Lesson 2: The Messiah and True Worship

Before you do this lesson, read these verses from the Injil:

John 4:1-30 -- The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
11 "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
16 He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
17 "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ[b]?" 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

John 4:40-42 -- So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

Now read the lesson and do the test at the end. The lesson explains what you have read in the Injil.

Jesus the Messiah livedin the town ofNazareth in Palestine for more than 20 years. Perhaps he worked in Joseph's carpentry shop during his youth.

When Jesus was a young man, his cousin* John the Baptist began to preach* along the Jordan River. The Arabic name for John the Baptist is Yahya. He told the people to leave their sinful way of life because the Messiah was coming. Thousands of people from the towns and farms of Palestine went to hear John preach. John baptised* many people.
When Jesus was about 30 years old, he went to the river where John the Baptist was preaching. When John saw Jesus walking toward him, John cried out, "There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29)!

Jesus the Messiah commanded John to baptise him. So John obeyed Jesus by baptising him in the Jordan River. After Jesus was baptised, John "... saw heaven opening and the Spirit coming down on him (Jesus) like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my own dear Son. I am well pleased with you' " (Mark 1:10-11).

After this Jesus spent 40 days in the desert. Satan tried to make Jesus sin, but he did not sin (Matthew 4:1-11). When Jesus returned from the desert, he chose 12 mento be with him so he could prepare them for his work (Mark 3:14-19). These men were called the 12 disciples* or followers.

For the next three years Jesus the Messiah was a very active person. The Injil says that if everything Jesus did were written, probably the whole world could not contain the books (John 21:25)! In this course we can learn only a little of what Jesus the Messiah said and did.

Different Forms of Worship

In this lesson we shall see what Jesus the Messiah taught about true worship. As you know, every religion has different forms of worship. You have probably seen people worshipping God. They try to express with the actions of the bodies what they feel, think, or believe in their hearts:

Some people stand or kneel to pray to God. Other people place their faces to the ground. Others listen while someone reads their holy book and then explains it to them. Others, sing songs of praise or thanksgiving to God. Some men remove any covering from their heads when they worship God. Other men remove their shoes and cover their heads.

All of these actions are considered an important part of worship by the people who do them.

The Samaritan Way of Worship

Both the people of Samaria and the People of Israel lived in Palestine, but they did not like each other. One reason for this was that they had different ways of worship. The Samaritans worshipped God at Mount Gerizim. The People of Israel worshipped God in the temple in Jerusalem.

The Samaritans believed Mount Gerizim was holy because they thought God had made Adam and Eve on that mountain. The Samaritans also believed that a well near Mount Gerizim was holy. This was because Jacob had dug the well many hundreds of years before. In fact, the well was called Jacob's well.

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman Talk about Worship

Jesus visited Samaria because he needed to travel from the district of Judea in southern Palestine to the district of Galilee in the north. The journey was about 200 kilometres, and the road went through the district of Samaria.

At noon Jesus' disciples went to the town of Sychar in Samaria for food, but Jesus stayed at Jacob's well which was near the town. He could see Mount Gerizim nearby.

While Jesus was resting a Samaritan woman came from the town for water. Jesus began to speak with her. Their talk went something like this (John 4:7-26).

Jesus said: Give me a drink.

The woman said: Why do you ask me to give you a drink? Your people and my people do not like each other.

Jesus said: If you knew who I am, you would ask me to give you a drink of a special kind of water. I can give you water so that you will never be thirsty again.

The woman said: But this well is holy. It is Jacob's Well. Can you give me better water than this?

Jesus said: Yes, I can.

The woman said: I would like to have your water.

Jesus said: First you must bring your husband to me.

The woman said: I don't have a husband.

Jesus said: You are right. You don't have a husband. You have had five husbands. And the man you are living with now is not your husband.

The woman said: You must be a prophet? So tell me, how should I worship God? My people believe it is best to worship at Mount Gerizim.

Jesus said: It doesn't matter where you worship. All true worshippers must worship the Father in spirit and truth. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

The woman said: When the Messiah comes, he will explain these things.

Jesus said: I am the Messiah!

Immediately the woman ran back to the town and told the people: "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Messiah?"

The people left the town and found Jesus. When they had talked with him, many agreed that Jesus was the Messiah who is the Saviour of the world.

True Worship Is in Spirit and Truth

This story about the talk Jesus the Messiah had with the Samaritan woman shows at least four truths about true worship.

1. It does not matter where we worship, because God is everywhere. We can worship God at any time and at any place.
2. God wants everyone to worship him. Jesus took time to talk to the Samaritan woman about the true worship of God. He talked with this woman even though she was sinful and was not respected by most people.
Then the woman invited her Samaritan friends to come to meet Jesus. Jesus spoke with all the Samaritans who came from the town to hear him. This shows that Jesus wants to help all sinful people to come back to God. This is a sign that true worship is for all people.
3. Through Jesus the Messiah, God has revealed himself to be like a great and good father who loves his children and cares for their needs. God the Father speaks with his children and shares all of their joys and sorrows as they speak to him. The worship which God accepts is like a happy family gathered around their father. True worship is to recognize God the Father with joy and thanksgiving.
The signs that we use when we worship or the way in which we worship are less important than our relationship* to God the Father. If we are hiding sin in our lives, or if we do not recognise God as the one who loves us, we cannot worship in truth.
4. True worship is a joyful experience. It is like water which brings life to the land after it has been dry for many months. This is what Jesus meant when he offered the woman of Samaria living water. The experience of true fellowship with God the Father is like the joy of a thirsty man when he finds water.

It is the work of Jesus the Messiah to bring us into a right and joyful relationship with God. Then our worship is true indeed!

Here is a list of difficult words in this lesson.
cousin              -     the son or daughter of my uncle or aunt is my cousin
preach              -     telling the truth of God with a strong voice
baptise             -     putting a person in water as a sign that he has become a believer. Some Christians put water on the person.
disciples          -     followers
relationship      -     connection

Learn this verse. John 4:24. "God is Spirit, and only by the power of his Spirit can people worship him as he really is."

Test 2: God Loves People

Here is the test for Lesson 2. Write the letter of the correct answer on the line on the right side of the page.
1)   Jesus grew up in the town of
      a)   Bethlehem.
      b)   Nazareth.
      c)   Jerusalem.                                                                                                   ___
2)   When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said:
      a)   "There is the prophet of God, who brings the word of the Lord!"
      b)   "There is the Messiah whom the prophets wrote about!"
      c)   "There is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of, the world!"            ___
3)   How old was Jesus when he was baptised?
      a)   about thirty years old.
      b)   about twenty years old.
      c)   about forty years old.                                                                                     ___
4)   After Jesus was baptised, he spent forty days in
      a)   Nazareth.
      b)   the desert.
      c)   Egypt.                                                                                                               ___
5)   How many disciples did Jesus choose to be with him?
      a)   10.
      b)   8.
      c)   12.                                                                                                                     ___
Write "True" or "False" after each of the following sentences.
6)   The Samaritans worshipped God in Jerusalem.       ______
7)   Jesus asked the Samaritan woman for something to eat.       ______
8)   Through Jesus the Messiah, God has revealed himself to be like a great and good father.        ______
9)   It does not matter where we worship.       ______
10) It is the work of Jesus the Messiah to bring us into a right and joyful relationship with God.      ______