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John 3:22–36 A Dispute Provides an Opportunity 3:22 After this, Jesus and his disciples came into Judean territory, and there he spent time with them and was baptizing. Some time after his conversation with Nicodemus (the text is not clear about how long after), the Lord Jesus Christ went out into the Judean countryside, where his disciples baptized repentant followers (John 4:2 makes clear that it was not Jesus but the disciples who did the actual act of baptism). This response from the crowd followed Jesus’s call to repent and believe the gospel (Matt 3:2; Mark 1:15). 3:23–24 John was also baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming to him and being baptized. This must have still been near the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, as John had not yet been imprisoned by Herod. John was baptizing in Aenon (which means a fountain) near a place called Salim (meaning ‘peaceful’), where that stretch of the Jordan had plenty of water. It is not clear why the Gospel makes this point: had John moved here because he needed a large amount of water to cater for the huge numbers coming to be baptized, or was there a temporary drought which had reduced the Jordan’s flow elsewhere? What we do learn from this verse is that John continued his witness to Jesus for some time after Jesus’s baptism, and probably until he was put into prison. 3:25–26 Now a dispute came about between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew concerning ceremonial washing. So they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, the one who was with you on the other side of the Jordan River, about whom you testified — see, he is baptizing, and everyone is flocking to him!" A dispute with an unnamed Jew gives the Gospel author opportunity to discuss the relationship between John’s ministry and that of Jesus. We are not sure of the content of this unknown man’s question. Why were they both baptizing? To be right with God, did people need to be baptized by John and then also by Jesus? (Clearly, he now had the grater
following.) Were there different ‘levels’ of cleaning to be achieved? Was John’s baptism therefore only preliminary? Did Jesus’s baptism have the greater effect?
John the Friend of Jesus Christ 3:27–28 John replied, "No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but rather, 'I have been sent before him.' John, however, was not interested in a discussion about the merits of baptism. His commission from God was to prepare the way for Jesus (John 1:20–23), and this is what he was continuing to do. A man’s only business is to fulfil the commission God has given him; what another is called to do is not his concern (cf. John 21:20–22). 3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly when he hears the bridegroom's voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. John the Baptist welcomes the opportunity to compare himself with Jesus in terms which highlight the latter’s glory. He uses the metaphor of bridegroom and best man (friend) to explain his position in relation to Jesus Christ. In marriage, it is the bridegroom who gets the bride; yet the best man’s reaction to the wedding is not jealousy but joy! John's joy fulfilled by the coming of Christ, the bridegroom who has the church as his bride (Rev 21:9). 3:30 He must become more important while I become less important." As in this summary, so in this whole speech, John turns the attention of his disciples away from himself to Jesus Christ. His pre-eminence is absolute (Col 1:18).
Jesus Christ is Far Above All Commentators are not clear whether the remainder of this chapter are the words of John the Baptist or if the Gospel author adds them. Since they logically follow the sense of what John Baptist has been saying, there is no reason not to think that what we have here is a speech down to verse 36. 3:31–33 The one who comes from above is superior to all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is superior to all. He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The one who has accepted his testimony has confirmed clearly that God is truthful. Jesus Christ is far above all because he came from heaven to earth; thus, he is the only one qualified to reveal the things of heaven (John 6:33; 8:23). Those who had ‘no higher nature than the human nature’ (Barnes), the prophets, the apostles, and John, were limited in their understanding and teaching. Jesus Christ shares a higher nature, as the person who is God
(John 1:1), speaking only God’s word (v. 33); his understanding of spiritual reality is far superior to all others (Rom 9:5). Yet it is understandable that anyone who does not share this heavenly nature will find it impossible to accept what Jesus says about heavenly/spiritual realities. This links back to the teaching earlier in the chapter, where Jesus says no one can understand the things of the kingdom of God unless he/she is born again (or ‘born from above’ John 3:3) to share a spiritual nature (1 Cor 2:14). 3:34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he does not give the Spirit sparingly. This verse clarifies verse 33. All the prophets had spoken the word of God, but Christ surpasses them. They were inspired on occasions to deliver messages, but Christ was continually filled with the Spirit of God. As Henry says, ‘The Spirit dwelt in him, not as a vessel, but as in a fountain, as in a bottomless ocean’. As the incarnate Word, the fullness of God indwelled him, and his every declaration came from God’s mouth (Col 1:19; 2:9). 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority. God the Father had declared love for the Son (Matt 3:17; Luke 9:35; 2 Pet 1:17) and has given all things into Hs hands (Matt 28:18; 1 Cor 15:27; Eph 1:21). Interestingly, this verse implies that even at this point—in the beginning of his ministry, prior even to his resurrection—all things we ‘entrusted to him by God’ (Luke 10:22). This could well be another reference to God’s nature being fully present in Christ from the time of his incarnation. Many scholars today discuss Jesus’s awareness of his status as Son of God, or incarnate God. Some think him to have come to this understanding at some late point in his ministry, or even after the resurrection. The writer of the fourth Gospel presents a Jesus who, at the beginning of his ministry, who knew himself, and was recognized by others, in terms of his unique status as Son of God. According to this Gospel: He knew all men (2:24–25;) and all that was in their hearts (16:30; 21:17); he knew all about his resurrection from the very start of his ministry (2:19; cf. Matt 17:23; 20:19; Mark 9:31; 10:34; Luke 9:22; 13:32; 18:33); and he was aware of both his prior and subsequent eternal glory before his crucifixion (17:5). 3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God's wrath remains on him. Those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (understanding that title in the terms which the fourth Gospel sets out) have eternal life. They accept his lordship and trust him as saviour. Those who do not believe are dead in sin, and unless they are made alive by faith in Christ they can never enter life in heaven. They are already under sentence of eternal condemnation because of their sin (Rom 5:18) and they will remain condemned, and suffer eternal punishment, since they reject the only way of salvation which has been made through Jesus Christ (1 John 5:12; Rom 2:5).
©
Mathew
Bartlett
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Derek
www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk
Williams
2017.
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