Jesus Ministering

This week in my New Testament class, we talked about something that has been on my mind a lot lately – ministering.  Brother Griffin compared and contrasted the stories of Nicodemus and the Woman at the well to teach a powerful lesson.  In John 3, we read about the experience that Nicodemus had with the Savior. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, and Brother Griffin explained that Pharisees were extreme literalists. Whatever it said in the law, they did it as literally as they could. They were also seen as being the righteous of society, the ones trained in the law of Moses.  When Nicodemus comes to Jesus, Jesus proclaims to him, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v.3).  Nicodemus, probably rather confused, asks him how that is possible – how a grown man can literally be born again.  Jesus uses this as an opportunity to minister to Nicodemus, to help him increase his faith and take him one step further up the path of conversion. Jesus explains that “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (v.5).  Jesus wanted to help Nicodemus leave the literal behind, and instead see the spiritual side of things.  Jesus understood where Nicodemus was on his path to conversion, adapted his teachings, and helped Nicodemus progress.

            In John 4, we of a similar situation – Jesus is helping another person progress on the path to conversion.  This time Jesus is in Samaria talking to a woman at a well.  Jesus asks her to “give [him] to drink,” upon which the Samaritan woman questions him, saying, “How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (v.9).  Jesus, seeing an opportunity to teach, explains that he is the source of living water, and whoever drinks the living water will never thirst again.  Immediately upon that declaration, the woman inquires, “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw” (v.15).  She is desirous to attain this living water, but Jesus asks her to call her husband first.  The woman explains that she has no husband, upon which Jesus replies that she has had five husbands, and the man she’s with now is not her husband.  The woman is marveled and proclaims, “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet” (v.19).  After expressing her faith in Christ, Jesus proclaimed that he is the Christ. The woman immediately left her water pot and proclaimed to everyone in her town that she had found the Christ.  There is a grand lesson hidden behind these details. The spiritual progression of this woman allowed Christ to make his first official proclamation of his divine identity. She started off by calling him “a Jew”, then “Sir”, then “a prophet”, and finally “Christ”. Jesus understood where she was, and he was able to continue promoting her faith, prompting her further and further along the path to conversion.  Jesus understood that she was progressing rapidly and adjusted his teaching accordingly.  Just one chapter earlier, Jesus talked about himself in the third person when speaking to Nicodemus when he said, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son…” He knew that Nicodemus wasn’t ready for Jesus to proclaim himself, but the woman at the well was ready.

            Another lesson that Jesus teaches us about ministering is that we shouldn’t be a respecter of persons and Jesus’s teachings are not “one size fits all.” Jesus taught Nicodemus, a rich Pharisee who was respected in society. Then in the next chapter, Jesus goes to a sinner woman that is a Samaritan.  Two completely opposite people, but He helps them grow and teaches to their needs.

            That is such a powerful lesson to me in relation to my ministering endeavors.  I cannot be a respecter of persons – everyone needs the gospel. But not just a rote lesson of the gospel, they need it taught to them in a way that will motivate their progression to heaven.  Just because someone may be much different than me, that shouldn’t dissuade me from being a good minister. And instead of preparing the same message for those I minister to, I need to assess their needs and teach specifically to them.  I love the lesson that Jesus teaches us in his teaching of Nicodemus and the Woman at the well.