The John Project

The John Project

By Randy BoldtReligion & SpiritualityChristianity
Download on the App Store

The John Project episodes

  • John 7:32-36 • Now is the Time
    In John 7:32-36 we’re told that having heard the expressions of faith in Jesus that were beginning to bubble up from among many who were in the crowd hearing him speak, the religious leaders decided it was time to act on their determination to kill him. So, they sent subordinates to make the arrest. And we’ll find out how this turned out when we get to the final section of the chapter.
    But meanwhile, Jesus continued speaking and said he would soon be returning to the one who sent him – God the Father – and that when he did, no one would be able to find or follow him.
    He wasn’t saying that he’d decided to give up on humanity and was just going to cash in his chips and go home. He simply meant that he wouldn’t be with them in person much longer. There was a time limit on his physical presence. He would be fulfilling his redemption assignment and returning to the heavenly realm. And even then, it wouldn’t be to abandon us but to make way for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who he will begin to introduce in the subsequent passage.
    But this completely confused the Jewish elite. And even though Jesus had been perfectly clear, they began debating among themselves concerning what he meant about where he’d be going.
    As usual, their spiritual pride rendered them completely blind to his point. He was issuing a call to action. It’s as though he were saying, “The time to believe is now while we’re literally in the same room together – where you can hear my teachings with your own ears and see my miracles with your own eyes. Don’t put it off. It won’t be easier after I’m gone.”
    That doesn’t mean exercising faith requires the physical presence of Jesus. Billions of us have become Christ-followers in the two millennia since his ascension. But the time to believe him and to act on that faith is always now not later.
    And here is where this get personal for me. Whenever circumstances challenge me to trust Jesus, I want to be immediate in my response. I don’t want to hesitate while I consider alternatives. But the reality is sometimes the little Pharisee that hides out in my soul resists belief. I give place to confusion or fear, drag my spiritual feet, and miss the opportunity to see God do something wonderful in response to my faith. But I am determined to make sure that happens less often.
    Perhaps you feel the same. If so, I encourage you to scroll through the list of your life’s challenges today and sincerely decide that now is the time to trust Jesus with them. What are you waiting for?
    3 min
  • John 7:25-31 • Who We're From
    Have you ever raised your voice during a conversation in order to make a point? Jesus did. Not often. But when we encounter one of those occasions in the Gospels, I think it’s wise to pay close attention to what he said. Don’t you? And one of those times is found in the two verses at the heart of John 7:25-31.
    This section of the chapter captures the response of three different groups of people to Jesus’ ministry. We see the hostility of the religious leaders who felt threatened by his authority, we encounter the humble belief of those who were convinced of His messiahship by the displays of his power, and we also meet a group who rejected his message because of what they thought they knew about his identity based on where he was from.
    And it was this assumption that prompted his powerful reply. He lifted his voice in dramatic fashion and told them his identity was not based on where he was from but on who he was from. He said he was sent by the one who is true, or more literally, real. In other words, he was from the only one whose sending matters. It was that sending that defined him.
    And that’s true for us too. I think one of the reasons Jesus was so emphatic about this is that you and I need to know our true identity. Our sense of self is so often distorted by the false belief that we’re defined by where we’re from – our past wounds and failures – instead of who we’re from – the one who has sent us.
    Revelation 12:10 describes the devil as our accuser. He is relentless in his efforts to remind us of where we’re from and label us by those accusations. And he also works hard to arrange for his allegations to be supported and amplified by nearly everyone we meet. We are almost always judged by others based on our history.
    But John 17:18 and 20:21 record Jesus’ own words as he declared that he has personally sent us in the same way the Father sent him. And we’re defined by our sender – who we’re from – just as he was.
    Don’t forget that. When you’re tempted today to believe otherwise, remember the time Jesus cried out in the temple to make the point that our identity rests securely on who we’re from.
    3 min
  • John 7:19-24 • A Pathway to Rightness

    In John 7:19-24, Jesus continued teaching in the Temple during the Feast of Tabernacles. He purposefully picked at an old scab when he asked the crowd why they wanted to kill him. And although they responded by expressing confusion, the question was really addressed to the religious leaders in their midst who knew exactly what he meant.

    It had been a year and a half since the healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda on a Sabbath day. That had stirred up a hornets’ nest of hatred among the Jewish elite and resulted in their determining to find a way to execute Jesus (John 5:9-16). And now, eighteen months later, the Lord’s inquiry pulled the curtain back on their secret plan and revealed the intense animosity that still festered in their hearts.

    It’s clear Jesus wanted to get this out in the open and address it publicly. But not just to settle a score. He wanted to teach them the right way to relate to biblical commands so they can become gifts to welcome not regulations to come under.

    He pointed out that the Jewish leaders themselves routinely violated their rigid application of Sabbath restrictions. The Mosaic law required them to circumcise Jewish boys on their eighth day of life. But if that fell on a Sabbath, they didn’t hesitate to perform the circumcision. They prioritized its importance over a strict interpretation of rest. So, Jesus asked them to explain why healing a man would not be at least an equal priority.

    And at first, it almost sounds like he’s asking to be excused for what he’d done because it wasn’t any worse than what they do. But he hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d done something very right, and he wanted them to do the same by exercising righteous judgment not based on appearance. In other words, he was inviting them to look beneath the surface of the law for its roots of righteousness before making judgments based on it.

    What did he mean by that?

    Well, he wasn’t suggesting that scriptural commands are merely suggestions that can be overridden or adjusted based on whim or changing circumstances. But he was clarifying that they aren’t oppressive, unyielding shackles either. They’re ultimately about the orientations and intensions of the heart not mere compliance.

    It’s entirely possible to go through the motions of obedience without the soul being aligned with the actions. In fact, that’s exactly how the scribes and Pharisees could harbor their deep hatred of Jesus behind a façade of strict legalism.

    2 Corinthians 3:6 tells us, “…the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” When we look beyond the surface – or letter – of the commandments and embrace the Holy Spirit’s purposes behind them, something life-giving starts to emerge. We begin to see them as expressions of God’s compassion.

    And this can radically change the way we read, understand, and apply Scripture. As the Holy Spirit enables us to see it through the lens of God’s commitment to help us experience his righteousness – or rightness – we begin to discover his gifts of grace behind every command. We then find ourselves longing for those blessings, and it motivates our obedience.

    Is there a specific scriptural directive, restriction, or regulation that you struggle with today, finding it difficult to understand or obey? If so, I invite you to take another look. Welcome the Spirit to help you see beyond the surface into the loving heart of God who offers it to you as a pathway to rightness.

    5 min
  • John 7:10-14 • The Fear of Man
    John chapter 7 verse 10 informs us Jesus made a low-profile journey to Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. And the preceding verses clarify his strategy. He didn’t want to prematurely attract the attention of the religious leaders who wanted to kill him. But then, verse 14 states that at a time near the midpoint of the eight-day celebration, he went to the Temple – the epicenter of the week’s activities – and began to teach. He went to the most visible venue and publicly proclaimed his message.
    He clearly was unafraid. On the other hand, verses 11-13 tell us he had supporters among the gathered crowds who wouldn’t speak openly about him specifically because of their fear. So, we see Jesus managing his public testimony strategically while those in the crowd restrained theirs in order to protect themselves.
    And that reminds me of something that happened yesterday.
    My wife and I went out to breakfast with another couple who are lifelong friends and partners in ministry. So, our table conversation was filled with Jesus-talk as we caught up on all the wonderful things God has done and is doing in and through our lives.
    But at one point, I caught myself thinking about the single woman seated very close by at the table next to us. I began to wonder how our conversation – which was clearly spilling over into her space – was being received. I instinctively lowered my volume and became more deliberate with my choice of words. And I’m not sure that I was managing my testimony strategically. I suspect it was out of fear – not of physical harm but diminished reputation.
    Don’t get me wrong. I totally understand the appropriateness of exercising consideration regarding when, where, and how to vocalize my love for Christ. I’m an advocate for believers being mindful and measured – strategic – about our faith-sharing. But honestly, I don’t think that was what was going on in my soul.
    Although I thankfully live in a country that enjoys freedom of religion, the tide of opinion has definitely turned in recent years against the acceptability of public confessions of Christian faith. Expressions of nearly any other viewpoint are celebrated, but open declarations of belief in Jesus are increasingly frowned upon. And Jesus-followers who go public are generally considered fools and usually worse.
    I think my thoughts and actions yesterday were more reflective of a concern for my reputation than kingdom purpose. And that’s something I just cannot allow to take root in my heart. I choose today to live out my faith strategically under the direction of the Holy Spirit without surrendering to the fear of man.
    4 min
  • John 6:60-66 • The Ecstasy of Access
    In John 6 verses 60-66, we encounter a sad fact and a breathtaking reality.
    First, the sad fact is that some people will make the choice to turn away from following Jesus.
    The passage opens by disclosing that many of those who’d been following Him since the loaves and fishes miracle and heard Him describe Himself as the Bread from Heaven that provides eternal life, complained that they just couldn’t understand His message. They said it was too hard to grasp.
    He responded by saying that if they couldn’t comprehend this prerequisite truth, they would certainly not be able to move on to the rest of what could be revealed to them. He also clarified the problem as a paradigm issue not a communication failure. It was neither that they weren’t intelligent enough nor that He wasn’t clear. It was that they were refusing to let go of their faithless frame of reference.
    A paradigm is a framework of understanding. It’s the lens through which we see things. And when He said, “The flesh profits nothing,” He meant that insisting their humanistic, natural-world, unbelieving framework could handle spiritual understanding was folly. He was introducing them to a whole new paradigm. He wasn’t just trying to get a point across, His words were literally spirit and life.
    He went on to say their comprehension problem was not the difficulty of the concepts, it was their lack of faith. Belief is the fist step into the paradigm of the spirit, and it cannot be skipped. As long as a person resists believing in Christ, there’s only so much they can receive from Him. And sadly, many in this crowd had reached the end of the line. And so, they walked away.
    But not all of them. And that’s where we discover the breathtaking reality described in the heart of verse 65.
    Here we see a completely different outcome for those of us who DO choose to believe. Instead of turning away, we find ourselves coming TO Jesus. And we’re told the Heavenly Father is the One who grants this amazing access.
    This is stunning on so many levels. It means that when we’re hurting, we can come to Jesus. When we’re weak, we can come to Jesus. And it also means when we’re confused, unclear, or uncertain about anything, we can come to Jesus.
    So even though we might encounter spiritual truths that initially challenge our comprehension, our faith has ushered us into the paradigm of the Spirit and given us direct access to the One who can and will open those truths to us.
    I challenge you, Dear One. Don’t be among those who turn away in unbelief. Daily choose to faithfully, fearlessly, and continuously follow Jesus by faith and experience the ecstasy of access.
    4 min
  • John 6:52-59 • The Bridge Builder
    In John 6:52-59, we have the conclusion of the conversation Jesus had with the Jews about Him being the true “Bread from Heaven” and the “Bread of Life.” This final section of the passage begins by describing the struggle they had comprehending the concept of eating His flesh, or in other words, spiritually feasting on Jesus in order to gain eternal life.
    But, without even a hint of frustration, the Lord patiently explained it all again, providing them with yet another opportunity to grasp this truth. He was building a bridge of understanding from something they already knew – manna in the wilderness – to something they didn’t yet know – the cross. And even though we’ll discover that most of them chose not to cross the span, this demonstration of His patient willingness to escort them over is deeply moving to me.
    Why? Because I’m often very slow to comprehend spiritual truth. And knowing that my Savior won’t give up on me and is willing to lovingly work with me until I get it, is profoundly soul-securing.
    For example, after nearly forty-five years of my marriage, I finally feel like I’m starting to understand what Ephesians 5:25 means when it says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave Himself for her.” And I can’t thank Jesus enough for hanging in there with me through that steep learning curve, because the impact on the sweetness of my relationship with Sue is simply indescribable.
    We don’t know what we don’t know. So, in our human pride we assume we understand eternal things when we really don’t. The truth is that our earth-bound, sin-scarred, and materialistic frame of reference is so narrow and shallow that we are completely dependent on the Bridge Builder to lead us from ignorance to knowledge. So, thank God we have the promise of John 16:13 – “He will guide you into all truth.”
    In light of the immeasurable kindness of our patient, loving teacher, let’s stay teachable today as He leads us from what we think we know to what we have yet to discover.
    3 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.