Entertainment disguised as worship isn’t worship. It’s idolatry. Ignorant worship is not worship at all. The ultimate authority on worship is Jesus, and He explained Himself very clearly in John 4. Let’s consider it.

Situation

Jesus is in Samaria by choice. The Jews did not have dealings with the Samaritans. The Samaritans were the remaining vestiges of the Israelites who remained in the land of Israel during the Babylonian exile. They had intermarried with the occupying nations and were considered half-breeds and outcasts by the Jews who returned from the exile. They had continued the Samaritan form of worship begun by Jeroboam when he rebelled against Rehoboam after the death of Solomon. One significant aspect of the deviant worship of Jeroboam was the new location of worship. Jesus is next to a historical site. It is Jacob’s well. A well built by the patriarch Jacob, a common ancestor to the Jews and Samaritans.

Jesus waited for the disciples to return from the city with food. While He waited, a woman of the city comes to draw water. This is not a significant issue except that it was midday, the wrong time of day for the women to draw water. She was asocial outcast because of her many sins. When Jesus began to talk with the lady, she was at first startled, then intrigued by His words. He began to reveal Himself to her. The woman then brings up the subject of worship. …

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