{"id":277,"date":"2009-07-12T16:44:09","date_gmt":"2009-07-12T15:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christian-gospel.info\/?p=277"},"modified":"2020-12-29T15:44:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T15:44:20","slug":"john-322-36","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/?p=277","title":{"rendered":"JOHN 3:22-36"},"content":{"rendered":"

We hope you will find these notes helpful. Do feel free to download the material on this website for your own personal use, and also to distribute if you so wish. Please be aware that all the writing is copyright, so no alterations should be made.
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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NOTES ON JOHN 3:22-36<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE, THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, AS FOUND IN THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN CHAPTER 3, VERSES 22-36:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:22\u00a0 After these things came Jesus and His disciples into the land of Judaea; and there He tarried with them, and baptized.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:23\u00a0 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:24\u00a0 For John was not yet cast into prison.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:25\u00a0 Then there arose a question between some of John\u2019s disciples and the Jews about purifying.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:26\u00a0 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to Him.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:27\u00a0 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:28\u00a0 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:29\u00a0 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom\u2019s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:30\u00a0 He must increase, but I must decrease.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:31\u00a0 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is above all.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:32\u00a0 And what He hath seen and heard, that He testifieth; and no man receiveth His testimony.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:33\u00a0 He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:34\u00a0 For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:35\u00a0 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:36\u00a0 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

SECTION 2\u00a0Verses 22-36
\nJohn the Baptist\u2019s conversation about Christ.\u00a0 \u201cI must decrease\u201d.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

3:22\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>After these things came Jesus and His disciples into the land of Judaea; and there He tarried with them, and baptized.<\/span><\/strong>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>At this critical moment, the paths of the Lord Jesus and John the Baptist converge, and that for the last time.\u00a0 They met when Christ came to be baptized, when John announced Him as the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, when John\u2019s disciples left him to follow Christ, and now there is the last occasion before John\u2019s imprisonment.\u00a0 We are not told that they met, but it would surely be strange if they did not for this last time.\u00a0 Just as the Lord had come to be baptized of John to sanction his baptism as being of God, so now the same thing is done, for the baptism of Christ was of the same sort as that of John, it was not Christian baptism, as practised now.\u00a0 If Christ\u2019s baptism were different, then surely this would have been revealed to John, and he would have ceased baptizing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3:23\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.<\/span> <\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/em>At that particular spot there was much water available even in the dry season.\u00a0 This provides further confirmation that the baptism was by immersion, or else a plentiful supply of water would not be essential.\u00a0\u00a0 Significantly, the name \u201cSalim\u201d means \u201ccompleteness\u201d, and John the Baptist is indeed completing his ministry, and his final testimony is to the superiority of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:24\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong> For John was not yet cast into prison.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In a few days time the Lord Jesus will go into Galilee, 4:43.\u00a0 So what John has recorded for us in chapters 1-3 takes place before the other gospels begin their account of Christ\u2019s public ministry.\u00a0 So we read in Mark 1:14 that it was after John the Baptist had been cast into prison that He began His public preaching.\u00a0 So the Galilean ministry we read of in Matthew and Mark is not the same as is recorded in John 1:43-2:12.\u00a0 When we read Matthew 4:11 and 12, we must remember that John\u2019s account comes in between those two verses.\u00a0 And when we read Luke 4:13 and 14, we must remember that the returning mentioned there is not from the temptation experience, but from being in Judea after His first Galilean tour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3:25\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>Then there arose a question between some of John\u2019s disciples and the Jews about purifying.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We are not told why this dispute arose, but possibly the Jews mistook the baptism in the Jordan as a purifying rite, rather than an act of repentance.\u00a0 They may have connected it with the story of Naaman, and how he washed in the Jordan at the command of Elisha, and was clean, 2 Kings 5:10.\u00a0 They may even have been linking it with the Lord\u2019s words to Nicodemus about being born of water, and Ezekiel\u2019s words about clean water making clean, Ezekiel 36:25.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:26\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to Him.<\/span> <\/strong><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/em>
\nThe sentence begins with \u201cand\u201d, so there is a connection between the dispute of verse 25, and what is said now.\u00a0 The matter of the relative popularity of John and Christ becomes an issue in the dispute.\u00a0 The Jews had come to John in chapter 1:19-27, and he had been adamant that he was not the Christ, but was only sent to herald Him.\u00a0 This incident will tell us whether he is still prepared to take the humble place.\u00a0 Those who come to John in this verse have not taken in what he had to say in chapter 1 about the greatness of Christ, so he takes the opportunity to remind them.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:27\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/strong>John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John affirms that he, or anyone else who acts for God, can only carry out what has been commanded from heaven.\u00a0 He had not been commanded to make a name for himself.\u00a0 His work was done in the strength God gave him, for he had no strength of his own.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:28\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him.<\/span> <\/strong>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/em>He refers them to his previous testimony, as found in 1:19-27.\u00a0 Nothing had changed.\u00a0 They knew of his witness, for they refer to it in verse 26, but just as they had ignored John\u2019s testimony to Christ\u2019s role as the sin-bearer, and His Deity, on that occasion, so now they do the same.\u00a0 This gives one reason why the Lord gives very clear testimony to His Deity in chapter 5.\u00a0 The one John prepared the way for was \u201cthe Lord\u201d, or Jehovah, as Isaiah 40:3 had said.\u00a0 They are not even prepared to give Christ a name, simply calling Him \u201cHe that was with thee beyond Jordan\u201d.\u00a0 They are far from believing on \u201cthe name of the Only begotten Son of God\u201d, verse 18.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:29\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong> He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom\u2019s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

John uses a series of terms about the Lord Jesus all of which serve to show that He is superior to John.\u00a0 In verse 28 by inference He is the Christ, or Messiah.\u00a0 Here He is likened to a bridegroom, whose relationship to the bride\u00a0is so much closer than that of the friend of the bridegroom.\u00a0 This latter expression is a Judean one, whereas \u201cchildren of the bridechamber\u201d, Matthew 9:15, is a Galilean one.\u00a0 The mystery of Christ and His bride, the church, was not revealed until the time when Ephesians 5 was written, so we cannot insert this truth here.\u00a0 Even though John the apostle would have known it by the time he wrote the gospel, the figure is used by John the Baptist.\u00a0 Note the emphasis John places on the bridegroom\u2019s voice, in preparation for what is said in verse 32.\u00a0 Clearly John had taken note of the teaching of Christ, and rejoiced because of it.\u00a0 Full joy comes when Christ comes, and is known, 1 John 1:4.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:30\u00a0 He must increase, but I must decrease.<\/strong> <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

How fitting that John should close his ministry with such a statement.\u00a0 His humility is impressive, and we would do well to follow his example.\u00a0 We notice the ways in which this decrease is manifest in this passage:<\/span>
\n Verse 28\u00a0John decreases because he is not the Christ, and Christ has come.<\/span>
\n Verse 29\u00a0He decreases because he is only a friend, not the bridegroom.<\/span>
\n Verse 31\u00a0He decreases because he is of the earth, and speaks of the earth.<\/span>
\n Christ must increase in prominence, as His public ministry develops, whereas John must decrease in prominence, and so he is soon imprisoned, and then murdered.\u00a0 John must decrease because he did no miracle, John 10:41, whereas Christ\u2019s miracles were ongoing.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:31\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven is above all.<\/span> <\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/em>John must decrease because he can only speak of the earthly kingdom of the Messiah, whereas Christ came to bring truth to fit men for the heavenly kingdom Paul referred to in 2 Timothy 4:18.\u00a0 He does this perfectly because He is above all, as one who possesses Deity, having been with the Father in eternity, 1 John 1:2. John the Baptist\u2019s father had spoken of Christ as the Dayspring from on high, Luke 1:78.\u00a0 The Lord had already referred to this matter of coming down from heaven in verse 12, in His conversation with Nicodemus.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:32\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0And what He hath seen and heard, that He testifieth; and no man receiveth His testimony.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This is similar language to 1 John 1:1-5, where the apostle shows that the Son of God had come to impart to others what He had eternally known and enjoyed.\u00a0 That joy is known through what He\u00a0 said and who He is.\u00a0 The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, because they are foolishness unto him, and he cannot understand them until he is prepared to receive Divine wisdom, see 1 Corinthians 2:14.\u00a0 By \u201cno man\u201d is meant men who are not willing to respond to God; it is not an absolute statement, because the one who wrote it had received the testimony.\u00a0 Note that the Lord Jesus is spoken of here as a testimony bearer or witness, a term that John the apostle had used of John the Baptist, so he was decreasing even in this way.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:33\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.<\/span><\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/em>To receive the spoken testimony of Christ is to acknowledge that what He said was true.\u00a0 But He spoke the words His Father gave Him, so to believe Christ is true in His statements, is to believe that God is too.\u00a0 The converse is the case, for to believe not, is to make God a liar, 1 John 5:10.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:34\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The following scriptures bear out the first statement of this verse:<\/span>
\n \u201cJesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me\u201d, John 7:16.<\/span>
\n \u201cI have many things to say and to judge of you: but He that sent Me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of Him\u201d, John 8:26.<\/span>
\n \u201cThen said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things\u201d, John 8:28.<\/span>
\n \u201cFor I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.\u00a0 And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto Me, so I speak\u201d, John 12:49,50.<\/span>
\n The reason why Christ speaks the words of God is because He has been given the Spirit without measure.\u00a0 He has unlimited resources as the Son of God made flesh to fully tell out that truth from God it was God\u2019s will should be known at the time.\u00a0 He was anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach, Luke 4:18.\u00a0 There was further truth to be imparted, and this would be done by the Holy Spirit leading the writers of the New Testament into all the truth, John 16:13.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:35\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand.<\/span> <\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/em>
\nSuch is the intense and eternal love of the Father for the Son, and such is the perfection of the return of that love to the Father, that the Son has shown Himself competent to handle everything for the Father.\u00a0 He is not just the Only begotten Son of God, but the Firstborn Son too, and as such all things have been committed to Him for their faithful discharge.\u00a0 The pleasure of the Lord prospers in His hand, Isaiah 53:10.\u00a0 Whether the first creation, or the new creation, all is in the hands of Christ, the Firstborn Son of God, Colossians 1:12-19.<\/span><\/p>\n

3:36\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>\u00a0He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.\u00a0<\/span> <\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/em>
\n<\/em>To believe on the Son is to rely on the one the Father relies on, with the result that eternal life is imparted to the soul.\u00a0 To not believe is not simply a negative of the positive belief of the beginning of the verse.\u00a0 Here the idea is that unbelief takes the character of disobedience, for if Christ has been charged with administering everything for God, He must have been given a position over all, including men.\u00a0 Those amongst them who are not prepared to respond to Him in that character are disobedient, and duplicate the sin of our first parents in Romans 5:19.\u00a0 It\u00a0 is no surprise to find that those who are so daring as to disobey God\u2019s Firstborn Son, have His wrath hanging over their heads.\u00a0 Their only hope is to stop disobeying, and believe to life eternal.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We hope you will find these notes helpful. Do feel free to download the material on this website for your own personal use, and also to distribute if you so wish. Please be aware that all the writing is copyright, so no alterations should be made. Please feel free to comment on any aspect of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[803,465,804],"class_list":["post-277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-christian","tag-gospel","tag-info"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=277"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4678,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions\/4678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiangospel.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}