Wednesday in the Word

John 1:19–34 shows John the Baptist answering one big question: why should anyone believe that Jesus is the Messiah? In this episode, we look at how John’s clear testimony, both about who he is not and who Jesus is, gives solid reasons to trust that Jesus really is God’s chosen king and the Lamb of God who takes away sin. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How John’s Gospel skips John the Baptist’s backstory and focuses almost entirely on his testimony about Jesus.
• The background to Jewish baptism, why it was normally for Gentile converts, and why John’s baptism of Jews created such a stir.
• The delegation from Jerusalem that presses John with big questions and how his strong, repeated “I am not” answers make his role crystal clear.
• What it means for John to call himself “the voice crying in the wilderness” from Isaiah 40 and how that picture of preparing a highway for the king helps us understand his mission.
• Why John insists that he is not even worthy to untie the Messiah’s sandals and how that humility points everyone’s attention away from himself and toward Jesus.
• The rich Old Testament background behind the title “Lamb of God,” including Passover, Isaiah’s suffering servant, and the idea of a substitute sacrifice.
• How God gave John a specific sign to recognize the Messiah and what it meant when John saw the Spirit descend and remain on Jesus.
• The way John’s water baptism points ahead to Jesus’ greater baptism with the Holy Spirit and how that introduces a major theme in this Gospel.
• Why titles like “Lamb of God” and “Son of God” in this passage are first and foremost messianic titles that highlight Jesus as God’s promised king.
• How this scene fits John’s larger theme that we come to faith through trustworthy testimony about what eyewitnesses have seen and heard.

By the end of this episode, you will better understand why John the Baptist was so certain about Jesus and why his testimony still matters for your faith today. You will see more clearly how God prepared the way for the Messiah, how Jesus came to deal with sin as God’s Lamb, and how you can rest with greater confidence in the eyewitness reports that invite you to believe that Jesus is the Christ.

Series: Gospel of John: Believe and Find Life

John’s famous prologue introduces Jesus not just as a great teacher, but as the one through whom God created the world, the source of true life, and the only one who can make God known. This episode walks through John 1:1-18 and shows how John starts from ideas his readers already knew about an ordered universe, then reveals that the creator and giver of life has stepped into history in the person of Jesus Christ. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why John skips the birth stories and opens with a poetic prologue that sets the tone and purpose for his whole Gospel.
• What the word “Logos” meant in the ancient world, how it connects to the idea of “Tao,” and why John uses it to talk about God’s plan and purpose for the universe.
• How the prologue declares that everything that exists is part of God’s ordered design, not random chaos, and what that means for the meaning of our lives.
• What John means by “life” as the “light of men” and how this points to eternal life - the kind of uncorrupted, joy filled life God always intended for his people.
• The image of light shining in the darkness and why our sin and the brokenness of the world have not extinguished God’s plan to give life.
• The role of John the Baptist as a witness to the light and how this introduces one of John’s key themes: we believe through trustworthy testimony.
• What it means to “receive” the true light, believe in his name, and be given the right to become children of God who are born not by human effort, but by God.
• How “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” and why John emphasizes that Jesus, as the unique Son, is full of grace and truth.
• How titles like “Son of God,” “Messiah,” and “Christ” in this passage point to the promised king who rules on God’s behalf and brings God’s plans to fulfillment.
• The three big themes John will develop throughout his Gospel: testimony about Jesus, believing in Jesus to receive life, and the Spirit’s work in bringing us to faith.

By the end of this episode, you will see the prologue not as a vague theological poem, but as a clear roadmap to John’s entire Gospel and to the heart of the Christian message. You will better understand why believing in Jesus is the way to eternal life, how God’s ordered plan gives meaning to your story, and how the testimony about Christ invites you to trust him as the one who brings light, life, and the full revelation of God.

Series: Gospel of John: Believe and Find Life

This episode launches a new series in the Gospel of John and lays the groundwork for how we will study it together. We look at who wrote this Gospel, why the early church was so confident about its author, how John’s account differs from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and what it means to read a Gospel as carefully crafted persuasion rather than a simple timeline of events. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• The case for the apostle John as the author, including the testimony of early church leaders and John’s own way of referring to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
• How to sort out the different Johns in the New Testament and why it matters to distinguish John the apostle from John the Baptist and John Mark.
• What it means to be an apostle, why their authority was unique, and how miracles functioned as God’s way of confirming that their message was true.
• Key biographical details about John’s life, family, partnership with Peter and Andrew, and his long ministry from Galilee to Ephesus and finally Patmos.
• Why John’s Gospel is so different from the “synoptic” Gospels, and how his purpose and audience shaped the stories he chose to include.
• The different ways Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story of Jesus’ relationship to Jerusalem compared to John’s repeated “back and forth” pattern around the Jewish feasts.
• How to think about the Gospels as theological portraits and apologetic writings that aim to persuade us of Jesus’ significance, not just record bare facts.
• A helpful analogy about biographies and puzzle pieces that shows why we must pay attention both to the small details and to the overall structure of a book.
• Why this series will focus on the “big picture” of John, tracing major themes and author choices so that later detailed study has a strong framework to sit in.

By the end of this episode, you will have a clearer sense of who John is, why his Gospel is trustworthy, and what kind of book you are reading when you open it. You will be better equipped to notice how John arranges his material to make a point, more confident about the differences between the four Gospels, and ready to follow this study with an eye for both the details on the page and the bigger picture of what God is revealing through the life of Jesus.

Series: Gospel of John: Believe and Find Life

Fall 2024 marks the 25th season of the Wednesday in the Word podcast. I can't prove it, but I believe Wednesday in the Word is the longest running Bible study podcast in the world.

In June 2005, Apple added podcasting to iTunes 4.9. When I started podcasting in 2011, iTunes (which is now Apple podcasts) carried approximately 300 podcast shows. You had to complete 20 episodes before you could even apply to Apple to include your show. Thankfully, they accepted Wednesday in the Word, and the rest — as they say —is history.

Season 25 of the podcast kicks off August 21, 2024

We’ll be studying the Gospel of John. This will be a different study. I want to model a different aspect of Bible study. Rather than focusing on the details, we're going to focus on putting all the details together into the big picture. I hope you enjoy it and learn from it as much as I have.

Please mark your calendars for August 21. 

Be sure you’re following Wednesday in the Word wherever you listen so you can get notified when each new episode drops.

June 2024: Wednesday in the Word Update: The podcast is on break. In the meantime listen to one of the 500+ previous episodes and this song.

Thanks to everyone who listened to the Galatians and the Fruit of the Spirit.  I pray that God used it to help you grown in wisdom and understanding.  It’s such a joy to share the Bible with you and hear your wonderful feedback. 

I’ll be taking a short break from the podcast while I work on our next series. But you can still listen to previous episodes. There are over 500 episodes in 24 different series in the podcast feed in your app.  Just keep scrolling down until you find one you want that interests you.

If you’re on the website, select podcast and browse through the list.

I’ll leave you with a song called “My Prayer for You” by Reggie Coates from his album Intimacy.  You can find this song and all of Reggie’s music on Heartfeltmusic.org.

Thanks again for listening to this Wednesday in the word update.  I can’t wait to see you at Wednesday in the Word.

Paul ends his series on the fruit of the Spirit by pulling back to the big picture: these qualities are not a checklist of virtues to chase or feelings to manufacture, but the natural outgrowth of a new worldview the Spirit creates in us through the gospel. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why the fruit of the Spirit are not the cause of spiritual maturity but the result of a Spirit-shaped worldview rooted in the gospel
• Two contrasting pictures of the gospel: the “red wire” instruction manual versus the enchanted-princess story, and why the second better captures how faith reveals who we are becoming
• Eight key “truths of our new worldview”: the real God of the Bible, our equality before Him, our sin and guilt, God’s active work for our good, our solid hope, our unique bond with believers, our new freedom, and our growing love for what is truly good
• The ongoing danger of legalism—from the Judaizers in Galatia to modern forms that quietly say, “God is pleased with me because I do things the right way”
• How the four core convictions of saving faith (I am a sinner; God owes me nothing; I cannot save myself; God will forgive me through Christ) reshape everything about how we see ourselves and others
• Why Paul’s exhortation to pursue these qualities is ultimately an exhortation to believe the gospel more deeply, not to “try harder” or “tap into” a special spiritual power
• The comforting promise that if you belong to Christ, the Spirit will grow this fruit in you over time—imperfectly now, but surely and steadily along the path God has planned

After listening, you’ll come away with a clearer sense of how the entire list of the fruit of the Spirit fits inside Paul’s message to the Galatians and inside your own story of faith. 

Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Self-control may sound like the one fruit of the Spirit that disqualifies us all—but Paul does not mean a flawless ability to always say and do the right thing. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• Why Paul’s own struggle in Romans 7 shows that self-control cannot mean the end of temptation or the disappearance of inner conflict in this life 
• How the Law functions like a diagnosis—exposing our “disease” of sin without causing it—and why that exposure intensifies our awareness of the battle inside us 
• Paul’s conversation with Felix and Drusilla in Acts 24, and how righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment together reveal why it is wise to limit ourselves in light of God’s verdict 
• How 1 Corinthians 9 uses the image of athletes to show self-control as freely limiting our rights and freedoms—for the sake of others and for the sake of the gospel we hope to share 
• Peter’s list in 2 Peter 1, where faith leads to knowledge and knowledge to self-control, and how this shows that self-control grows out of a gospel-shaped worldview, not sheer willpower 
• The difference between three kinds of self-control: worldly self-control that learns (too late) that indulgence destroys; religious, Pharisee-style self-denial fueled by pride; and true Spirit-given self-control rooted in the hope of the gospel 
• How growing self-control shows up over time: the same old temptations may still appear, but our vision clears, our desires slowly shift, and we increasingly want our lives to be about belonging to God 

After listening, you’ll have a more honest and hopeful understanding of self-control as a fruit of the Spirit. 

Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Gentleness, or meekness, is often misunderstood as weakness or mere softness. But in Scripture it is the strength of someone who trusts God so deeply that they don’t need to push themselves forward, grab for status, or trample others to get what they want. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How “gentleness” in Galatians 5 is the same idea as “meekness” in the Beatitudes, and why no single English word fully captures this rich biblical concept 
• Moses as “very meek, more than all people on the face of the earth”—a man with unparalleled privilege and access to God who never grabbed for glory or equality with others, but accepted the role God assigned him 
• Psalm 37 and Jesus’ beatitude, “the meek shall inherit the earth,” as a call to refuse the grasping, scheming ways of evildoers and to wait quietly and confidently for God to vindicate His people in the end 
• Jesus as the perfect model of meekness: entering Jerusalem lowly on a donkey, inviting weary sinners to take His yoke because He is “gentle and lowly in heart,” and using His authority to bless and save rather than to exploit 
• James’s contrast between selfishly ambitious leaders and those who show their wisdom “in the meekness of wisdom,” content to let God exalt them rather than building their own little kingdoms 
• Paul’s call in Galatians 6:1 to restore a sinning brother “in a spirit of gentleness,” remembering our own weakness and resisting the temptation to use others’ failures to prop up our spiritual pride 
• How meekness reshapes everyday relationships in the church: taking the lower place, refusing to trample others for recognition, and trusting God to provide honor in His time rather than seizing it now 

After listening, you’ll see gentleness not as timidity or niceness, but as a Spirit-produced humility that flows from deep trust in God’s character and promises. 

Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Faith belongs on the list of the fruit of the Spirit but not as vague optimism, positive thinking, or a one-time decision we made years ago. In this episode, Krisan Marotta unpacks “faith” in Galatians 5 as a growing, Spirit-given way of seeing reality: believing the gospel, holding its core convictions, and learning to stand firm in that truth for a lifetime. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How viewing faith as a one-time “switch” at conversion misses the New Testament emphasis on a lifelong battle to keep believing
• The problems with dividing Christians into “spiritual” and “carnal” based on who has supposedly “claimed” more blessings by faith
• A clear definition of saving faith as believing the gospel and living in light of it, not conjuring up certainty about whatever we want God to do
• Four core convictions at the heart of saving faith: longing for holiness, knowing we can’t save ourselves, recognizing God is not obligated to save us, and trusting His mercy because of Jesus
• The “armor of God” in Ephesians 6 as a picture of standing firm—holding fast to truth, righteousness, the gospel, salvation, and the Word in a real spiritual battle
• Paul’s call in 1 Thessalonians 5 to stay awake, sober, and ready for Christ’s return, wearing “the breastplate of faith and love” and “the hope of salvation”
• The Spirit’s role in taking scoffers and skeptics, opening their eyes to the gospel, and slowly growing a faith that weaves into every decision and desire

After listening, you’ll see why “faith” truly belongs on the list of the Spirit’s fruit—not as vague religious language, but as a profound, growing trust in the gospel that changes how you interpret everything in life.  

Series: Fruit of the Spirit

Goodness, as a fruit of the Spirit, is not bland niceness or a vague sense of being “a good person.” In this episode, Krisan Marotta explores goodness as a clear-eyed pursuit of what is truly right, holy, and true in a world that often laughs at moral boundaries. 

In this week’s episode, we explore:

• How “goodness” in Galatians 5 fits into Paul’s larger contrast between the works of the flesh and the Spirit’s transforming work in believers
• Ephesians 5 and its call to live as “saints”—people set apart to God—by letting our lives match what we say we believe
• Why goodness cannot be separated from rejecting immorality, impurity, and greed, even when our culture celebrates those things as normal or even virtuous
• Paul’s warning about greed and covetousness as a form of idolatry—trusting worldly success and possessions more than God’s promises
• What it means to “walk as children of light,” with the “fruit of light” expressed in all that is good, right, and true, and to expose the works of darkness rather than quietly go along with them
• The difference between true goodness as a work of the Spirit and the pale imitation of legalism that lowers God’s standard so we can feel righteous about ourselves
• Ephesians 2:1–10 and the hope that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ for good works—evidence that any real shift toward valuing and pursuing goodness is His gracious work in us

After listening, you’ll gain a sharper, more realistic picture of what “goodness” actually means in the Christian life—and why it will sometimes make you stand out from both the surrounding culture and religious pretenders. 

 Series: Fruit of the Spirit