LOC 023 Life of Christ:
John
the Baptist II & Jesus
In the remaining verses of John Chapter Three there are a number
of things going on. We have a word directing us to Jesus’s activity after he
left the feast in Jerusalem where he cleansed the Temple, did many signs and
spoke to Nicodemus.
Remember, this is still only a few weeks into Jesus public
ministry. A reputation and ministry is
being brought together. Jesus has been
travelling with his mother, brothers and disciples for the last few weeks. Here
we meet with a change. Jesus and his
disciples move on to more rural parts of Judea.
Let’s look at the text
under a number of headings:
1. A Word of Explanation vs 22
2. A Word of Introduction vs
23-24
3. A Word of Disputation vs 25
4. A Word to John about Jesus
vs 26
5. A Word from John about
Jesus vs 27-36
1. A Word of Explanation vs 22
John 3:22-36 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into
the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.
2. A Word of Introduction vs
23-24
23 Now John also was
baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they
came and were baptized. 24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
3. A Word of Disputation vs 25
25 Then there arose a
dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews (A JEW) about
purification.
4. A Word to John about Jesus
vs 26
26 And they came to
John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to
whom you have testified--behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to
Him!"
5. A Word from John about
Jesus vs 27-36
27 John answered and
said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from
heaven. 28 "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the
Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'
29 "He who has
the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and
hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this
joy of mine is fulfilled.
30 "He must
increase, but I must decrease.
31 "He who comes
from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the
earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 "And what He has seen and
heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33 "He who has
received His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 "For He whom
God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by
measure.
35 "The Father
loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
36 "He who
believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
Let’s look at the text with some comment and explanation.
1. A Word of Explanation vs 22
IF you remember what precedes this passage, the discussion and
teaching with Nicodemus, you can understand how this chapter is a contrast
between Nicodemus and John the Baptist.
Nicodemus was a well-known man of standing and prestige in the
Jewish community. Where John the Baptist was an outsider, despised, and
out-of-step with the Judaism of his day.
Nicodemus comes as one whose heart Jesus knew. John is one who has already testified as to
Jesus’s identity--the Lamb of God.
In this section, we meet with John the Baptist once again. He is the one who stands in contrast to the
Jews in Jerusalem and Nicodemus. John
does not need to be taught. In humility
he assumes a proper attitude towards The Messiah, Jesus, and the readers should
emulate him. John is a humble man of
humble means, yet he finds joy in pointing others to the Lord Jesus
Christ.
This narrative is not s part of the Life of Christ specifically,
but it tells us the testimony and insight of an important character in the life
and ministry of Jesus, the forerunner, John the Baptist.
John 3:22-36 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into
the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.
John the Gospel writer continues to direct us to the flow of
time. We read “After these things” or
after this. These words are not to be
understood in isolation from the rest of the life of Christ. These are a
transition and expansion of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. To do his Father’s will, he leaves the city
to go into the country.
Jesus had been in Jerusalem which is in the region of Judea. He now takes his disciples and moves out of
the city to the rural open area made up of wilderness and scattered villages.
John tells us simply that Jesus remained there.
We don’t know how long he stayed there with the disciples. But, it was
long enough to draw attention to it.
John also tells us the action that took place in the wilderness of
Judea. They baptized.
Jesus’s predicted Baptism John the Baptist had previously stated
that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost.
John 1:33 "I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize
with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining
on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
As we compare scripture with scripture we discover an important
truth in the first verses of John 4. We find the fact that Jesus did not do the
action of baptizing.
John 4:1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had
heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus
Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
How does this all fit together? Some were coming to hear Jesus and
to submit to his baptism as an identification with his message. They were becoming his disciples
outwardly. They were identifying with
the content of his message. They wanted
the outward purification that was a part of the understanding of repentance.
They listened to Jesus as the authoritative teacher, but Jesus’ disciples did
the baptizing.
Jesus and his disciples were gathering disciples as were John the
Baptist and his disciples. If this were
the average scene in evangelicalism today, this situation would be full of
petty jealousies. But let’s read on...
2. A Word of Introduction vs
23-24
23 Now John also was
baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they
came and were baptized.
John the Baptist was still baptizing in Judea, specifically in
Aenon, a section of wilderness where there is a lot of water. It is a natural place for one baptizing to
go. The crowds had to travel a great
distance to get there, it was an out of the way place. John did not cater to the masses. If they were to hear his important message,
they had to make the effort to get out there in the middle of not much. John did not have the advantage of the Church
Growth gurus to expand his ministry. He
was dependant upon the work of the Spirit to bring men into the wilderness to
hear the message.
The Spirit used curiosity with some, the freshness of the message
of repentance with others and perhaps many other motivations to provoke men and
women to travel to Aenon. But, he brought them to the place to hear the message
of the forerunner to the Messiah.
Except, now there is not a need for one who runs before, because the one
he pointed to is here and active. John
knows his place...
In 24 we have an editorial comment to explain the action, John
wrote: For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
John the Baptist must have been known to the original audience to
whom this book was written. John the
writer mentions an important fact that foreshadows something ominous--at this
point, John had not been sent to prison, but he would be.... It adds to the
tension....
3. A Word of Disputation vs 25
25 Then there arose a
dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews (A JEW) about
purification.
A dispute did not come about between the disciples of John and
Jesus, but with a Jew (best manuscripts, rather than Jews) about ritual
purification.
Baptism or ritual purification after repentance was part of Jewish
life in the Old Testament and in the intertestamental period. There are many
records of ritual purifications -- baptisms-- as a sign of a new life, or of a
radical change in the life, a new direction that will be followed. They were not to bring about a new change,
but an outward demonstration that new principles or a new way of life had been
adopted. God has always sent the message
of the need for Purity to his people.
God wants his own to be undefiled by sin and the World.
Many Jews did not like those who preached the need for repentance
and baptism because it meant there was something incomplete with the Jewish
system and ceremonies. An intense
religious persecution came upon those who taught such things. Here a Jew or Jews challenge John about the
meaning of his purifications of baptisms.
Many don’t like a message of repentance today because it makes men
uncomfortable. Life as fallen creatures
before a holy God is a life of repentance on this side of heaven.
Purification is an obsession in the Old Testament and an important
point of doctrine and practice in the New:
GEN 35:2 And Jacob
said to his household and to all who were
with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.
NUM 8:5 Then the LORD
spoke to Moses, saying: :6 "Take the Levites from among the children of
Israel and cleanse them ceremonially. 7 "Thus you shall do to them to
cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purification on them, and let them shave all
their body, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.
NUM 19:9 'Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes
of the heifer, and store them outside
the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the
children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin. 10
'And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be
unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel
and to the stranger who dwells among them. 11 'He who touches the dead body of
anyone shall be unclean seven days.
12 'He shall purify
himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be
clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh
day, he will not be clean. 13 'Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died,
and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person
shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because the water of
purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is still on him.
2CH 30:15 Then they
slaughtered the Passover lambs on the
fourteenth day of the second month.
The priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and
brought the burnt offerings to the house of the LORD. 16 They stood in their
place according to their custom, according to the Law of Moses the man of God;
the priests sprinkled the blood received from the hand of the Levites. 17 For
there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves; therefore
the Levites had charge of the slaughter of the Passover lambs for everyone who
was not clean, to sanctify them to the LORD. 18 For a multitude of the people,
many from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed
themselves, yet they ate the Passover contrary to what was written. But
Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, "May the good LORD provide atonement for
everyone 19 who prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers,
though he is not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary."
EZR 6:20 For the priests
and the Levites had purified themselves; all of them were ritually clean. And they
slaughtered the Passover lambs for
all the descendants of the captivity, for their brethren the priests, and for
themselves.
NEH 12:30 Then the
priests and Levites purified themselves, and purified the people,
the gates, and the wall.
NEH 12:45 Both the
singers and the gatekeepers kept the charge of their God and the charge of the
purification, according to the command of David and Solomon his son.
JOB 4:17 'Can a mortal
be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
JOB 8:6 If you were pure
and upright, Surely now He would awake for you, And prosper your rightful
dwelling place.
PSA 51:7 Purge me
with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
PRO 20:9 Who can say,
"I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin"?
PRO 20:11 Even a child
is known by his deeds, Whether what he does is pure and right.
And Jesus:
MAT 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they
shall see God.
This notion of purity and outward demonstrations of an inward
change or renewal are not new in the Gospel.
It became a point of contention between the Jews and John and Jesus’
disciples.
In 1 Peter 3:18-21, baptism serves as that which gives the answer
of a cleansed conscience. Interesting
language drawn from an abundance of Old Testament references and concerns.
1PE 3:18 For Christ also
suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also
He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were
disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah,
while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were
saved through water.
21 There is also an
antitype which now saves us--baptism (not the removal of the filth of the
flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Back to John the Baptist and his disciples...
4. A Word to John about Jesus
vs 26
26 And they came to
John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to
whom you have testified--behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to
Him!"
Oh no, point of tension, introducing petty jealousy that would be
expected from men. That guy who came to
us when we were beyond the Jordan is right over there..., That man about whom you said those good
things is doing what we are doing...he is baptizing and ALL kinds of people are
following him....
5. A Word from John about
Jesus vs 27-36
The godly and humble profession of a man of God:
27 John answered and
said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from
heaven. 28 "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the
Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'
John knows his proper place and ministry.
29 "He who has
the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and
hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this
joy of mine is fulfilled.
Using the intimate metaphor of a wedding, John expresses his joy
that the one to whom he directed men was here in their midst. John was thrilled that his mission was
accomplished. His simple profession was
this:
30 "He must
increase, but I must decrease.
He explains himself:
31 "He who comes
from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the
earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 "And what He has seen and
heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
33 "He who has
received His testimony has certified that God is true.
John is saying the same things Jesus said in the preceding
passage. John and Jesus have the same
concerns--John 3:11-13:
JOH 3:11 "Most
assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen,
and you do not receive Our witness. 12
"If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will
you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 "No one has ascended to
heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in
heaven.
34 "For He whom
God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by
measure.
In John 3:5-8 Jesus shows that the work of salvation depends upon
the gracious work of the Spirit.
John goes on to add:
35 "The Father
loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.
John heard the voice on the day of Jesus baptism that thundered,
“This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased.” John had a testimony from above that Jesus
was something special and that his ministry was special in that he had the
great privilege of directing men to repentance as they anticipated the coming
of the Christ. John knew his ministry was not about himself, but about
another. He gave himself wholly to his
ministry of pointing men to the Lord Jesus Christ....
John knew Jesus was the only hope for any and all. It was not his baptism that would save
men. It was not even their return to
covenant faithfulness. They needed the
one sent down from heaven to testify of the things of heaven. Men, women, boys and girls, need to hear the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
36 "He who
believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
Two types of men. Those who
possess with great certainty a thing called eternal life and those who will
never see life, but who have in the present and forever this thing called the
wrath of God upon them.
Pointing men to the Lord Jesus Christ is still important. Why? Even at the end of the 2nd millennium
AD, this has the testimony of heaven behind it: 36 "He who believes in the
Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see
life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
It is not he who does good and appeases his own conscience through
seemingly righteous things. It is not
one who lives a life of denying the flesh in order to gain God’s favor. It is not a life of mere outward morality and
perceived goodness. It is not even
giving alms and acts of philanthropy that will gain any merit. He and only he who has the Lord Jesus Christ
as his possession will enjoy life now and forever. He remains man’s only hope of access to God.
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