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The Gospel of John, The Confession of John the Baptist, John 3:22-28, Part I - Lesson 19
Read John 3:22-28
In this passage we see John the Apostle reintroduce John the Baptist to explain his relationship to Jesus Christ.
At the time of this writing John the Baptist was still regarded as an authority who had not been totally displaced by Christ in spite of John's imperative statement that he must decrease and that Jesus Christ must increase.
In some Baptist groups even today John the Baptist is regarded as the one upon whom the group is founded.
I don't believe that John would support this division in the Church of Jesus Christ.
Although we meet John the Baptist in the commonly called New Testament, He is in reality, the last of the Old Testament prophets.
He is not of the Church of Jesus Christ and as such he certainly should not be one which a group attaches itself to as to its founding.
In actuality the life of Jesus Christ to his death is Old Testament because the Bible says in Hebrews 9:16, For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
The division of the Bible into Testaments is of men and what is Old Testament and what is New Testament should be part of rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
Testament is equivalent to covenant.
I believe that rightly dividing the Testaments at the death of Christ is the proper place and is essential when considering dispensational truths especially the beginning of the church.
This passage tells us that John the Baptist is a friend of the bridegroom.
At this time Jesus Christ had not yet built his church.
The bride that is referred to in this passage must then be the remnant of Israel that was begun to be gathered by John the Baptist.
This gathering was continued by Christ and will be completed during the Tribulation.
This bride is not the church as this had not yet been established.
As the last of the Old Testament prophets John the Baptist walks close to the pages of the New Testament to announce the coming of the Messiah.
He was the forerunner of the Christ and as such knew his mission had a beginning and an end.
He knew when he was finished and when is mission was complete. His mission did not include the founding of a church.
This is indeed a gift to know the will of God so completely that you know when to begin a thing and then to have the good sense to end it according to his will.
Not many ministries or missions of God's servants have eternal life.
To everything there is a season.
If God tells us to end a thing we ought to end it without fighting for it against God as if we know better than God, what he wants to accomplish.
So many times we think we are more dedicated than God to his cause.
But sometimes he calls for a end to a thing and we better go with God even if the ministry we leave or stop is our pet project and we think the world and his work will end without it.
We are expendable and John the Baptist knew this.
His disciples had a problem with this.
This elevation of ourselves in our own minds is nothing new and continues today.
But dying is common and life will go on without you.
It has before and it will again.
Let's get into this passage and see what the Lord has for us today.
Verses John 3:22,23,24, After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in AEnon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. For John was not yet cast in prison.
John the Apostle relates to us that Jesus, after he had instructed Nicodemus, with his disciples, left Jerusalem and went into the country districts of Judea, outside the city.
John is the only writer of the four gospels that gives us an account of the baptizing activity of Jesus Christ.
We have no right to infer from this verse that Jesus himself baptized because John in verse 4:2 amplifies this activity and tells us that Jesus did not personally baptize but left this function to his disciples.
It seems that this baptismal activity was an extension of the baptizing that John performed and was related to repentance and cleansing, a preparation for the kingdom.
So Jesus and John the Baptist were performing parallel ministries in this regard, calling for people to repent, for the kingdom of heaven was at hand.
Remember that this activity was performed in the Old Testament and as such is part of the old covenant.
It has certainly nothing to do with the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
It was not a Christian baptism, which is a baptism into the death of Christ and which was not instituted until after the death of Christ.
These verses also tell us that John was alive and well and was engaged in the calling that the Lord had given him.
The fact that the Lord had started his work did not deter John the Baptist from being faithful to the call that God had made to him.
He had gone to minister in a place of "many springs or many waters" or a place "abounding in springs" as indicated by the word "Aenon."
Salim, the town mentioned, may be the same town
of Genesis called Shalem, a city of Shechem.
It was about 20 miles from the place the Jesus was ministering.
As an aside it is interesting to note that places in Scripture usually had a name which was based upon some characteristic of the location that it was in.
This is not usually true today.
We have places like Avalon Beach, Willow Run, Stone Brook, Starhill, Skyline.
These names were chosen to convey an image in the mind and enhance the ability to sell property in the area being developed.
These names have no connection with any characteristic of the area.
Reality verses image.
Names meant something in Bible times.
Today we live in the age of image.
The Lord is giving me something with regard to names and what a name should mean, the importance of a name.
I hope to have something to say in this regard when we get to the verse where we are told to pray in Jesus name.
What does this mean?
We should know if we want to be successful in prayer.
But John had found, near this town, a valley with plentiful water, big enough to hold the crowds who still flocked to his meetings: rabbis and rulers from Jerusalem, publicans and peasants, even Roman soldiers.
It was an ideal place for John's preaching and resultant baptisms.
And as indicated by the mention of much water it appears that many converts were being brought into the kingdom.
You don't need much water to baptize one or two but with the many baptisms that John performed one would need much water.
John makes mention in Verse 3:24 that John could still work the works of God because he was not as yet cast into prison.
This gives us a time connection with this Judean ministry of Jesus.
This occurrence happened during the first year of Christ's ministry, before the death of John the Baptist.
As such, these events are earlier than anything narrated in the Synoptic Gospels in relation to Jesus' ministry.
In the Synoptic accounts Jesus' Galilean preaching of the kingdom of God began after John was arrested.
So John is careful to continue his effort to place the events in a time package for our benefit.
Verses 3:25,26, Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. 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.
A jealously is encouraged here by the Jews beginning from a question by the Jews concerning outward religious acts.
Perhaps a comparison of the baptism that John performed versus the baptism that the disciples of Christ performed was made.
Perhaps a criticism of the rite of baptism itself because it was unusual for Jews to be baptized.
This rite was used on proselytes only.
Jesus and John were the only teachers who baptized Jews.
The Jews were interested to causing division and planting seeds of discord.
Satan loves to fish, loves to catch fish, in troubled waters.
This is a favorite device of our adversary, the devil, to make one servant of the Lord envious at a greater success enjoyed by another servant.
He plants questions about purifying the external.
Always questions of religion.
Questions designed to divert men's minds from eternal things.
The Jews, specialized in this.
Modern man also specializes in this.
Millions perish while disputing about non-essential things.
Un-renewed men love outward piety.
Un-renewed men love to talk about unimportant things, love to talk about sports, politics, inconsequential things that have no eternal worth.
It is so hard to talk about serious matters.
It was disturbing to some of John's disciples that so many were flocking to Jesus where formerly they would have flocked to John.
To John's carnal disciples the Lamb of God appeared an ambitious rival.
They forgot John's command to 'Behold, the Lamb of God"
They say, "See how he has repayed you for your fine commendation.
He owes his success to your testimony and now we are losing influence.
Our crowds are reduced by his ministry."
There is also shown here a slight to the Lord in the way John's disciples refer to the Lord Jesus.
They avoid using his name.
The greatness of John in this passage is in stark contrast to the littleness of his disciples.
John's disciples exaggerate by saying all men come unto him.
A typical ploy when the argument is weak.
Use exaggeration and extreme to prove a doubtful argument.
Verse 3:27,28, John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
John does not encourage this jealous and envious behavior.
Look how he conducted himself and learn from his behavior.
That is one of the gifts of the Bible and one of the ways that the Holy Spirit conforms you to the image of his Son.
Compare your behavior to people who are dedicated to the cause of Christ and see where you are wanting, admit that you are wrong and then call upon the grace of God to change you.
Call upon the grace of God to chip that piece off of you that does not look like Jesus Christ, that sharp edge that sticks out and that everyone bumps into.
He is working you like a sculptor works his marble or clay or stone with the purpose of making a beautiful masterpiece.
In this verse John bows to God's sovereign will.
He says that if I have any ministry at all it is because God gave it to me; I have received it from heaven.
The ministry of Jesus is from heaven as well.
He recognizes that each person has his allotted gift from God; his responsibility is to fulfill that.
He is to be content with that and not compare his results or gifts to another.
He is not to be like a little child at Christmas and compare his gifts to another to see if he received his share.
John knew that he was like a star disappearing from sight as the morning sun rose to dispel the darkness.
John was not jealous to see this but rejoiced to see the Son.
John gives us a beloved lesson in humility.
He is an outstanding example of one clothed in a God given humility.
The greatest saint in the sight of God is the man who is most thoroughly clothed with humility.
God does not want us to be concerned about our reputation.
Just do right and do his will and he will take care of our reputation.
We are to simply acknowledge, like John, that a person can receive nothing , except it be given him from heaven, and that means that all things you or I have have been given from God.
John is not shaken by the news of Christ's success, he reminds his disciples and the Jews that he had already said that he had no other duty but to go ahead before the Christ, baptizing to make ready the way for the Coming One.
The forerunner's gifts and tasks were different from those of the Coming One, but both alike were bestowed from heaven. |