The John Project

The John Project

By Randy BoldtReligion & SpiritualityChristianity
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The John Project episodes

  • John 8:21-24 • Two Worlds
    Jesus invaded the world beneath from the world above in order to provide – by means of faith in his sacrifice – the only bridge leading back. In John 8:21-24, Jesus described the impassible chasm sin has opened between the two worlds and repeated the warning he’d made to the religious leaders in the previous chapter concerning the urgency of their need to place trust in his messiahship.
    His message was straight and strong. But their jealousy and pride had produced a faithlessness that continued blinding them to the light of the world – as Jesus had described himself in verse 12. They refused to grasp the simple clarity of his words. Instead, they chose to accuse him of being suicidal and completely ignored the offer of salvation he was extending by confronting them with the consequences of their unbelief.
    So sad…
    But there are at least two things described in these verses that should stir us to deep gratitude.
    First, Jesus didn’t give up on the jewish leaders. He certainly could have, and I certainly would have. Yet, twice in as many days, he warned them that his time among them was short and that the path of unbelief they were travelling would lead to eternal separation from God. Instead of dismissing or damning, he was urging them to change course while he was still physically in their midst.
    What a demonstration of our Savior’s love, pursuing to the last even the hardest-hearted that they might turn from their sin and know his grace! It’s humbling to realize we’ve been loved like that. The forgiveness that secured our eternal destiny is not the result of anything we’ve done but is the fruit of his relentless pursuit of our lost souls.
    Second, the Lord’s statements that he is not of this world and would be returning to the world above when his redemptive work was done brings such peace to our lives. In John 16:33, Jesus said that we can be of good cheer because he has overcome the tribulations of this world on our behalf. In other words, His triumph over all the brokenness in this world beneath has become our victory too. He is our bridge to the heavenlies not just for the day we pass from this life but for the many days we’re tempted to lose hope in the midst of it.
    Let’s allow our spirits to fill and our worship to overflow with praise for the one who refused to give up on us and who is daily introducing us to the joys of a life focused on the world above.
    4 min
  • John 8:13-20 • History, Destiny, and Identity
    Who are you? That’s the incredibly important question John 8:13-20 can help answer.
    Unwilling to allow it to stand unchallenged, the Pharisees tried to discredit Jesus’ claim that he was the light of the world by invoking a legal argument. According to their law, two independent witnesses were required to establish the truth of a matter. So, they insisted his self-description was invalid.
    In response, Jesus repeated what he’d already made clear in chapter 5 – that the Heavenly Father is his corroborating witness.
    And that’s all that needed to be said. But he chose to add something here in verse 14 I find fascinating and believe was intended for our benefit. He said that even if his testimony regarding this aspect of his identity stood on its own, it would be true. And then, he explained why – because he knew where he came from and where he was going.
    Perhaps you’ve noticed that people frequently self-describe in ways that are misleading, inaccurate, or incomplete – presenting themselves as someone they’re not. I know I’ve been guilty of this. I’ve caught myself shaping my persona, backstory, and identity to fit my own aspirations, the expectations of others, or my circumstances instead of my personal truth not because I was trying to be deceptive, but because I didn’t really know myself.
    And the daily task of trying make sure I’m wearing the right costume for the right situation can be exhausting. It’s a burden none of us are built to bear. We were meant to simply be ourselves and confidently present ourselves as ourselves.
    Who knew it could be that simple?
    Well, it is simple. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It requires an honest assessment of our history alongside a clear-eyed sense of our destiny. Like Jesus, if our internal and external statements of identity – what we believe about ourselves and present to others – are going to be true, we need to know where we’ve come from and where we’re going.
    What does that mean?
    To start with, it means confronting the influences of our past – those relationships and experiences that have shaped us – and allowing the Lord to address with his loving truth any distorted concepts of our personhood that have resulted. This healing of our souls is what provides a healthy understanding of how God sees us so we can embrace his perspective as our own.
    Next, we need to get clear about where we’re headed. And it’s more about knowing who will determine that than it is about having all the details mapped out. The question regarding who’s been assigned the driver’s seat in our lives is what needs to be answered. Once that’s settled, life’s twists and turns can be navigated without an undue weight of concern for what others think. We can just enjoy the ride.
    So, let’s take a few minutes right now to invite the Holy Spirit to reshape – by the power of his grace – those aspects of our identity that have been falsely distorted by our past, and to take control of setting the course for our future so that we can live in the solid assurance of who and whose we are.
    4 min
  • John 8:12 • Light of the World
    My wife and I lived for a couple of years in California’s San Joaquin Valley. And between November and March each year, that region experiences a weather condition known as tule fog. It can last for weeks at a time and is so thick it can block out most of the sun’s light.
    I had an extremely hard time coping with it. And sometimes, when I just couldn’t take it anymore, I’d get in my car and drive up into the foothills of the nearby Sierra Nevada Mountains to a small town called Three Rivers located at an elevation above the fog just so I could see and feel the sun again. I can still recall the joy of bursting through into the light. It was amazing!
    And that brings me to John 8:12 where the same kind of dramatic breakthrough awaits. John’s gospel contains seven I am statements Jesus made. And we encounter the second of these here at the conclusion of the incident regarding the adulterous woman when he said, “I am the light of the world.”
    This self-description is not offered randomly in isolation. It’s anchored to the context. Jesus meant for us to consider its implications in the flow of what was happening at the time. After wading through a passage where the dark ugliness of this sin-corrupted world was on full display, the powerful light of our savior shines forth in stark contrast. And that’s the point he was making.
    I no longer live in the San Joaquin, but you and I both live in a world that can seem very dark, clouded by selfishness, hatred, bigotry, perversion, arrogance, and suffering of every sort. And when the fog of despair starts to roll in, the Lord wants us to be assured that his light overcomes. It attracts, it warms, it comforts, it guides, it exposes, it cleanses, it nourishes, and it empowers.
    Our world needs to experience more of the light of Christ. Don’t you agree?
    If you do, then we need to consider something else Jesus said. Matthew 5:14 captures him telling a crowd of followers, “You are the light of the world.” He was clarifying that he intends his to be a reflected light, illuminating the darkness through his people. And that’s kind of a heart-stopping, jaw-dropping realization. Jesus wants to use the reflective surface of our lives as his means for brightening this needy planet.
    And if that’s going to happen, it means we need to allow the Holy Spirit to polish us up. My life’s got a lot of smudges that need his attention if the mirror of my soul is going to be of much use.
    Maybe that’s true for you too. If so, let’s partner in prayer together today inviting the Lord to do whatever he needs to make us shine brighter for him.
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    4 min
  • John 8:7-11 • Redirecting Your Future
    In John 8:7-11, the confrontation of Jesus by the Jewish elite over their arrest of an adulterous woman concluded in an unexpected way as the Lord demonstrated the dramatic difference between condemnation and conviction.
    The religious leaders continued insisting that Jesus take a stand on the issue of the woman’s punishment. Her guilt was not in question. She’d been caught in the act. This was about whether she should be stoned to death for her crime. And it seemed Jesus was hesitating because of the cleverness of their trap. If he agreed with their judgment, he would alienate the crowds. If he didn’t, he would be guilty of not upholding the law. Either way, the scribes and Pharisees would win. So, they pressed him for a response.
    But he refused to play their game. Instead, he issued a statement that acknowledged the seriousness of the sin without joining the chorus of condemnation. He simply invited anyone who was guiltless among the accusers to throw the first rock. Then, he went back to writing in the dirt.
    Stunned by the power of what he’d said, verse 8 tells us everyone who heard it was convicted and began to quietly slip out one by one until Jesus was left alone with the woman. And after confirming that no one was left to condemn her – without condoning, excusing, or turning a blind eye to what she’d done – he sent her away into the hope of a different future than the one she’d arrived with by saying, “Go and sin no more.”
    And that’s what conviction always does. It creates the potential for a different outcome when combined with our confession and repentance. Condemnation passes judgment on sin for the purpose of punishment. Conviction acknowledges sin for the purpose of redirecting future behavior. The Lord refused to condemn. But his direct confrontation of the sin of both the leaders and the adulteress resulted in conviction that changed the course of their actions.
    Condemnation only deepens patterns of iniquity. Conviction empowers redemption. Condemnation is used by the Devil to imprison us. Conviction is used by the Holy Spirit to set us free (John 16:8).
    Two nights ago, I was jolted awake by the realization that I’d left a restaurant that evening without paying the bill. My heartrate climbed with the realization that I’d stolen from that business. I began imagining what the waitress must have thought of me and worse, the damage I’d done to my gospel testimony with the people at the neighboring table I’d had a conversation with about Jesus. And even though my failure was not intentional, suddenly, there it was – condemnation.
    But just as I could feel that wave of shame about to break over me, I found myself responding to the hope-filled voice of conviction instead. Before God, I confessed my irresponsibility and formed a plan of repentance that involved returning to the eatery as soon as they opened the next day to make things right. As I did, my soul settled, and instead of spending the night in restless guilt, I was at peace.
    The next day, when I went back to straighten things out, not only was the staff not angry, they actually thanked me and remarked several times about how impressed they were with my honesty – clearly a different outcome than I deserved.
    If you find yourself coming under the weight of condemnation today, reject it. On the other hand, be quick to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and you’ll find him redirecting your future.
    4 min
  • John 8:3-6 • Handwriting Analysis
    The precious scene described in the first two verses of John 8 turned just about as dark and ugly as can be imagined when the scribes and Pharisees showed up in the next verse. They shoved a woman to the center of the crowd who’d been caught in the act of adultery and demanded to know whether Jesus would support enforcing the death penalty in her case.
    But the passage makes clear that they really weren’t concerned about the law they were citing. Otherwise, the man involved would have been dragged out of bed and paraded through town to be judged as well. Adultery does require two sinners.
    No, their misogynistic, crude, and cruel behavior was focused on one thing only. They were trying to set a trap for Jesus. They were certain that if he agreed with their brutal enforcement of the law, the crowd would turn against him, and if he responded with mercy, they could accuse him of violating Scripture. Either way they were sure they had him cornered.
    But as usual, our Lord did the unexpected. He submitted his response in writing.
    Verse 6 tells us that Jesus stooped down – refusing to join the crowd in gawking at the woman – and wrote something in the dust on the floor of the Temple. We’re not told, so we can’t know the content of his inscription. But the fact that this is the only description of a handwritten communication from Jesus is worth contemplating.
    He wasn’t just doodling. The original language used here is clear about that. He was saying something. The hand of God had engraved on a tablet of stone (Exodus 20:14), “You shall not commit adultery.” And now, the hand of the Son of God was writing a response to the merciless enforcement of that command.
    Was Jesus undermining the seventh commandment? Clearly not. Through this entire episode he never once exonerated the woman or rejected the validity of the proposed punishment. But he did refuse to condemn her. And that’s exactly what he’d said was part of his divine commission. He told Nicodemus in John 3:17 that, “…God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”
    We are all guilty of sin. Romans 6:23 says every one of us is under the death penalty for our rebellion against God. But I’m glad that’s not the end of the story. That same verse also describes the gift of eternal life available to us in Christ.
    What was Jesus writing in the dirt on the floor? I don’t know, but I’ll bet handwriting analysis would reveal it to have been the work of the same person who stooped under the weight of a cruel cross refusing to gawk at or condemn us in our sin and instead penned our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 21:27). Let’s live today with grateful hearts for the overwhelming grace and mercy of the one who loves us that much.
    4 min
  • John 8:1-2 • Missed Opportunities

    As we open the eighth chapter of John together, let me acknowledge that the first 11 verses along with the last one of the previous chapter is among the passages most argued about by New Testament textual scholars. Very simply, their contention has to do with whether this section is inspired, and if so, where it belongs in the Gospels.

    Now, I don’t consider myself qualified to comment on this debate. So, I rely on the hard work of others with far better credentials to explore the issue. And I find Jameison, Fausset, and Brown to be very thorough, balanced, cogent, and scholarly. I agree with their assessment that although the arguments to the contrary are worth exploring, the evidence for considering these verses as Scripture and rightly located is conclusive.

    So, with that said, let’s dive in. And I’d like to start by considering verses 1 and 2. Here we’re told that after spending the night under the stars on the Mount of Olives, Jesus entered the Temple early the next morning, sat down, and taught a crowd of people who had gathered.

    Oh, I wish I could have been there. Don’t you? I can’t imagine anything better than to have had the opportunity to start the day in the presence of Jesus, who was seated among them – not postured for just putting in an appearance before rushing off to more important things – and with loving patience, pouring out his heart into theirs. Oh my gosh! It moves me now to think of it.

    But wait a minute. Hasn’t the Lord invited each of us to enter this scene every day of our lives? Doesn’t Revelation 3:20 articulate this standing offer? And what about Matthew 6:6 where we’re welcomed to regularly encounter him not just in a crowd but in the privacy of the secret place?

    Perhaps the heart-yearning these verses stir in me isn’t really about the possibility of being with Jesus in this way but about the missed opportunities. Sadly, I often make the choice to begin my day without him. How about you?

    It may not be morning where you are as you hear this, but it’s not too late to start the rest of the day with him. Let’s do what we can to make that happen. Mute the phone, step away from the desk, grab a Bible, find a crevasse of solitude, and sit with him while he infuses our lives with his.

    3 min
  • John 7:47-53 • Pretzel Logic
    Sometimes people are so desperate to be right about something that even in the face of undeniable data they will distort the facts in order to create an alternate reality that supports their viewpoint and then adopt that distortion as truth.
    One extreme example of this is the hundreds and perhaps thousands of people who persist in claiming the earth is a flat disk not a sphere despite the overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary. The pretzel logic required to support this is just absurd.
    And this is the kind of thing the closing section of John 7 describes. In verses 47-53, having just been confronted by members of their own police force with the power of Jesus’ words, the religious leaders doubled down on their position that he was a fraud, a threat, and worthy of death. They ridiculed the police officers. Then, they expressed their contempt for the faith of the common people. And next, they belittled one of their own members for suggesting they should follow legal procedures before condemning a man to death without a trial.
    Then, they just went off the rails. Determined to hold their position at all costs, they made a statement that was both false and illogical. They said that no prophet had ever come from Galilee.
    Of course, they were ignoring the fact that the prophets Jonah and Nahum were both from Galilee. And according to many scholars, Malachi was as well. But even if all this had somehow just slipped their minds, their implication that no prophet could come from Galilee because none had, was just preposterous.
    This kind of delusional thinking is symptomatic of people who have become thoroughly invested in maintaining a false claim.
    What does this have to do with you and me? It’s easy to point fingers at Pharisees and flat-earthers, but I think we need to confront our own tendency to dig our heels in to protect a position or belief we want to be true.
    There’s always a temptation to put words in God’s mouth to authorize our desires and then barricade ourselves behind phrases like, “God told me” or “God said” so we can ignore the conviction of the Holy Spirit or the loving correction of friends. And this was true of a dark period in my own life.
    I read 2 Corinthians 5:7 which says, “...We walk by faith, not by sight,” and decided this verse gave me the permission to ignore the negative balance I saw in my checkbook register. I also misappropriated Philippians 4:19 which says, “...God shall supply all your need,” and used it to justify continuing to write bad checks all over town.
    I bet you can imagine how that turned out. Sadly, it wasn’t until I experienced much unnecessary hardship and heartache that I finally stopped attempting to defend the indefensible and admitted to myself and before God my sinful presumption. I so desperately wanted to believe God would support my lazy and irresponsible behavior that I twisted his words to suit my desire.
    Oh man! I wish I had that part of my life to relive. But my point is we all need to be careful of the spiritual blindness that can overtake us when we choose to fight for what we want instead of stand on what’s true. And if that last statement illuminates something going on in your own life, bring it to Jesus in repentance and let him straighten out the pretzel…right now!
    4 min
  • John 7:45-46 • The Power of the Red Ink
    John 7:45 returns to the unfinished thread dangling from verse 32 when the Jewish religious leaders sent their police force to apprehend Jesus for the purpose of executing him. Those officers had returned to the chief priests and Pharisees empty-handed, and a reason for their dereliction of duty was demanded of them.
    Their one-sentence reply in verse 46 is so profound it stops me in my tracks every time I read it. I simply find it impossible to move on from this verse without spending time enjoying, reflecting on, and personally responding to these moving words. Referring to Jesus they said, “No man ever spoke like this man!”
    During the years of my pastoral ministry, I had the privilege of serving many men and women employed in law enforcement. And one of the things I learned about these brave and dedicated public servants is that they’re not easily impressed. They develop a healthy dose of skepticism in order to be effective at what they do. And this is especially true when it comes to what people say. Words are cheap and can be easily thrown around carelessly. These guys are daily subjected to streams of false and deceptive claims in their line of work. So, they usually don’t pay much attention to your talk until they see your walk. Deeds are the language that matters most to them.
    Another thing I’ve noted about these folks is their loyalty and commitment to their superiors. So, the fact that the words of Jesus impacted these religious police so deeply that they were willing to disobey orders and defy the Jewish leaders is stunning.
    In the time between when they had set out with the arrest warrant and returned to give their report, they encountered someone whose words penetrated their well-developed defenses and captured them so completely they were willing to face insubordination rather than betray their hearts.
    They discovered – as countless others have since – that among many other things, the words of Jesus can empower us to stand up to false authorities. Sometimes – as in this case – these impostors are other people. But most of the time they’re those faceless entities we allow to dictate our thoughts, feelings, responses, and behaviors. But no matter what commands we’ve received from pride, shame, self-pity, fear, depression, anger, lust or any of the rest of their unholy crew, choosing to listen to and act on what Jesus says instead enables us to hold our ground against their threats.
    If you find yourself struggling under orders from one of these illegitimate voices today, here’s what I suggest. Get hold of an edition of the Bible with the words of Jesus printed in red, open it to one of the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John – find some red ink, and allow those words to empower your resistance. In fact, John 16:33 might be a good place to start. Jesus said:
    These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
    randyboldt.com/john
    4 min
  • John 7:40-44 • We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know
    In John 7:40-44, after Jesus had concluded his breathtaking invitation and teaching regarding the ministry of the Holy Spirit, many of those who heard him were moved to belief. But a segment of the crowd was still unconvinced. And the reason they gave for their unbelief was that Jesus had come from Galilee and Scripture had prophesied that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem.
    But they were completely wrong about that.
    Oh, they were right about the prophesy, but they falsely assumed that because Jesus was from Galilee that he had been born there. The truth was that although Jesus grew up in the Galilean city of Nazareth, he had been born in the Judean town of Bethlehem exactly as had been foretold.
    And they could have easily found out where Jesus was born if they had asked any of the members of his family who were there in Jerusalem that week for the Feast of Tabernacles. But they didn’t. Why? Because they were certain they knew all there was to know about the matter and had reached their conclusion based on what they assumed to be a settled fact.
    But it turns out, they didn’t know what they didn’t know. And there are still people who disregard or outright reject Jesus because of what they believe to be indisputable information while remaining completely oblivious to all they don’t comprehend.
    And a fuller discussion of this issue and its impact would be completely appropriate at this point in John 7, but I want to talk about something else. Actually, I want to ask a question. Why didn’t Jesus set the record straight?
    He was there, and he certainly knew what was being said about him. And if faith in his messiahship was literally an eternal life or death issue for those people, why on earth did he remain silent? It seems almost cruel not to have settled their objection to his lordship by simply eliminating the confusion around his birthplace so they could join the ranks of believers.
    But even though the solution to their unbelief seems pretty straightforward, I have a hunch this may be one of those things we don’t know we don’t know. I think Jesus understands something about human nature we don’t. I think the reality is this group of people was simply not willing to place their trust in him and no amount of information was going to change that.
    People never exercise faith in Jesus because all their questions have been answered. If so, it wouldn’t be faith. We place our trust in Christ because we reach the point where we’ve seen and heard enough to make the choice to step across the belief threshold. On one side of this tipping point we doubt more than we believe, but on the other, we believe more than we doubt. And the decision to take that leap is what launches us on the journey that leads to the answers for the questions we know we have, but more importantly to the discovery of what we don’t know we don’t know.
    So, as you consider these verses with me today, if you’re resisting a step of faith because all your questions haven’t yet been answered, may I encourage you to stop hesitating at the belief threshold. It’s only on the other side that you’ll find what you’re looking for.
    4 min
  • John 7:37-39 • There’s More

    On the eighth and final day of the Feast of Tabernacles, at the apex of the celebration, Jesus spoke some of the most beautiful and moving words of his ministry. They’re found in John 7:37 and 38.

    He captured the attention of the crowd and then issued a thrilling invitation. He offered to quench the heart-thirst of anyone who would place their faith in him. Then he went on to say that after relieving their spiritual longing, he would release a torrent of what he called living water from their once-parched souls.

    Verse 39 clarifies that Jesus was describing the ministry of the Holy Spirit through whom he would both satisfy our deepest yearning and overflow us with rivers of his life-giving power.

    Although we can’t know for certain, it seems most likely that this happened at the point in the day’s ceremonies when a priest brought water from Jerusalem’s Pool of Siloam and poured it out on the altar. Siloam is the endpoint of an aqueduct that carries water into the city from beneath the temple mount, and as such, symbolizes the spiritual refreshing that flows from God.

    So, the Lord’s choice of this occasion and location were not accidental, and neither was the time of day. This would’ve happened during the morning sacrifice – the third hour or nine o’clock in the morning. And this is exactly the same time the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon the first church on the Day of Pentecost following his resurrection (Acts 2:1-4, 15).

    As usual, Jesus was speaking volumes here in these few and magnificent words. But at the heart of it, he was describing the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers as being two-fold. There’s a pouring in and a pouring out. Belief in Jesus initiates an inflow of the living water of the Spirit that regenerates us and an outflow of that same stream that – according to Jesus in Acts 1:8 – enables us to live out his plans for us in this world.

    The Lord clearly meant for us to experience both. And yet it often seems that presentations of the gospel focus on the inflow that causes rebirth but neglect the outflow that unleashes Christ’s power in and through us. As certainly as we need to be born again by the Spirit, we need to be baptized in or empowered by him as well.

    Thank God! Jesus has invited us to have it all. So, if you have expressed your faith in him and taken a deep drink from the wells of salvation (Isaiah 12:3) but sense there’s more, you’re right, there is. But the more you’re waiting for is already yours. Just pause right now and welcome the Holy Spirit to unleash the living water you’ve already received as a river he wants to pour through your life to a thirsty world.

    4 min

About The John Project

From the publisher's feed

This podcast explores the Bible's Gospel of John a few verses at a time with a devotional perspective.