2022 Book Review #13:SHE HEARS

 

Oh my goodness.

For those of you who call yourselves Christ-followers, born again Christians, saved by Jesus...whatever term you use to identify as a Christian with a salvation experience, I highly recommend this study.  There's no long book to read. And there's only 6 chapters!!  The entire book is based in the Gospel of John.  It's one of the best studies I have ever led as a small group leader. 

STUDY SUMMARY

This is an in-depth look into the lives of 6 women that Jesus knew and had a friendship with. Sometimes as women, we deal with insecurity, unworthiness, comparisons, and hopelessness.  Yet the lives of these women show us that Jesus values us.  They show us that Jesus wants a friendship with us and that we can be used to further His Kingdom.  He longs for intimacy with us.....emotionally and spiritually.

The book is divided into 6 chapters with each chapter featuring a different woman. Each chapter is then divided into 5 days, with each day beginning with the portion in John that the woman is featured in.  There are questions to answer/reflect on in regards to what the passage is teaching or showing us and there is room for your own thoughts (room to journal).  It's set up in such a way that it makes for a great small group study. (in my group, I had 6 other women besides myself). 

The chapters are titled as follows:

1. Mary, Mother of Jesus (A Woman of Authority; John 2:1-11)
2. Samaritan Woman at the Well (A Woman of Testimony; John 4:1-42)
3. Woman (A Woman of Forgiveness; John 8:1-11)
4. Martha (A Woman of Assertiveness; John 11:1-44)
5. Mary of Bethany (A Woman of Discipleship; John 12:1-8)
6. Mary Magdalene (A Woman of Response; John 20:1-18)

In each chapter, the author had us using the "color  method" of Bible study. (using different colored highlighters to underline/circle or highlight certain words/key phrases).  Some of us used it for each chapter.  I did it for all but Chapter 6.  I find that just highlighting key phrases or thoughts are all that's necessary for me. You can study the passages the way that works for you.

My favorite chapters were the Samaritan Woman and Mary Magdalene.  In the last one (Mary Magdalene) there were no questions to answer until Day 5.  The author left it up to us to do the research into her life, cultural context, and what the 4 different gospels have to say about her and her friendship with Jesus.  I did have to remind my ladies that she is often portrayed in the Catholic church and in Hollywood or fiction books as having been a prostitute and/or romantically involved with Jesus.  There is NO Biblical reference for these thoughts. Sadly, she has not been portrayed well throughout history. There are cultural reasons/historical reasons for that but the Bible (our true source as Christians) only ever says she was demon possessed with 7 different demons and that Jesus healed her; that she helped support His ministry and followed Him; that she was at the foot of the Cross when He was killed; and that she was the first person to see Him after He was resurrected/first person to give a full gospel account of Him.

Overall this study is excellent.  We did find that we disagreed with some points the author was making (she placed assumptions in certain days and some of us didn't feel that way....for example, she said on page 132 (the chapter about Mary of Bethany) that "this situation is awkward...." yet many of us did not feel that it was awkward to us (in regards to foot washing...some of us have been a part of a very significant foot  washing ceremony and didn't feel awkward about it). Little things like that were easy to overlook, however. 

The study is very Biblically based and I have only received positive feedback from my group members about this book.  We still need to discuss Chapter 6 on 9 May at our last group discussion meeting but so far everyone in the group has just really contributed to this study and has really enjoyed it or grown from it.

There wasn't a lot of homework questions to answer.  It was mostly writing our thoughts/what we got out of the passage with some questions to guide the discussion. She did also include other Scriptures from the Old Testament and other places in the New Testament to aid us in our discussion.  The way I held group for this study was every other week so that each woman had time to do all 5 days in the chapter.  I have found that weekly studies get too cumbersome for those of us who work outside the home full time. 

In my opinion, this study is appropriate for anyone over age 14 or anyone who has a relationship with Christ.  It's also easy enough for a "seeker" to participate in.

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.