The Gospel of John is unlike the other gospels in so many ways. When studying it, it's easy to notice the different experiences John included, and also note all the things he didn't include in comparison to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Why is this the case? What approach did John take in writing this fourth and last of the Gospels? On today's show you'll hear Melissa Spoelstra and the [MARKED] podcast team discuss the writing of John and the importance of diving deep into the study of the gospel. [MARKED] is a podcast for women who are marked by a hunger for God's Word, a longing to impact culture, and a desire to discover and live out God's calling in their lives.
Melissa discusses the unique aspect and provides behind-the-scenes look at the writing and filming process of her Bible Study, The Gospel of John. Reflecting on how the Gospel of John has personally marked her, she encourages us all to experience the peace and hope that Jesus offers.
Thanks for listening and sharing with a friend!
SHOW LINKS:
-Connect with Melissa
-Connect with Angie
-[MARKED] Podcast
-The Gospel of John Bible Study
-Isaiah Bible Study
Let It Shine with Angie Elkins
30. What Does It Look Like to Abide in Jesus? with Melissa Spoelstra
Send us a textThe Gospel of John is unlike the other gospels in so many ways. When studying it, it's easy to notice the different experiences John included, and also note all the things he didn't include in comparison to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Why is this the case? What approach did John take in writing this fourth and last of the Gospels? On today's show you'll hear Melissa Spoelstra and the [MARKED] podcast team discuss the writing of John and the importance of diving deep ...
- Duration:
- 41m
- Broadcast on:
- 25 Jun 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
Hey everyone, I'm Kristi McClellan, and I want to invite you to join me for my new Bible study, Luke and the Land. Over seven sessions will journey through Israel, and teaching videos that take place in places like the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the Mount of Olives, and even Jerusalem. As we study snapshots from Luke, and the places where the events took place, we'll learn the important historical and cultural context that reframes and enriches familiar accounts of Jesus' life. Join me as we walk together and encounter the living God who is better than we ever knew. Learn more at lifeway.com/lukintheland. ♪♪♪♪ Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of Let It Shine. I am so excited about the show I'm sharing with you today, so if you're just jumping in the summer, I am doing something really cool and introducing you to some of my other friends here at the Lifeway Podcast Network. And so today, I'm airing a special episode of our podcast called Marked. Marked is hosted by Elizabeth Heynman and Kelly King, and they interviewed Melissa Spolstra on their show about the Book of John. And this was a really dear topic to me because I am actually working through the Gospel of John Bible study that Melissa wrote this summer with a group of friends in my house. So it's really fun to have her here. I have loved learning about John, you know, it is unlike any of the other Gospels in so many ways. While I've studied it, it's easy to notice the different experiences that John included and also note all of the things he didn't include in comparison with the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Did you know that the Book of John is almost 90% original information, original story? I thought that was fascinating. So Melissa's got tons of stuff she's sharing with us today about the Gospel of John. If you are a Bible nerd like me and you just love getting in there and digging in and learning, I think you're really going to love this episode with Melissa. You're really just going to love Melissa too. If you are not familiar with Melissa Spolstra as a Bible study teacher, I really am happy to introduce you to her today. So in this episode, Melissa discusses the unique aspect and provides behind the scenes look at writing the Bible study and the filming of her Bible study, the Gospel of John. So I'm so glad you chose to join me today. Will you do me a favor? Will you go and find Mark wherever you listen to podcasts? You can actually just scroll down in the show notes, find a link for Mark right there and go follow it. I think that you would love the content that they put out, but also, will you share this episode with a friend? I think that if you love it, one of your friends will probably love it too. So thanks friends. And here is Kelly King and Elizabeth Heynman with Melissa Spolstra. Hi, Mark listeners. We're planning some exciting things for the future of the podcast, so we want to hear from you. Take our fun survey and give us all of your opinions about Mark to enter for a chance to win a Lifeway Women Backpack filled with Bible studies and other great resources for diving into God's Word. To take the survey, go to lifelaywomen.com/podcast or click on the link in our show notes. We can't wait to hear from you. This is a Mark podcast from Lifeway Women, where your host Elizabeth Heynman and Kelly King. Each episode will talk about what God is doing, how he has and is marking each of us. Sometimes that will be through interviews and sometimes we'll have conversations around the table. We're so glad you've joined us today. Hello and welcome to the Mark podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Elizabeth Heynman. I'm here with my co-host, Kelly King. Hey, Kelly. Hey, Elizabeth. We have our return guest today. I know. She's like almost one of those, you know, an SNL, they give them a jacket if they've done it five times. I feel like Melissa, you're getting close to that. I love that idea. I totally want a jacket. Is this like the third time? I think it's at least the third time. Maybe. Maybe. Well, I think she does deserve something. I don't know what that is, but we, you know. Yeah. And I don't know if we said your name yet. Melissa Spolstra. Welcome back. Yeah. And so glad to be here. Can't wait to chat. I'm so glad you're here. So again, because even though you have been on the podcast, some people may not know who you are. So give us just a brief intro, a little bit about you, your family, your ministry and what you do. Yeah. Sure. So yeah, I live in Dallas, Texas with my husband and currently a 16-year-old foster son. I've got four adult-grown kids. They live all over the place and one is finishing her last year of college this year. So my son is married and someone asked me who my favorite kid was and I said, I think it's my daughter. And that's my, you know, love them all. And yeah, so that's where they're at and ministry wise. I just, I love to teach the Bible, love to break it down, study, dig in, learn some of that historical, cultural, contexted background and help us figure out how we can apply that stuff in real, real time, theology on the ground. Yeah. Well, we love your studies and we know you've been writing Bible cities for a long time. And your lifeway study on Isaiah has been so well received. We keep hearing so many stories of women who have done Isaiah and have, I was trying to figure out how to conjugate, I've dived, I think, dived in. I think that's the right kind of domain. The Dovin? The Dovin? Is it Dovin? Oh, Dov. I don't know. I don't know. Anyway, I was thinking it was like swim, swim, swam, swam, you know, like it's a different one. Anyway, people who have really gone all the way into your Bible study that have like really enjoyed, because I think Isaiah is one of those books that you hear it all the time, but to, it can be overwhelming to think like, I'm just going to open up my Bible and just read through Isaiah and figure it out. It's a big book. It is. So now you have a new one coming out on a book that's very different from Isaiah in some ways, in that it's one that probably a lot of us are very familiar with, the Gospel of John. So tell us a little bit about the study and then you kind of emphasize this theme of peace. So tell us about how you drew that out. Yeah, so it's not one of the synoptic gospels. Matthew Mark and Luke have a lot of overlap. We're written much earlier. John's one of the last books in the whole New Testament that was written. And I picture John kind of in his old age, you know, like sitting in his study. After the church has already been born, I mean, to imagine that Peter and Paul have probably already died at this point when he's pending these words, and he's rather than chronicling the church. He goes back and remembers his personal account of his time with Jesus. And so it's about 90% unique content from the other gospels. And I think the piece part of it is that it's one of the, what's unique about it is that we see the pace of Jesus in it. You know, he marks the three different Passover festivals during Jesus's ministry. So it's marked in knowing about how much time he spent in these different places. And you know what we never find in its pages is Jesus hurried from here to there. He's scurried there. He was worried about this and we just find the word peace throughout the book. I think probably the verse maybe that stands out in people's minds is John 1427 where he says, "I'm leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and of heart, a peace the world cannot give, so don't be troubled or afraid." And I can just tell you personally, I don't know how you guys feel, but that might be one of the hardest verses for me to actually obey. To not be troubled. Jesus, it's a command. So don't be troubled or afraid. And not to not be troubled or afraid because life isn't scary. Jesus himself was troubled in the book of John when his friend Lazarus died. So I don't think he's saying you can never have emotion. Jesus wept, we find that in the pages of the Gospel of John. But he's saying because I'm leaving you with a gift, a peace of heart and of mind, a peace the world cannot give. And he's saying it's not a piece of the circumstances. It's a piece of the soul. That's what the Greek word Irene for peace actually means a tranquil state of the soul. And so I just, I think for me that that felt need is so felt by me that I struggle with peace. I struggle with looking for peace in my circumstances. Like, "Oh well, once the wedding's over, they'll be peace." Or, "Oh, once this project's finished, they'll be peace." Or, you know, whatever any of us are going through, we think they'll be peace on the other side of it. But peace isn't found in a lighter schedule or something being finished. Peace is a person. And that's what the Gospel of John is all about. It's all about Jesus, the person of Jesus. Yeah, I think that's something that I've never really thought about with the Gospel of John that emphasis on peace. But it is such a needed message for all time. But I think especially now with so much going on both around us and outside of our hearts and minds in the world that needs peace. But then also just within all of our own souls and minds, like peace is something that we're all trying to figure out how to get. And so to look to, like you said, it's not a thing that we can achieve. It is a person. And I think that is such a needed message to draw out of the Gospel of John at this time. Yeah, and speaking of that, I mean, and we're recording this early and so we don't really know what our world situation is going to be when this actually releases. But there's always going to be turmoil. There's always going to be some kind of strife. I think that that's a question that people often ask is how do we find this peace or where is peace? And you mentioned it isn't in Christ, Christ is our peace. So how do we try to help people understand that? Yeah, I think what the Gospel of John did for me, because as I was walking through writing the study, my dad was diagnosed with cancer and died and it wasn't a peaceful time. And there was a move, you know, cross-country move after living in a state for 25 years and then moving back to Texas. And there were so many non-peaceful things. And for me, being in the pages of John was such a gift for that season because it gives such an unfiltered view of Jesus. I mean, I love Jesus. I've loved Jesus since I was a child. I was raised in the church. But I mean, even just this week, I find myself shaping a God in my own image rather than the image of who he actually is according to the Scripture. And so I just think a renewed look at the Gospel of John. We see Jesus in these situations where we remember, oh my goodness, he's so kind. Oh my goodness, he's so patient. I think about the woman at the well. The first evangelist really recorded in first Christian evangelist, right? Because the first time Jesus says, I am the Messiah, he revealed it to her. And she then went out and told everybody she could find. I found the Messiah. And so you see his tenderness with her, his speaking with her, the woman caught in adultery, right? You know, and so it's that it's a fresh look at really the Gospel message. And that's the way to peace. It's just the simple Gospel. There's not, I wish I could write like, here are the five steps to peace. Right. Do this. And then do that. Right. I think we'd all like that. But what we know about the Gospel is that it's not about a five-step or a twelve-step or twenty-step program. It's about drawing near to the person of Jesus. And it starts with us thinking right about him, right? So as we study the Scripture, we can think correctly about who he is and how he interacts. And then one of the emphasis of the study is not just to learn about Jesus but to spend time with Jesus. So to learn about him and then take some time with some at the end of every day of study is what we call the stop and savor section. So not just like, here's the information about Jesus, but then stop and go. If Jesus was that patient with Nicodemus, you know, at night to explain that he's so loved the world. You know what I mean? That God so loved the world, but he sent me Jesus, his only son. You know, and patiently. I think his patient stands out to me with that peace because you see Jesus, the very son of God, who came to shed his blood and give his life for all of us and certainly for the people in the pages of John. And yet he's so patient with whatever limited understanding anyone has of his. And he just constantly calls them to believe, to believe. Well, and it also reminds me of John 15 where he talks about, you know, abiding in him. So as you abide in him, that peace, you know, you are going to experience peace when you abide in him, right? Yeah, and I so I think the question then for us is that if we want peace, the question is what does it look like to abide? You know, it says that that's the word Greek word menos. It's used 10 times in the first few verses of John 15 and it means to remain or to abide, right? So like Mike, the question I think we all want to ask ourselves if we truly want peace is to say, how do I not cut myself loose? You know what I mean? Like how do I stay connected? How do I keep on keeping on with Jesus on the days that I'm struggling with motivation or the days that I feel fatigue or the days that life circumstances have shaken me to the point that I'm struggling so much and to say, then how do I remain with him? And of course, we know a lot of that is God's word and that's why we write studies and that's why we call women back to the word of God because that's one of the best ways that has helped me. I mean, I don't know what you guys would say. Maybe you can add some things too. What helps us remain? What helps us stay connected to the vine? And it's the word of God in prayer and so many other things of course too, but those are just primary ways that so peace actually becomes like a litmus test to say, when there's no peace, when I can't get to peace, it should lead me to say, how do I need to remain? How do I need to abide? How can I reconnect with the person of peace? You know, Kelly, I'm thinking and I don't know, I can't remember what order these episodes come out in. I think you know, Tera do. Yes, but we recently recorded an episode with Tera doo, which you may have already listened to or you may not. This may be a spoiler alert. Yes. But she has written a book on this passage of remaining in her. She brings out the joy in that and I think it's so interesting that these peace and joy are fruit of the spirit, part of the fruit of the spirit, which we also had an episode on that. So this is maybe just a huge spoiler for all of our whole spring season, but I do love how it's all kind of coming together and how the way that we cultivate these fruit, we were just talking about those yesterday too in a meeting that we had that the fruit of the spirit is something that we cultivate, but it's not something that we have to create on our own because it's spirit. And so he gives us those ability, but like peace, joy, those are fruit of the spirit. Love when you think about it. Yeah, for God so loved the world that he gave us. Right. And so how do we cultivate these fruit? We do it by remaining and by abiding in him. And so I think that's such an interesting way that this has played out and maybe just that we have been talking about that so much recently and so maybe it's a message for me personally or maybe it's for all of our listeners as well, but that is just such a cool thing. I just love how God feels like there's seasons like after I'm sure you feel the same way, Melissa, like working with Bible studies and leading Bible studies, but it feels like there are seasons of our ministry, even at life with women where like the same theme just keeps coming up over and over and over again. And we're always like attuned to that and thinking, God's going to really do something with this thing that's happening. And we'll see it across ministry. So it won't just be like life way women, but it might be she reads truth is reading the same book or Proverbs 31 is doing devotionals on this or various churches are doing it. And we're just like, God has something to say to us right now. So maybe God has something to say to us about fruit and spirit and about abiding. So anyway, I just, that's a little tangent, but I get really excited when we started talking about that. That's so good. And just, just to piggyback on that, I think the key part of that you brought it up, Kelly, is apart from me, you can do nothing, you know, so just that the pathway to peace, the pathway to joy, the pathway to hope, the pathway to love is recognizing that we need God, that we can't do it in our human strength. And don't we all just have that tendency to coast to just fall back into like, you know, I got this gear and God is so kind and so gentle to remind us that we were created to be connected to Him. To just stay close. And you said something about John too, when you were talking about, you know, this was probably the last gospel that was written. You might have been, you know, this, you said, could have been after Peter and Paul had already been martyred. And you think about the theme of peace and you think, right, how he, he can only speak about peace in the midst of those things. Right. Because he has been abiding in Christ. Yeah. There's no other way. No other way. Thinking back to the life that, and what was going on in the world around him too. Yeah. And I don't know why I'm just picturing John at the last supper too. Where is he? He is, we see him see them by him. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The beloved disciple. Yeah. And you know, I think, I think to remember too, that it is, you know, the first decade really of Christianity when it started was a fairly Jewish religion, right? I mean, most of the converts to Christianity in those early days were Jews who were converted. But as time went on, we know through Paul's missionary journeys that many of the Gentiles, you know, that's that. There was really more fertile soil for the gospel among the Gentiles. And so I do think part of John's heart is he is writing to Jews. He's speaking to his audiences, though they're familiar with Passover. They know about tabernacles. There's a huge scene that happens at the Tabernacle Festival. We see Jesus at Hanukkah at the Feast of Dedication in the book of John. And so I think John just has such a heart for his own people to say, man, I just, I'm writing one more rendition of what, of what happened. And he uses so much scripture from the Old Testament, right? Today, as quoted in John, just over and over again, so many Old Testament prophets, so many quotes because he just so desperately wants to see his own people experience that abundant life that Jesus promised, you know, that he came to give us abundant life. And he sees his own people missing it. And so that was really striking to me in the gospel of John as well as the fact that we see the public ministry of Jesus in the, in the synoptics. But really, John is a behind the scenes. It's like the informal teachings of Jesus. It's Jesus and his guys, you know, him talking to Thomas through his doubts, him walking Peter through those denials, you know. And so I, you know, I just love that that we get. It's almost like an insider view, which is. Yes. So we are, we're all about behind the scenes at the Mark podcast. Oh, we love it. I appreciate that, but you were talking about the ways that John is different from the other gospels called the synoptic gospels. I think you said that word earlier, but how exactly is John? What are some other ways that John is different and what insight does he bring to the story of Jesus through these like behind the scenes moments or these other things that are different in that gospel? I think one of the main differences are the omissions. I mean, you don't find the sermon on the mount. You don't find the transfiguration. You don't find those public moments. You find these private moments and there's over 40 miracles in the synoptics and John chooses to call them signs and highlights seven of them. So the seven signs of Jesus that all reveal something significant, right? That's what a sign does. There's the seven I am statements, right? That we love. I am the bread of life. I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the true vine that we've already talked about, right? And so there's all of those that reveal Jesus for who he is that that, remember, this is the last one written that have never been, we wouldn't have that information without John's perspective. And so there's a lot of scholarly debate on why John chose to write the fourth account. And most would say it wasn't that he felt like the synoptics left something out, right? It was that he just truly felt called of God to write that account. And another difference from the synoptics is it has these editorial comments. If you go through it and go, "I'm looking for editorial comments," it was almost shocking to me because beforehand I wouldn't have thought of John. And what I mean by editorial comments is he'll talk about an event that happened and then he'll say, "We didn't know it at the time." But later we realized that Jesus was talking about his death and resurrection when he talked about all build this. Yeah, he's like breaking the fourth wall. He's like, "We didn't know this right then." Yeah, right, no, totally. That's exactly what it's like. And so that's just so special and unique. And there's just stories found in John that aren't in the other three that make it unique and special and such a focus on individuals as opposed to events. And I keep in the way that it ends at the end. Please tell me I'm not going to be wrong on this. But I love the last verses where it talks about there's not enough books that can be written about all the things that happened. I don't know why that is like a reminder to me of why we have Bible studies and things like that because we are still learning all the things that Jesus has done. And we don't have so much of what he did on earth because there aren't enough books in the world to write it down. John, also, just last thing here to say what sets it apart, it is the most detailed passion account, right? So it is like almost a third of the book is dedicated to Jesus giving this, you know, after the Lord's Supper, he walks and gives what this called his farewell discourse. And many people think it was en route to Garden of Gethsemane. He gives all these final teachings with all these promises. That's where he teaches about the vine and the branches. That's where he gives the promise. I'm leaving you with the gift, John 14, where he promises the Holy Spirit. So we have this farewell discourse. But then the whole Garden account, the trial account, the resurrection account is just even just in length so much longer than the others. And that's just a unique feature of John that I was like, wow, John really wanted us to know that the pinnacle of the story is the cross followed by the resurrection. And he was there. He was the one. Yeah, I love the book of John. We have for a lot of favorites. I mean, just the beginning, like the opening in the beginning was the word. I mean, it's such a good throwback. You were talking about to the Jewish people, like to remind them like, hey, he was there in the beginning. You know how you're. And that's an echo straight to Genesis one, right? What's the other book that begins in the beginning? And they would have known that, you know, so I love that. 100%. Absolutely. Okay. So we talked about synoptics a little bit, but also, and we've talked about how much we love John. It's probably one of the most familiar. I mean, a lot of people we tell them will say, hey, start with John. Yeah. You know, if you're a new believer, start with John. And we see, you know, we might even see John 3 16 like that's everyone knows John 3 16. They may not know, know it, but they know the number for sure. So because of all that familiarity, what were some of the things that may be surprised you when you were studying? Maybe some new something new that you just went. Aha. That's new for me. Yeah. Yeah. I think for me, just going through it in context and in order and digging into some of those. I actually every week in the study have an extra academic article that you can read online to take that deeper look at John to say like, you know, who were the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Sanhedrin and what is the difference and why was Jesus so upset with the Pharisees, but didn't really have a beef with the Sadducees until his trial. You know, so looking at also looking at those festivals, digging in and I'll just share one thing that I'd never seen before is when he's at the festival of tabernacles. And he says, if any, you know, he wasn't going to go and his brothers are like, why don't you go and show yourself? And he says, I'm not going to go, but he ends up going later. And he stands up on and it says that the climax of the festival. And he says, if anyone is thirsty, come to me. You know, if anybody wants to come to me, living waters will flow from his heart and he was speaking of the spirit. But when I just dug into the context, because I didn't know that much about the festival of tabernacles, it's about the Jewish people's time in the wilderness when God brought water from a rock and God parted the water. And so part of their practice at that festival was every day the priest would have a goblet of water or a pitcher of water and they would do a water procession where everyone would follow as they would dip that water out and they would follow all the people. And so, man, that just takes on new life when you go, when he's saying, if anyone's thirsty, he's going, get beyond just this, this, this thirst that you have for water in the moment, this physical thirst. And to see that, you know, when he told his brothers he wasn't going to go, I'm like, yeah, because he is the tabernacle. Like he's the fulfillment. He's the fulfillment of every festival. And so he's attending these festivals, knowing that he's going to complete that work. And he is the rock in the wilderness. We know that from the New Testament, right? He is all of those things. So I think for me, just to dig into the context of some of those passages, some of the background, I mean, certainly for the new believer, I think it's going to be a great study. Yeah. For women's seeking peace, it's just going to, you know, but I would say for the season person who's like, oh, my pastor's preached through John three times. I don't want to do John. I would just encourage you to take a fresh look at John and dig a little deeper in some of those deeper spaces and go, wow, there's, there's more to be had here. There's deeper understanding that we can have even regarding John 3 16. It's not just something we throw up at a football game, right? It is a conversation that Jesus had at night with a real person who was really seeking truth, right? Nick and Doom, this was really seeking truth. And Jesus is so patient and he doesn't get into some kind of a theological debate. He says the thing that the verse that we all know and quote, you know, that because God loved the world, he sent his one and only son that whoever would choose to believe in him would not perish. But have everlasting life. And then he says, you know, he came to save the world, not to condemn the world. And this is what he's saying to a Pharisee whose whole, you know, as you dig into the Pharisees, there were, you know, they were just binding the people up in slavery with being enslaved to not just the written law, but all of the oral law, right? All of the, what was eventually put into the Mishnah. But you know, and so I love, I love just to recognize that Jesus is speaking that to theologian, but he's saying those same words in the same actions with a woman caught in adultery. You know, and just reminding us that we have a God who loves us, who created us, and who's making a way for us to be close to him. Yeah. Hey, everyone, Kristi McClellan here, and I want to invite you to a brand new event from Lifeway Women Called Feast. At this event, you'll be invited to feast on God's word by studying the Bible in its historical, cultural context. We're going to get to know the Bible in its world, in its native habitat, text, and context. You'll experience teaching worship led by my 25-year friend, Laura Cooksey, and fellowship with other women around the world. Come and learn with me that the living God is better than we ever knew. Visit lifeway.com/feast to learn more. I mean, what more can you say about the book of John? Yes, so good. Well, as we talked about, John gives us some behind the scenes of Jesus, but we would love some behind the scenes of writing and filming the Bible study. What kind of fun stories do you have any fun stories or interesting, memorable tales from writing or editing or maybe filming that? Well, I wonder that most people don't know that one of the things that I do is as I'm writing, I have a pilot group of women. So I have women from all over the country on Zoom, and they get a month with a week of study to do it, but also to time themselves. And I'm like, don't worry about grammar, we're going to deal with that later. But what are the questions that are hard to answer? What are the sections that we're hard to understand? And then we spend an hour and a half on Zoom, like about 15 of us, and it's just tear up Melissa's manuscript time. That's a brave of you. Such a fun part of my week, but I'm so grateful for it. Because there are times when I don't realize a word is loaded for certain people or a question, it's easy to write a question. It's harder to answer a question, so to go, how can we make this better? One of the things I love about Bible study is interacting with the text, learning activities with the text. There are times when I read it and I'm like, okay, I read it, but when we have a learning activity, and by that I mean saying, hey, answer these questions or match these things together or order these events. It's all to try to move up the ladder of learning to say, what can I really ingest and remember and then apply? Ultimately, to let the Holy Spirit be at work through that learning activity. So I love it when they're like, this whole thing just didn't work. We got to rewrite this whole thing. And then I'm like, okay, solution oriented and together, 15 of us will brainstorm a way to interact with the text better or to tweak a question or to just take out a whole big section and just say, dang, I thought that was so important and they were like, yeah, it has nothing to do with my life. It doesn't help me. So that's one thing that I don't know that people know is that behind the scenes is this amazing group of Bible study leaders, Bible study participants, women in all different cities in the country that are just so graciously give of their time to dig into the manuscript. And then some of them, those women come to the taping, we filmed John in Nashville and outside, a little outside of Nashville. And that is such a fun time where women do come from there. I'm thinking of women that I met that day from Pennsylvania, from Ohio, from California, from Florida, right? And so they, some of them come in groups, but many of them come by themselves or in pairs. And they really get to know each other, experiencing the content together. And one of the things I asked them as well, I'm a big believer in the verse, I think it's in Psalms, let the godly strike me, it will be a kindness, don't let me refuse it. It's good medicine, because I do think getting feedback is helpful. So one time, I can't remember which study it was, I started saying, hey, if you heard me say, you know, Mark instead of John, or I was talking about Thomas, but I said, Peter, you know how we all do that, right? We misspeak something. And so I'm like, let us know at the end and we can read over. And I mean, these women have their journals out that they're supposed to be taking notes on John, and they're taking notes on me. Like, you moved kind of fast over that, or, you know, like always given me great, and it is super valuable and it's super fun. And so it really does feel like certainly with the team at LifeWay, but even with just the women who are going to do this, the types of women that are going to do this study, just all of us regular people, you know, have their hands on what comes to the final product. Which is just so exciting to be a part of that. Yeah, that's so cool. I think we do some of that with our studies on the editorial side, but it's so helpful to know like, hey, these women around the country all thought this question was difficult to answer versus us just being like, I don't know, I think I can answer it. That's what I got out of what you said to Melissa, is that sometimes we write questions, but it may be harder to answer than what we think. And so it's good to have someone walk through the internet. I'm going to start doing that when I write sort of our days of stuff. It's so good. And like, we've done that as an editorial team where we'll go through, and one of us will be like, I have no idea how I'm supposed to answer this question. And so that's usually someone that has not been editing it, because if you're writing it, if you're the one that's editing it, then you're like, yeah, I know exactly what we're supposed to say here. But it takes like the outside person that's like, yeah, I don't understand this. So I think it's so helpful that you have a group of people. What's so great about having 15 is that if someone says, I couldn't answer this question, I'll say, everybody you had a hard time raising, answer the question, raise your hand. And if it's one other person, then I'm like, okay, but if it's everybody, and a lot of times it's everybody. Exactly. What's also interesting is that like, you know, sometimes you say, draw a picture, right? I hate drawing pictures and studies, but people have different learning, you know, the way that they learn. There are visual learners, there are auditory learners, there are, you know, kinesthetic learners. So someone will say, I hate it as part where we had to draw a picture. And the next person will hold up their book and say, that was my favorite part, look at my picture. You know, so it's just so good to realize we're also different, right? And even the way we approach scripture, you know, that we come to it with the unique creative ways that God made us. He made some of us to be auditory learners or to be visual learners. And so to try to study the Bible, thinking not just of our preferences, but a way that will be helpful to, you know, the most amount of people. Yes. And I do, as someone who has to, who gets to listen to, in the back of the room, I'm usually the one that gets to listen to it and make sure that the verses are read in the, you know, correct translation or in the, like, the numbers are all right. And so it is funny when we have audience participating in that too, because they'll, I'll go up and say, you know, I think it was John 3 16, not 3 17. And so then the, the author will say it again, and there's always like one person that's like, you were laughing when you said that the first time, could you laugh? Right. Exactly. Well, thank you. Great. Yeah. It's great. Sure. We love, we love it. Group editing. That's right. Group editing. It's always important. You know, I just don't think sometimes people, when they pick up a Bible study, they realize the process of, you know, a lot of people look at that. A lot of people look at it, and we still make six, there are a lot of people who look at it. Yes. All right. Melissa, we know you've been on the podcast. You've answered the March question before. So we're going to try to twist it just a little bit. Okay. So we were asking, how has the gospel of John marked you in your writing of this? Yeah. I, I thought about that for quite a bit, um, over this past week, because there's so many things, but I think for me. It really is the piece part of it, which is why I lifted that part out because it just stood out to me so much. And I, I think particularly, um, the part of John that marked me the most was John chapter 11. It's, you know, if you apply chiasm to it, it's the middle of the book. But it's where Lazarus is sick and, and Jesus doesn't come. And I think there are times for all of us where, oh gosh, you know, Jesus doesn't come and we're, we're like, why, you know, why, you know, why didn't you heal my dad or why didn't you fix this problem or. And just to experience that Jesus weeps in that with us, that he enters into the pain that it actually, there's a, there's a word there where it says Jesus snorted like a horse is that what the Greek means. He was angry at death. You know, death wasn't God's original plan. It was life. And life is a key theme all the way through the book of John. And so I think for me, I'm just so marked at how much Jesus cares and how much he wants to give us an abundant life. How much he wants women and so many women. I know are not, are not experiencing the peace that I believe Jesus wants them to have. And so my prayer, how I'm marked and I prayer how everyone else will be marked is that they will read the Gospel of John and experience the peace that Jesus promised by just drawing close to a God that sees them. That knows they're living in a broken world that that is just as emotional about their pain as they are and offers them hope. So good. I think we all need that message. We all need to hear that for sure. Oh, so we're super excited about the new study. And so we want to encourage our listeners to make sure you go to lifeway.com. There'll be links in our show notes as well. So you can find the study and we definitely want people to just, even if you think, oh, yeah, like you said, you know, John seems so familiar. Like, right, see it with fresh eyes and the study will help us do that. Yes. Thanks again, Melissa. We appreciate you so much. Oh, it's my pleasure to be here. And listeners, thanks for joining us. We always appreciate it when you tune in to us. And so we hope you'll be back next week. Bye. Let it shine is a production of the Lifeway podcast, executive produced by me, Angie Elkins, produced by Nikki Ogden. It's recorded at the Lifeway podcast studios and engineered by Donnie Gordon. Edited by Robert Elkins. An original theme song arranged by Robert Elkins, the Maestro himself. Performed by Tiffany Casey, Abby Pierce, Ryan Walker, Jarian Felton, and Shawna Felton. Art by Grace Morgan. And I'm your host, Angie Elkins. Meet me back here next week. [MUSIC PLAYING] (upbeat music)