John 3:22-36

Read John 3:22-30 John the Baptist allows Jesus to take preeminence without jealousy

John the Evangelist implies in verse 22 that Jesus was baptizing, but he clarifies in chapter 4, verse 2, that it was Jesus’s disciples who were doing the baptizing, not Jesus.

The scholars are not sure exactly where Aenon near Salim was, but it was probably either along the Jordan River in the eastern part of Palestine or in Samaria in central Palestine.

Verse 25 alludes to disagreements about the importance of following Jewish rites of ritual purification, which Jesus did not require his disciples to follow.

Some disciples of John the Baptist make a complaint to John.  In verse 26, what are they upset about, and why does this bother them?

John does not share their concern.  How does he answer in verses 27-30?

In verse 27, John is basically saying this: the people who were following me but are now following Jesus don’t belong to us; they were a gift we received from God.  In what ways might we adopt John’s attitude in how we think about the people in our lives?

How can we also apply John’s attitude to the material possessions we have?

In verse 29, John the Baptist makes a comparison where Jesus is a bridegroom and John is the best man or “friend” – the one in Jewish culture who arranges the wedding.  In that analogy, who is the bride?

Paul expanded on the idea that the Church is the bride of Christ in Ephesians 5:25, where he told husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her.  Think about the people of the Church – the people who make up the body of Christ because they have chosen to follow Jesus.  How would a bride relate to her husband?  In what ways are Christians like a bride?

How might your relationship with Jesus be strengthened if you gave more attention to the idea that you are the bride or spouse of Christ?

Why does John describe himself as full of joy (verse 29) because of what is happening?

Verse 30 offers another pithy statement that can help us think about our relationship with Jesus.  How can you use the statement “He must increase; I must decrease” as a guide to your life?

Where and how might God be calling you to put this statement into action right now?

What does John the Baptist’s attitude tell us about jealousy?

John humbly accepted Jesus’s preeminence.  How can this be a model for you in your life?

Read John 3:31-36 

It is not clear whether the words in verses 31-36 are the words of John the Baptist or the explanations of John the Evangelist.  Either way, he first says that the one who comes from above – i.e., Jesus – is above all.  This is partly an explanation for what was said in verse 30 – that “he must increase; I must decrease.”

In verses 31-34, the one who is from above is Jesus.  Looking at verses 32 and 34, what does Jesus speak about?  In verse 31, what does the person who is from the earth speak about?  How are they different?

Jesus testifies to what he has seen and heard from heaven (verse 32); he speaks the words of God (verse 34); whereas those who are of the earth focus on earthly things.

(Some commentators think that the one who is of the earth is a reference to John the Baptist, but in the context of John’s repeated distinction between those who believe in Jesus and those who don’t, both earlier in the passage and in the verses that follow such as verse 36, it probably makes more sense to interpret the reference to the earthly people as those who do not receive what Jesus has taught but choose to live in the darkness.)

Verse 34 tells us that God gives the Spirit “without measure” (NRSV) or that he does not “ration” (NABRE) the Spirit.  The wording evokes the image of a person measuring out portions for a recipe or in the serving line at a buffet.  God gives the Spirit without limit.

Verse 34 could be interpreted as saying that Jesus has the fullness of the Spirit.  However, considering Jesus’s statement in John 3:6-8 that everyone must born of the Spirit, it is more likely that verse 34 is talking about God’s gift of the Spirit to us.  We might put it this way: God does not measure out the Spirit to us in limited amounts; he gives us the fullness of the Spirit.  What does this image of God’s unlimited gift of the Spirit say to you?

Verse 36 tells us how to respond and also tells us what happens when we do.  What does verse 36 say?

Faith is not simply the statement of some special words.  It is not just the acceptance of certain ideas with our mind or intellect.  It is the commitment of our will to put God first.  How does that help us understand why John always links belief with obedience?

In verse 36, John uses the word “wrath” in a manner similar to the way he used the word “darkness” to describe the experience of those who do not enter into Jesus’s light and life.  The term “wrath” is used frequently in the Old Testament to describe the Jewish people’s experience of God’s judgment when they are disobeying him.  God is not subject to human emotions such as anger or vindictiveness, but there are consequences when people are separated from God by their own choices.

When John talks about the “wrath” of God in verse 36, he is using an Old Testament concept that described the suffering that God’s people endured when they persisted in disobeying God.  God does not have human emotions such as anger or vindictiveness, but choosing the darkness comes with its own consequences.  In verse 36, John is trying to make the point that the choices that people make, either for or against Jesus, have eternal consequences.  What does this verse say to you?

In verse 35, John says explicitly for the first time that the Father loves the Son.  Moreover, the Father has handed everything over to the Son (which builds on John 1:3 where John said that all things came to be through him).  What difference does it make in your life, knowing that Jesus Christ holds all things in his hands?  How might that affect your faith in Jesus?

Take a step back and consider this:

There are 2 ways to respond to the presence of God in our lives.  The way of John the Baptist accepts what God is trying to do and does not fight it.  This approach trusts that God is working for good in our lives and does not try to dictate what God should do.  The way of darkness rejects what God is trying to do and seeks its own way.

At some point in our lives, we experience a moment when we are called to make the biggest decision of our lives: Whose way will we follow?  Are we going to follow Jesus and live in his light, or are we going to follow our desires and live in the darkness?

Even after we have crossed that divide and chosen to follow Jesus, we still face many moments in our lives when we are tempted to take a small step toward the darkness, toward carrying out our own will in opposition to God’s will.

What practices have you adopted or could you adopt in your life that would help you reject the temptation to embrace earthly desires, such as jealousy (which John the Baptist faced) or greed or lust or anger, so that you can keep your focus on abiding every moment in the light of Christ?  What practices can help you resist when those temptations come?