Sign in
JOHN 4:23 — KING JAMES VERSION 0
John 4:22John 4:24
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.
God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.' — the declaration that God is spirit (pneuma) rejects materialist and localist religion. Worship must be aligned with God's nature: spiritual (pneumatikos) and truthful. The repetition of this theme emphasizes John's Christological revolution: place and external observance yield to Spirit and truth.

Church Fathers on John 4:23

The woman is not offended at Christ’s rebuke. She does not leave Him, and go away. Far from it: her admiration for Him is raised: The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that you are a Prophet: as if she said, Your knowledge of me is unaccountable, you must be a prophet.

Chrysostom · 4th century

The husband was beginning to come to her, though He had not yet fully come. She thought our Lord a prophet, and He was a prophet: for He says of Himself, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country.

Augustine · 4th century

Or thus; The Samaritans regarded Mount Gerizim, near which Jacob dwelt, as sacred, and worshipped upon it; while the sacred place of the Jews was Mount Sion, God’s own choice. The Jews being the people from whom salvation came, are the type of true believers; the Samaritans of heretics. Gerizim, which signifies division, becomes the Samaritans; Sion, which signifies watch-tower, becomes the Jews.

Origen · 3rd century
Read all 23 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS
Publish a reflection on this verse
No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!
John 4:23 — Community Reflections | HolyStudy