From John 16: Christianity’s Most Confounding Truth

“Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.” (v. 7)

It is, perhaps, the most confounding truth.

Jesus—Son of God and Son of Man, our Rabbi and Teacher, who healed and who fed and who raised to life when He walked among us—says that it’s a good thing that He has gone to the Father. He says it’s good for us! In fact, He doesn’t just say it’s good—He says it’s better!

Everything I’ve read about Jesus in history causes me to say, “Say what!” I’m just as confused as the Twelve!

That is, until I remember the rest of Jesus’ promise: He says it’ll be better for us…because the Counselor is coming. Indeed, for believers, the Counselor—the Holy Spirit—has come!

Why is that better?

Because Jesus’ Spirit isn’t beside us. He’s in us. Everywhere we go, into every circumstance we face, and through every confusion or question or complication, the Holy Spirit speaks. He reminds us of Christ’s victory and Christ’s authority. He strengthens us. He convicts us of sin, so that we can repent, before we make bigger messes. He speaks through us, so that our family and friends and neighbors can hear the truth, however inadequate we feel to the task. And His miracle still flow to and from our lives.

The Spirit in us is the maximal fulfillment of Jesus’ goodness. That’s confoundingly better.

— Tyler

From John 15: Obedience is Love

“If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” (v. 10)

Obedience isn’t religion.

Obedience isn’t salvation.

Obedience isn’t self-congratulation or haughtiness or holier-than-thou posturing.

Obedience—to the Word, to the things God calls us to, and to His ways—isn’t any of those things at all.

Obedience is love.

When we trust Jesus for redemption, we are also trusting Him for direction. Without Him, we would be stumbling in the same dark that had left us desperate, and we would find ourselves far off and alone again. But, because of Him, we know life and light—and, for love, we walk in it.

We obey because Jesus is worthy. We obey because Jesus is unfailingly right. We obey because the One who loves us leads us—to be more like Him, to be pleasing to the Father, and to produce Kingdom fruit (which is joy!).

Obedience is about love. So I will follow the One I love, who loved me first, and I will know the satisfaction of living for Him.

— Tyler

From John 14: Pray Bigger Prayers

“Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (v. 13)

Pray bigger prayers.

Jesus has told us—repeatedly—that He will do what we ask, when we ask in His name.

That’s not to say that every single thing will be answered according to our desires. What we want is so often shaded by selfishness and greed, not to mention our own shortsightedness compared to God’s sovereign will. Jesus is not merely our wish-fulfiller.

Yet He tells us to ask. And the asking certainly goes beyond our day-to-day hope for day-to-day blessings. Jesus frames the whole conversation with His departure, with the giving of the Holy Spirit, and with the radical notion that greater works than everything we’ve seen thus far are still coming—and coming by prayer!

So pray bigger prayers!

And pray them like this: Pray that, by healing and helping and blessing and rescuing and providing and redeeming, the name of Jesus will receive glory. Pray in His name, for the sake of His name. Those prayers are ultimately about worship, not just what you want. Pray in such a way that the answer magnifies His glory on the earth—specifically through your testimony.

Pray bigger prayers, friends, in His name and for His name.

— Tyler

From John 13: He Washed (Some) Feet

“So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” (v. 14)

A recent television ad depicted Jesus, who “gets us,” washing feet. That was the message: He didn’t divide. He washed feet.

I get the heart behind that. And, obviously, I get the biblical picture.

But…is that what’s going on in John 13?

Jesus did, in fact wash some feet, specifically the feet of His disciples. It was the culmination of His self-giving love for them. It was an example of how they ought to live and serve one another. It was a picture of a Master setting an entirely new precedent—one wherein the first shall be last, and the great shall be servants.

And Jesus did this—He washed some feet—around a closed, intimate, confessional table. With family.

Does Jesus’ Gospel heal divides and bring together the unlikeliest neighbors? Absolutely. But you’ll note that our evangelism—when we get up from the table—is one of teaching and baptizing. That’s the washing they need.

Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, so that His disciples would know the kind of love, service, and humility the Christian life implores ongoingly. It’s how they are meant to be known. Which means it’s specifically for them.

So, yes, He washed feet. Some feet.

— Tyler

From John 12: It Takes Death

“Truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (v. 24)

You hear it preached constantly:

“The Christian ought to multiply. He ought to evangelize. They ought to plant churches. She ought to live on mission—and maybe even go on mission. The Christian ought to be a Great Commission Christian.”*

All of that is enduringly true.

Now…what does that take?

It doesn’t take better strategies and more programs and increased funding (though some of that might be in the picture). It doesn’t take enhanced training. It doesn’t even take more time—unless you count stewarding your time in light of the Kingdom as “giving” it, which is biblically bizarre.

Here’s what the Gospel-centered multiplying life requires:

Death.

Jesus gives a parable: The seed has to fall down and die—it has to stop hanging on to its comfortable branch-life—so that it can multiply. If it only ever clings, it is a life taker. But if it lays its life down, it is given, and new life sprouts around it.

Your multiplying life comes when you move past receiving. It comes when you give up positions of privilege and comfort. It comes when you make yourself lower than those you would see grow toward Christ.

Will we let go of the branch’s heights for them—and for Him?

— Tyler

*(See Matthew 28:18 ff.)

From John 11: Do You Believe This?

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’” (vv. 25-26)

Set aside every other consideration, complication, or question. Just for a moment. At least long enough to hear the very heart of the Gospel.

Jesus gives it to us in just four words:

“Do you believe this?”

What is “this,” exactly? It is our fundamental confidence in Jesus’ power over death. It is our core conviction: Jesus gives everlasting life to those who believe, specifically in Him. It is our comfort and our confession, for we are convinced that Jesus’ own know His voice and come to Him, leaving the grave behind.

Those who believe in the Lord Jesus will live and never die.

Do you believe this?

Your answer to that question is nothing short of everything.

— Tyler

From John 10: The Good Shepherd’s Good News

“My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” (vv. 27-28)

Do you know His voice?

When you encounter Jesus in the Scriptures, and when you read of His compassion and His clarity and His calling, are you stirred?

Does the voice of Jesus move you—out of darkness, into light, with faith and repentance?

Then I have good news:

You are His.

That is the fundamental security we have in the Good Shepherd. He has us! The thief may whistle at you or whisper to you, but he can’t have you, for you are the Lord’s. The Father has sealed you for His Son, and you are secure, saved by a grace that is greater than any robber’s lies.

If you know Jesus’ voice and follow Him, no one can take you out of His hand.

That’s the Good News of the Good Shepherd.

— Tyler

From John 9: The “Why” for Weakness

“‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ Jesus answered. ‘This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him.’” (v. 3)

Sometimes your situation is, in fact, a consequence. There is, in fact, such a thing as sowing and reaping. If you carry on in self-destructive, God-dishonoring behavior, you will, in fact, experience pain and frustration and fruitlessness.

Sometimes the things we’ve done are the things that got us here.

But not always.

You see, we are ultimately dependent. We are weak. In a sin-broken world, our things break, and we are left in pieces. You will be able to account for much of your pain and say, confidently and rightly, “I did not cause this!”

So why are things this way?

Because His power is revealed in your weakness.

Every time you are healed, He is magnified. Every time you are helped, He gets the glory. Every time you testify to His great mercy and care and salvation, His fame grows. Every time He proves faithful, the faithful rejoice, and worship happens.

The glory of God is made evident not just in His strength, but in our weakness.

That’s helpful to hear, when life doesn’t seem right—and when you don’t know why. The “why” is that He is still for us, for His glory.

— Tyler

From John 8: Truth and Freedom

“Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (vv. 31-32)

We all want to know more.

We’re convinced that knowledge is power. So we keep up with the news. We follow the talking heads. We subscribe to the right social accounts—especially those who claim to give you a peek behind the political and governmental veil. We think, “There is a truth we aren’t being told, and I’m going to find it, because I refuse to be a sheep.”

We think that knowledge is power, that that power is found in some secret truth, and that that power is freedom.

But what is true freedom?

It’s the truth of Christ.

And it is found in His Word.

If you abide in His Word—if you learn to cherish the revelation of His grace and the clarity of His teaching and the authority of His sovereignty—you will be free. Free from earthly concerns. Free from enduring fears. Free from the constant drag of mortality. If you abide in His Word, you will know a truth that is before and better than and beyond any of the things peddled by an anxious culture.

Might I suggest, then, hanging up on all the terrestrial “truths” that still shackle you to their feeds—and urge you back toward the Bible?

— Tyler

From John 7: Appearances

“‘Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.’” (v. 24)

You live in a posturing world.

Everyone around you is determined to signal their priorities through appearances. Consider all the political signs, the email-signature pronouns, and the ever-changing flags and symbols that surround you. It’s pervasive. Everyone wants you to know what they believe—and they want to know what businesses, organizations, and governments believe—based on what’s on the surface.

Here’s the problem:

Outward appearances aren’t the end-all. You can pose with all the signs of justice and equality and love (according to the world), but none of that is truly revelatory. In fact, you can have all of that on the surface, yet still be selfish and lustful and corrupt in your heart.

Jesus’ point: Don’t judge by those appearances. This is the prophetic side of “You can’t judge a book by its cover”—because a dressed-up cover can obscure an unrepentant, judgmental heart! Jesus speaks through all the posturing to remind us: a heart that is obedient to Him, submitted in belief, and filled with His Spirit is the only one that passes judgment—regardless of how religiously (or culturally) right it appears!

Judgment is real. It’s just not as the world expects—or aims for.

— Tyler

From John 6: A Hard Teaching

“Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, ‘This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?’” (v. 60)

The exclusivity of Christ.

Salvation by grace alone.

Faith that is dependent upon the call of God.

An offering of flesh and blood—of bread from heaven—set on our Passover table.

Believing without seeing….

These are hard teachings. They stretch our religious comforts so that they might conform to the revealed Christ. Anyone can sign up for “pray this prayer once” or “believe to get” or “He’ll take your troubles away.” But only the called will know the life that comes on the narrow road.

All of which urges the question:

Would you have been among the few who remained with Jesus, or would you have departed with the many?

A hard teaching, indeed.

— Tyler

From John 5: How to Know if They are Saved

“‘Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.’” (v. 24)

There are a number of evidences for salvation.

The elect—those redeemed by the grace of God in Christ, a gift received by faith—will be repentant. They will demonstrate a desire for that which is pure and beautiful and true. They will worship, serve, and be generous. And they will desire the evangelistic ends of Christian mission and ministry.

Those things will all be evident in a saved life.

But they aren’t the first evidence.

The first evidence—the fundamental sign—of salvation is belief.

One who has received life in Jesus’ name won’t spend that life dismantling His Word. The saved believe. It is in the convictional commitment to revelation—to the inspired Scriptures, breathed out by Jesus’ Spirit—that salvation is made plain.

We aren’t the authority. We can’t answer every question about everyone. But we can trust what Jesus says…

…so let their belief tell you about their salvation.

— Tyler

From John 4: Concerning Testimonies

“Many more believed because of what he said. And they told the woman, ‘We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.’” (vv. 41-42)

A testimony of Christ develops over three movements:

The first movement is simply telling: Like the Samaritan woman, you report to friends and neighbors and relatives who Christ is, and what Christ has done in you. You testify to the life change you have found in the Gospel, and you point to that Gospel.

The second movement is the part we overthink: If someone responds tepidly (or incredulously, or adversarially), don’t freak out! The second movement isn’t dogmatic arguments. It isn’t scrambling for an answer to every objection. It’s simply this: “Come and see.” You’ve reported. Now you invite—because salvation is Jesus’ work, not yours.

What’s the third movement?

They respond to Him, and not you. They hear Him, and they are either awakened to life, or they spurn Him. The third movement sidelines you and trusts the Spirit.

And, we pray, it results in a Samaritan-village kind of result. They learn to believe—not because you testified and you invited, but because Jesus draws them, by grace.

A lot to learn in John 4.

— Tyler

From John 3: Good News Bad News

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (v. 17)

We have rehearsed John 3:16 to the uttermost (and rightly!).

And, among some of us, our recital incorporates later verses of the same discourse: that condemnation falls to those who don’t believe, that people love darkness and not light, that salvation only comes to those who receive the gift of the Son.

All of that is as true as John 3:16.

It’s just not exactly good news.

That’s why I highlight John 3:17 specifically. I don’t want the goodness of the Good News to get lost in all the bad news.

Does the Gospel make condemnation as plain as salvation? Yes. But is condemnation God’s point? Of course not! Why else would He prepare, from before the beginning of everything, to give the inimitably costly gift of His Son? Jesus—the point of it all—isn’t given so that we will know for sure the reality of condemnation. He is given so that, at the sound of His name and the call of His Spirit, there will be salvation!

We need to comprehend both sides of the equation—but don’t get caught ignoring v. 17. Yes, there is bad news. Let it magnify just how good the Good News is.

— Tyler

From John 2: Religious Goods and Services

“He told those who were selling doves, ‘Get these things out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!’” (v. 16)

The gospels give us two distinct accounts of Jesus’ ruckus in the Temple.

We’re very familiar with the later one, wherein He castigates the religious enterprise for missing prayer—and missing the point.

John’s is a little different.

John highlights Jesus’ fury, as He levels it against the Temple marketplace. Instead of being the home for right offerings and heartfelt worship, it has become the headquarters for dealing in religious goods and services. Here, you can trade a little of what you’ve got from the world so that you can check the box of religious requirement. No need to come prepared and penitent. Just come with cash.

Jesus sees it, grieves it, and drives its perpetuators from the premises.

The lesson:

Make sure your church is more than a dispensary of “good Christian personhood.” Remain minded, organized, and determined for worship. Offerings are part of the picture, but they are offered in complement with prayer and singing and proclamation and repentance. The church has to care about more than “nickels and noses.” And we’d better worship like it, lest Jesus clear our courtyards in righteousness, too.

— Tyler

From John 1: In Short

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (v. 14)

Sometimes people ask, “Where should I start, if I am reading the Bible for the first time?” And, while no part of the Word of God is expendable, not everyone recommends starting with Genesis. Many—and I stand among them—look to John.

John’s gospel record helps us see Christ—Jesus, God’s Son, given for us—in His cosmic context. It is thoroughly and magnificently Christological. John connects the dots between Creation and expectation and revelation—all of it unfolding the heart of the Gospel.

Verse 14 is an efficient distillation of the idea:

Jesus has come to us, for us. He is God in the flesh. He is holy glory that we can glimpse. He is full of truth, upholding and affirming everything God has spoken across Scripture’s generations, for it is He who spoke it by the Spirit. And He is full of grace, the Lamb of God who takes away our sin by His sacrifice, so that we might be God’s children by faith.

This is the big picture in short form. Commit it to memory, because it is your light and your life, no matter the darkness of these days.

Enjoy your journey through John.

— Tyler

From 2 Peter 3: Scoffers

“Above all, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days scoffing and following their own evil desires, saying, ‘Where is his ‘coming’ that he promised? Ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.’” (vv. 3-4)

Scoffers gonna scoff.

They scoffed in the days of Noah, before the judgment fell.

And they scoff now, equally certain that the promises of God are something less than promises.

Here’s where that drags us:

The scoffers aren’t just fringe opinions. They aren’t a small countercultural camp. They dominate the conversation. They pervade the media. They have reputations as “experts” and “smart people.” They are the academics. So, when they deride the truth, it’s an onslaught that makes YOU seem fringe, countercultural, and under-informed.

That’s frustrating.

But it doesn’t give them one ounce of real authority.

Hold fast to the truth, even in the face of scoffers, because it is true! God has proven His reliability in every way since forever—and this will be proved, too.

— Tyler

From 2 Peter 2: Heresy

“These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.” (v. 17)

Let’s make sure we know what Peter is warning against in this chapter:

He isn’t merely warning the believer away from all the untruth in the world. He’s warning believers against heresy in the church.

It’s a warning we ought to heed.

So how do you spot a heretic?

Whenever someone claims a Christian identity but accommodates the flesh…

Whenever Christian preaching affirms sin, especially by undermining the plain truth of God’s Word…

Whenever the awesome holiness of Christ is downplayed and the human condition goes unchallenged…

…you’ve got heresy.

And it doesn’t matter how smart the argument sounds: If it is uprooted from the inspired Word, then it is ultimately worthless. It’s a dry spring devoid of Christ’s living water. It’s smoke blown around by the culture’s winds.

So listen up, church! Listen to how they handle the Word, how they speak of the revealed Christ, and how they urge humility and repentance and worship (or don’t). Because that will tell you if you should drink from their well.

— Tyler

From 2 Peter 1: How to Multiply

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (v. 2)

If you are offered more peace and more grace, are you interested? If you could see grace and peace multiplied in your life, would you desire that? If there were a sure-fire approach to exponential peace and exponential grace in your lived days, would you pursue it?

The apostle Peter, in this letter to the church, greets us with a hope of grace and peace multiplied.

Where do we find it?

In the knowledge of Christ.

Think of it this way: The more we know about Jesus, the greater our understanding of His grace and His peace. If you abide in His Word, you will continually experience the richness of His grace-gift, which is the heart of the Gospel. If you investigate and unfold and internalize the Good News—Jesus in our place!—you will continually experience the profundity of His peace. Every time you turn to Him in His Word, you discover grace after grace and peace after peace, multiplied to you in the knowledge of Christ.

The offer is there.

Will you take it up?

— Tyler

From 1 Peter 5: A Word About Cares

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.” (vv. 6-7)

That last phrase is familiar to us, and we are reminded of it frequently: “Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.”

It’s a genuine encouragement. I don’t know about all you’re carrying, but I do know that you can’t carry it alone. The God who cares for us is the God who takes our burdens in Christ. That’s tender and good.

Now look at the context:

Where do these cares seem to come from? They come from our insistence on exaltation. We have what we have, but we long for the day when what we have is more. We suffer as we suffer, but we hope for the time when our suffering is relieved. We work and we sweat and we serve, yet we desire His invitation to rest—and to a seat higher up at the table.

These desires aren’t wrong. In fact, much of what we hope for is the very substance of His promises. What gets us—what weighs us down—is the demand for exaltation at improper times, at the time before He graciously determines to give it.

Cast your cares on Him! Trust His timing! Believe He cares for you! And you will learn to wait for that day with freedom, not frustration.

— Tyler