What is the context?
Jesus asks the woman to call her husband. When she says she has no husband, He acknowledges her truthful answer and tells her that He knows about her five husbands and the man who is not her husband. The account does not explain how the earlier marriages ended or give a complete history of her present circumstances.
She recognizes Him as a prophet and raises the question of the proper place to worship. The mountain associated with Samaritan worship is Gerizim, where an ancient Samaritan sacred precinct has been excavated. Jerusalem is the rival place named in her question. (Mount Gerizim, archaeological site description)
Jesus announces a time, already arriving, when worship of the Father will not be bound to either location. He also affirms that salvation comes from the Jews and says that the Father seeks worshipers in spirit and truth. When the woman speaks of the coming Messiah, Jesus identifies Himself as that One.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Christian traditions commonly read these verses as opening worship of the Father beyond the rival claims of Gerizim and Jerusalem, through the Spirit and the truth God reveals. The Catholic Catechism and Westminster Confession both affirm that worship is no longer tied to one exclusive location, while continuing to recognize gathered worship. (Catechism §§1179–1180; Westminster Confession 21.6)
Where does this fit in God's plan?
Jesus says that salvation comes from the Jews. Paul later identifies Israel’s covenants, promises and patriarchs, and the Messiah’s human descent from Israel. The welcome extended to the Samaritan woman belongs within God’s faithfulness to those promises. (Romans 9:4–5)
Ephesians describes people once far apart being reconciled through Christ’s cross, with access to the Father by one Spirit. Together they become God’s dwelling. Hebrews likewise invites believers to draw near through the way Jesus opens by His blood. These passages give the wider picture of the access to the Father Jesus announces here. (Ephesians 2:13–22; Hebrews 10:19–22)
What is our position?
Our studies What Does Worship Actually Mean? and What Is the True Church? read John 4:21–24 as ending the requirement to approach God at one sacred location. They understand true worship as a life turned toward the Father, led by His Spirit and aligned with His revealed truth. The passage addresses that relationship and access to God, rather than prescribing the format of a Christian gathering.