Newborn and worshiper

"You must be born again." John 3: 7

"God is spirit, and those who worship him must adore Him in spirit and truth." John 4: 24

In chapters 3 and 4 of the Gospel according to John, Jesus meets two very different social people.

First, Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, a Pharisee who is a member of the Sanhedrin, comes to Jesus at night, perhaps not to compromise his reputation. He believes in miracles, in the resurrection of the dead, in the Scriptures, and waits for the Messiah who will come to reign on the throne of David. He incarnates what is most respectable in Jewish society.

Nicodemus's approach is that of someone who seeks truth and is not confined to what he already knows, nor in the secure opinion of everyone. Even before Nicodemus asks a question, Jesus reveals to him the necessity of being born again. His belonging to the chosen people does not dispense Nicodemus from this divine operation in the soul: to be born again. Knowing the Scripture, he should have known it, for the Lord had said by one of his prophets : "I will give you a new heart ... and I will put my Spirit within you" (Ezek. 36:26, 27). Being born into a Christian family is a privilege, but it does not relieve us of the new birth.

Then Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at the edge of a well; Her life has been disorderly but she has spiritual needs. She comes to draw water at an hour when she can hope to meet no one. But Jesus is there. While knowing his situation perfectly, he made contact by saying : "Give me to drink," because the disciples went to buy food without leaving him the pitcher that accompanied every traveler. But it is she who receives the living water which can permanently quench the thirst of her soul. To this woman who recognizes in him the Messiah, Jesus reveals that the Father seeks worshipers.

Surprising and even paradoxical for us ! Jesus speaks of the new birth to a Doctor of the Law and of the adoration given to the Father to a Samaritan woman who belongs to a people of corrupt worship !

However, both were to be born again to possess that Spirit by which they could respond to God's profound wish, namely, to be worshiped in spirit and in truth. "The Father seeks such worshipers" and it is not necessary to be born again long ago to meet his desire.

Source (To pleasing the Lord)