Post by M.R. Hagerty on Mar 2, 2023 1:38:23 GMT -7
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and . . with them and baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim . . for John had not yet been thrown into prison.
The scene now changes. Jesus has left Nicodemus and it is presumably several days later. He is journeying out in the Judaean countryside. Aenon near Salim is about two-thirds of the way to the Sea of Galilee, and is near the Jordan. So Jesus would be at the Jordan itself, but near these towns. We find Jesus and His disciples baptizing near to where John is also baptizing. This is mentioned for thematic reasons - to set the stage for distinguishing between John’s ministry and that of Christ.
John 3:25-29
25 Therefore there arose a discussion . . . “He who was with you beyond the Jordan, . . .is baptizing and all are coming to Him." 27 John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.”
John’s disciples appear to be concerned that someone else, even if it be the Christ whom John identified, is now drawing considerable people to Him. The comment is borne out of the natural inclination to think that one’s work is unique, and if a calling of God, specially blessed. Competition can be seen as threatening from a carnal point of view but also as puzzling from a spiritual view in that one realizes he may be out of touch with what God is doing. Notice John’s reply. He reminds them that nothing substantial in God’s eyes can be done unless it be first granted in Heaven. This is a message for all ministers who seek service to God.
Many churches invent programs and activities they believe critical to some objective which agrees with the encouragements of Scripture but seem to bear limited fruit for all the money and time spent. What is lacking is the bidding and urging of God. This is never seen until after the fact because the bidding and urging of God are often only seen in the highest, most generic form – ”Go and make disciples of all men .” But the specific means may be purely man-made. Having God in the general call to service is not the same as having God in the details.
Some churches have no business being on television because God was never in the decision to make TV the means for a particular church to reach unbelievers. It may be wasting more of God’s money than doing something much more effective (and less expensive), like training its members to be witnesses for personal evangelism. For John’s disciples, they are pointed toward the fruit of Jesus’ ministry and that it could not be possible without the blessing of Heaven.
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. So this joy of mine has been made full.
John explains that his role was herald, not the main event. The example from the marriage ceremony is important and very descriptive. The bride and bridegroom are the focus of the whole event. The friend has his part, but he must give way to what the moment is about – the joining of bride and bridegroom and the joy of that union. So John is saying that as Preparer, the focus may have been on him for his part, but it must now be on the main event which is what Christ is doing and will do.
The mention of the bridegroom’s voice is from the Jewish custom in which the bridegroom is separate from the bride’s party and her attendants. But at a designated time the bridegroom and his party come to the place of the wedding, usually the parents’ home. As he approaches from a distance, he shouts that he is near so that those within can rejoice that the wedding proper is now ready to proceed. The friends who are with the bridegroom naturally hear his voice and rejoice for the same reasons.
John 3:30-32
30 "He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 "He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth."
In concert with all John has said, he summarizes everything in one poignant phrase, “I must decrease.” To be from above is of the highest order of all things. This is to recognize that the world is created and for a purpose. Men can ignore that purpose but its truth is not changed. All that will become of the earth and all the material things we see and use today is dependent on the plan of God for the consummation of all things.
What is of fascinating interest is that even today, despite all our technology and the harnessing of many powers, the forces of nature can put man back to the most basic of life’s concerns in a moment of time. We are suddenly brought face to face with the precarious nature of those things we depend on most and how easily it can all be undone. If simple nature can do that, the powers that rule in Heaven are of much greater aspect and deserve all the more our respect.
32 "What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.
Christ testified of what He had seen and heard in Heaven. He knew the way of things in Heaven, the Grand Plan, and the way of the earth. This again is exactly what we would expect from someone coming from Heaven – to explain the most urgent of things, the very things important in Heaven and what is needful on earth.
But John says that no one receives His testimony. This is the general observation concerning God over the centuries. He spoke through his prophets but the majority of people were not listening. In terms of the general revelation mentioned by Paul in Romans, the people of the earth have had that knowledge, but turned it into selfish things, or other gods of wood and stone. The existence of hundreds of other religions is testimony that the world has not received the testimony of God, preferring other testimonies of their own making.
John 3:33
33 "He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.
The seal mentioned here is the result of receiving the testimony of God. It is a resultant effect of the receiving process. We acquire the knowledge that God is true – that He is really there, not merely something we must strive to perpetuate in our own minds.
Philosophers of the 17th and 18th centuries dealt with the problem of knowledge and how man can actually know that something exists or that our knowledge represents reality. Some men introduced the novelty of doubt about the certainty of what is claimed to be real (Descartes, Locke.) Others built on that thinking to further distinguish knowledge by experience from knowledge that is evident in itself, and particularly whether knowledge that cannot be shown to be either, i.e. faith, is knowledge at all? (Kant, Hume.)
So it is popular to spoof faith as conveying no true knowledge because it is subjective, cannot be transferred as truth to someone else (unless they have the same experience) and cannot be verified like other forms of knowledge. So when the believers say they know that God exists, this is nonsense to the philosopher or the scientist because it is based on faith, which is outside the realm of recognized means (which is what the term metaphysics means).
But the Bible claims that knowledge can be conveyed by faith, and more reliably than man can claim for secular disciplines. The reason this is not convincing to the unbeliever is that it takes faith to experience the reality of that knowledge, ”Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” So those who receive His testimony acquire knowledge that serves as a seal, validating the truths spoken.
John 3:34-35
34 "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.
The unlimited Spirit here given is meant to distinguish Christ from all other human agents who receive the Spirit in part. In Him there is no measured anointing, no limited degree. You get unrestrained access to the truth unfiltered by the limitations of human frailties.
35 "The Father loves the Son . . He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not . . . the wrath of God abides on him."
That all things have been given under His authority is to authenticate His teaching, the truths of which He speaks and His work as being supremely effective. He is in charge of all things and thereby His words have all authority and power.
This is in contrast to what man may say but not be able to do. The greatest people in the world promise many things but may or may not deliver. The President of the United States in his State of the Union address promises every year that wrongs will be fixed and things that ought to be done will be accomplished. He has the greatest powers and resources at his disposal. Yet every year we find that not everything he promised, though in sincere earnest, was at his disposal to make happen.
With Jesus, we can be assured that all He promises, all He predicts, all He wills to do will be accomplished because He has at His disposal power and might and will unspeakable and full of glory.