet with Christians who instinctively see God as someone with who they can bargain. It is the old joke of - "Lord get me out of this one and I will serve/give/go (you fill in the blank) you for the rest of my life". That is not the way the scriptures show Him.
Jesus did not fit the mold into which first century Israel had cast the Messiah. We all know how that ended. I often wonder why we believe we are not subject to the same errors today.
People have a natural tendency to view God as being less than He really is. We are not comfortable with concepts beyond our comprehension and God exceeds our rational abilities at every level. I frequently meet with Christians who instinctively see God as someone with who they can bargain. It is the old joke of - "Lord get me out of this one and I will serve/give/go (you fill in the blank) you for the rest of my life". That is not the way the scriptures show Him.
Jesus did not fit the mold into which first century Israel had cast the Messiah. We all know how that ended. I often wonder why we believe we are not subject to the same errors today.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
OK, it was very busy couple of weeks.
I left the prior post with the Pilate dilema. What is truth? The quick answer would be to look at the immediate context. Verse 22 suggest that Jesus primary point about truth is the truth of who God is. We must not worship a God of our own making, but only the God revealed in scripture. That would by extension include understanding the Trinity, so Jesus would also be stating the need to understand who He is. This fits closely with John 3.
I left the prior post with the Pilate dilema. What is truth? The quick answer would be to look at the immediate context. Verse 22 suggest that Jesus primary point about truth is the truth of who God is. We must not worship a God of our own making, but only the God revealed in scripture. That would by extension include understanding the Trinity, so Jesus would also be stating the need to understand who He is. This fits closely with John 3.
