Dennis Herman

The Word Was God Dennis Herman

It didn't take long for the first few chapters of John's Gospel to reveal how John recorded a series of detailed stories showing the methods Jesus used to reach out to individuals and groups of people. John's unique way of recording details showed how Jesus prepared for each meeting and how He developed a personal connection with the people He was able to reach. In chapter 3, Jesus used one method to reach Nicodemus, the religious teacher. In the next chapter, Jesus used an entirely different method to talk to the unnamed woman at a well in Samaria. The amazing thing about those two stories is, it took Nicodemus, the expert on religious law three years to catch on. The woman at the well took a few minutes to understand. She immediately went out and of all places, led thousands in Samaria to Jesus. Some times Jesus was successful, other times people walked away. As voluntary soldiers in Christ's army, we owe it to Him to study details John went to great lengths to record. So many answers and directions are found in those details. Not only are the fundamental methods Jesus used to minister recorded by John, the disciple Jesus loved also showed us, Jesus failed, and understands our work far more than we expect. I never noticed this until I wrote this book, but John's Gospel skipped over major potions of Jesus' ministry recorded in other Gospels. John didn't list a lot of miracles Jesus performed. That's what made it evident John's focus was on the people Jesus met and how He reacted to each one. John also showed how Jesus had to wait at times to give God's Spirit time to arrange details, such as prepare people to hear Jesus' messages. John's book clearly showed God's Spirit at work with Jesus, as well as people He ministered to. A look at the methods Jesus used will not provide a list of sure fire steps to follow that will save everyone, but will show us, each individual requires a different approach only the Spirit knows. John's book shows us, Jesus had to rely on the Spirit to know how to approach people. John also showed us, the combination of Jesus and the Spirit didn't always work. But that didn't stop Jesus from trying right up to the end.