Talk:Gospel of John

Worship in the heart
I'm new here and I hope this can just be redirected to the correct location, if this is incorrect...

I would like to discuss John 4:23,24

23 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. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

These verses keep evolving for me. Never more have I felt this is the "hour" What does it mean to you?

RE:Meaning of the verse
Varying translations say "time" some say "hour". The "hour" or time it is referring to is that worship of Jesus. Jesus is often symbolic of the Temple, as he refers to himself dieying and being rebuilt in three days. Once Jesus came he abolished the Mosiac Law so there was no longer a need for sacrafices in the temple. The Jews still continued to worship in the temple until it was destroyed some 40 years later.

Now each Christian's body is a temple of the holy spirit. No one has the burden of sacrafices or making pilgrimage to a temple to worship. We can now worship by presenting our bodies as a living sacrafice and no longer need to give animals or shed blood for appeasement.

-Superdadsuper

Thanks for asking
Much of chapter 4 is a demonstration of how Jesus dealt with individuals seeking the truth. In this case, it was a woman living in sin who was more curious than kind. Jesus had asked her for some water and she was amazed that he would talk to her. In the course of the discussion, she brought up the different places of worship used by the Jews and the Samaritans. In these verses, Jesus closes the argument, bringing the discussion back to the woman's relationship with the true God.

In the Old Testament, God had told the Jews that He would show them where and how to worship Him. One of the first principles of worship was that no idols could represent the true God. It is to this Law that God returns when speaking of true worship. It is not the ritual that saves anyone, so "going through the motions" does not work. In exposing the secrets of the woman, Jesus had shown Himself to be the Messiah, and by combining of spiritual and intellectual awareness in worship He convinced her of this truth.

The word "hour" in English comes directly from the Greek word here. It indicates an appointed time, and not time in general. Jesus is not speaking of an hour on the clock, though that is the usual use in the Gospel of John. However, in declaring that the hour had already come ("and now is"), Jesus affirms that the old way of doing things had already been overturned. Jesus, as the Messiah, had fulfilled the Law, and was asking those who believed to come to Him the true Way to God.

--SouthWriter (talk) 22:39, June 14, 2018 (UTC)