Q: What does this passage mean by worshipping "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24)?

Jesus said that true worship is characterized by two things:

1) It is in spirit or from the heart, in other words it is sincere.

2) It is in truth, that is it is according to the dictates of the Word of God, which is the TRUTH (Jn. 17:17).

The context of this passage was a Samaritan Woman who was asking Jesus basically which location was best to worship God in? Jesus responded by saying that it’s not about a traditional location, but it is about worshipping with the right SPIRIT (check out Romans 12:1) as well as the right UNDERSTANDING (Truth embodied in following Jesus in the Bible).

For more in depth study on this topic please check out this article.

[Answered by Pastor Shu-Ling]

Q: Is the food that endures to eternal life one of the things we should work for? Is it a relationship with Jesus?

A:  The passage that this post is referring to comes from John 6:27, which says this:

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.

In this passage, Jesus is contrasting the crowd's desire to attain food that perishes with the food that He says will give eternal life.  Jesus is advising the crowd in a spiritual sense, not to search for earthly things (represented by the food that goes bad) but rather put their faith and trust into Jesus, who will never perish.  

The "food that endures to eternal life" can be interpreted much like the "living water" that Jesus offers the woman at the well in John 4.  He is offering her something that will not evaporate with the heat, but the water that can satisfy her soul.  

A relationship with Jesus is the outcome of us accepting the Bread of Life or the Living Water.  When we put our faith and trust into Jesus Christ, it results in us having a special and personal relationship with Him.  So the "Bread of Life" does not mean having a relationship with Christ, but rather that relationship with Him is the result when we "work for the food that that endures to eternal life".  

[Answered by Pastor Kelly]

Q: What do you mean by knowing?

"In your sermon at SPLAT, you mentioned that for you to know someone, they have to impact your life. Does that mean they actually have to change the direction of your life? Can you be more specific?"

Hey, great question! My theology professor once wrote:

"Our knowledge of someone is precisely the DIFFERENCE that person has made within us as a result of our meeting him/her. To know God is to be profoundly ALTERED by God through having encountered him."

The more you know a person, the more effect there is on your life. That's the principle. When you truly know a person, your life is made different forever. I'll give you an example from my own life. I've dated my wife for 13 years (we've been married for 5). I can confidently say that since I've gotten to know her, she's made the biggest impact in my life. I've been made different forever. If my life wasn't much different after 13 years, then I really couldn't say I know my wife. I may know facts about her (e.g. her favourite colour is blue; she likes sushi; she is the eldest child, etc.), but I don't really know her intimately.

With respect to our relationship with God, the same principle holds true. We know God when we have been made different forever through our encounter with Him. Sadly, many people know FACTS about God (e.g. believe that Jesus did this and that), but they don't know God PERSONALLY - God has not had a profound, everlasting impact in their life. When you know God, the direction of your life MUST change because that's the kind of IMPACT God makes on a person. He works in a person's heart, so she no longer desire to sin, but desire to live in holiness and obedience to Him. When you truly know God, your priorities; life direction; behaviour; words; innermost desires change as a result of your relationship with Him.

That's what I mean.

Thanks for asking. Keep 'em coming.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Q: How did John know every single thing Jesus did in the Gospel of John?

"...He knows things no one is supposed to know, like how Jesus made alcohol when his mother asked him to."

GREAT question. The answer is straight-forward. John was an apostle, and one of Jesus' closest friends (along with Simon Peter and James). In other words, he was an eye-witness and participant in the work of Jesus during his earthly ministry. The Gospel of John is Jesus' story from John's point of view, so what you're reading in your Bible is not based on the testimony of people that weren't there. It's based on first-hand, eyewitness accounts. Even if John did not witness specific events personally (e.g. Jesus' mother asking him to help during the wedding of Cana, John 2), he interviewed eyewitnesses that were present. A reliable and honest author in the Greek and Roman world drew from reliable sources. That's what John did! In fact, we could surmise that Jesus actually told John in conversation what he did during the wedding feast. That's how he wrote about what happened in John 2.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Q: Is darkness evil?

"Salut, is Darkness evil? In John and throughout, Darkness has been used as imagery to represent anti-God views, but is this application universal? Must we hate darkness? I personally like it, because it is more peaceful and you become more perceptive in it, you are hidden, and so is everything else, not to mention the immunity to UV rays!"

Bonjour! You are correct: John (and other Bible authors) often used light & darkness to describe God and evil (i.e. the absence of God). Consider John 1:5 for instance: "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." Also see passages like Matthew 6:23; 8:12 and John 8:12. These verses do not teach believers to avoid dark places or to always have the lamp on in their home. So darkness is not inherently evil. It is the absence of light (see Genesis 1:2). After all, Jesus often woke up, while it was still dark, to pray (Mark 14:32)! The authors are using physical light and darkness to point to a deeper spiritual reality: God is light - the source of all energy, life and moral purity. The absence of light, i.e. darkness, represents the absence of God and therefore the absence of all things good and beautiful.

My final comment/observation in the form of a question: Why do you like being hidden? Remember, nothing is hidden from God who is the light that shines in the deepest, darkness places.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

Q: Was John like Jesus' favourite one out of all the other disciples? if not, who was?

A timely question since we are going through the Gospel of John at Splat and Doxa. As you know, John often referred to himself as the "disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:20). This does not mean Jesus did not love the other disciples (Note: the complete list of disciples is found in Matthew 10:2-4), The term implies tender closeness between John and Jesus, but not favouritism.

Favouritism means that you like someone better because of what they can do for you. The Bible tell us God "shows no partiality" (Romans 2:11). James 2:1-4 says this concerning favouritism:

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?

Jesus did not show favouritism. He didn't need his disciples to do anything for him. He valued every one of them equally. It is true that Jesus appears to spend more time with 3 disciples in particular (i.e. Peter, John and James) than the other disciples. The reason for this is not clear. Perhaps he wanted to mentor these three closely to prepare them for the future. Perhaps he just enjoyed their company more. We do not really know. Yet one thing is for sure: Jesus did not do it out of favouritism.

[Answered by Pastor HM, who is glad Jesus doesn't play favourites!]

Q: Is there such a thing as being spiritually deaf?

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 11:15).

Hi. I believe your question stems from the part of my latest sermon about "spiritual blindness" (John 1:35-42). You may listen to the entire message HERE.

In short, YES. There is such thing as spiritual deafness. It operates in much of the same way as spiritual blindness does. When you are spiritually blind or spiritually deaf, you are unresponsive to the Gospel message (i.e. you remain dead in your own sin). You are too prideful or too busy listening to other competing ideas and priorities that so you fail to "see" and "hear" the truth. When you are spiritually deaf or blind, you continue living the way you want and ignore God.

Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). He is the light in the darkness (John 1). Have you ever wondered why Jesus performed physically healing, including restoring hearing to the deaf? (See Matthew 11:5; Mark 7:31-37). Because physical healing points to spiritual healing! Jesus has the power to open our eyes and unclog our ears - to spiritually heal us - so we can see and hear the truth clearly and respond accordingly. Salvation is not something we can earn by our own wisdom or power. As Jesus miraculously healed the physically deaf, God must FIRST miraculously heal our spiritual ears before we can hear and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

[Answered by Pastor HM]

9 Books in 9 Weeks Contest

Read carefully and enter, by submitting a question on the Gospel of John.