John 3:22-36

After Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus concerning entrance into the kingdom of God, Jesus and His disciples departed to Judea where He “remained with them and baptized” (3:22). Although Jesus Himself did not baptize (4:2), He personally oversaw the disciples while they were baptizing others. John the Baptist was also preaching and baptizing in “Aenon near Salim” when a group of Jews caused a dispute with some of John’s disciples about “purification” or baptism (3:25). Since both Jesus’ disciples and John the Baptist’s disciples were baptizing, the Jews viewed them as separate; furthermore, Jesus’ ministry seemed to be gaining much more recognition than that of John the Baptist, so John’s disciples were very concerned. When John’s disciples could not resolve this conflict in their minds, they approached John saying, “Rabbi, He [Jesus] who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified–behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!” (3:26) To the disciples of John it appeared that Jesus, whom they thought was one of John’s disciples, was now welcoming large crowds of people while John’s ministry was slowing down. For some reason, they believed that they were in competition with the disciples of Jesus instead of viewing themselves as preaching and teaching the same message.

John the Baptist quickly settled their confusion by saying, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him’” (3:27-28). In essence, John was reminding his followers that God had given Jesus authority to preach and teach; therefore, they must accept Jesus’ success as the will of God and also remember that he (John the Baptist) was only sent to prepare for the coming of Jesus by calling people to repentance. In order to further illustrate his role, John tells them a story about the friend of the bridegroom: “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” (3:29). John the Baptist is declaring himself as the “friend of the bridegroom” (modern-day best man) who is responsible in arranging some of the details in the wedding, but is not the focus of the ceremony. John then reveals to his disciples that “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (3:30). Eventually, John the Baptist’s ministry would come to an end, but his goal was to bring attention and worship to Jesus Christ, not himself.

John the Baptist continues to emphasize that Jesus Christ was sent from God (3:31) and those things He speaks have been directly received from God the Father (3:32-35). Bringing the words to his disciples to a close, John leaves them with this thought, “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” (3:36). These final words of John the Baptist in the gospel of John invite his listeners to one of two decisions: believe that Jesus is the Savior from sin and receive eternal life or refuse to believe in Jesus as the Savior and face God’s wrath (judgment). John the Baptist did not want his disciples to continue to be jealous of Jesus’ ministry, but rather embrace Him as the One sent from God to deliver mankind from the penalty of sin and coming judgment. The choice is the same for all generations who also read John’s gospel: belief in or rejection of Jesus Christ.

Dear God, thank You for the witness of John the Baptist who declared Jesus as the Son of God and the One sent to deliver mankind from the penalty of sin. May those who read John’s words also put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin.