John 3:22–36

3:22–24 The Setting. John consistently marks the beginning of episodes with time references:

• 1:29: “the next day”
• 1:35: “the next day”
• 1:43: “the next day”
• 2:1: “on the third day”
• 2:13: “The Passover . . . was at hand”
• 3:2: “by night”
• 3:22: “after this”
• 4:1: “when Jesus learned . . .”

In addition to the time references are references to locations:

• 1:28: “in Bethany across the Jordan”
• 1:43: “to Galilee”
• 2:1: “at Cana in Galilee”
• 2:13: “Jesus went up to Jerusalem”
• 2:23: “when he was in Jerusalem”
• 3:22: “into the Judean countryside”
• 3:23: “at Aenon near Salim”
• 4:3: “he left Judea”

In addition to the references to time and place, John regularly makes note of the characters involved (cf. 1:29, 35, 43; 2:1–2, 12, 14, 23; 3:2, 22–24; 4:1–8). In 3:22 we are given the time, place, and characters involved as we learn what Jesus and his disciples were doing. John next introduces the activities of the Baptist (v. 23) before situating these events as being prior to the imprisonment of the Baptist (v. 24), indicating that all the events to this point in his Gospel precede Mark 1:14.¹ Having observed that, like Jesus and his disciples, the Baptist was baptizing at Aenon near Salim (John 3:22–23), John introduces a dispute that prepares for the Baptist’s testimony to Jesus.

3:25–26 The Dispute. The baptizing ministry of John the Baptist had previously been a cause of inquisition: “Why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” (1:25). John notes that the Baptist “was baptizing” in 3:23 and then relates, “A discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification” (3:25).

The context indicates that the baptizing of the Baptist provoked this discussion about purification (1:23–25). To understand the debate, one must recall that when God made man and woman upright and planted them in Eden, they needed no purification. Purification was necessary only when they defiled themselves with sin and were expelled from the presence of God, the realm of life. When God took the new Adam—the nation of Israel—and planted them in the Land of Promise, he gave them rites of purification by which they could keep themselves clean in his presence. As they defiled themselves with their sin, they, like Adam from the garden, were driven from the land. As we saw in 3:5, Ezekiel prophesied that when the Lord restored his people, he would sprinkle clean water on them and cleanse them from their filth (Ezek. 36:25).

The Jew with whom the Baptist’s disciples discuss this matter might have inquired about the relationship between the cleansing rituals prescribed in the Torah and John’s baptism. The disputants take the matter to the Baptist himself in John 3:26, and he speaks to the issues in verses 27–33.² Given the statement in verse 26, the disciples of John seem concerned that many of their number were deserting them for Jesus. Their alarm arises from ignorance of God’s plan, the Baptist’s place in it, and how the whole scheme reveals the identity of Jesus and provides a setting for his heroics. The Baptist’s reply addresses: (1) the relationship between the Baptist and Jesus; (2) the identity of Jesus and his role in God’s unfolding plan; and (3) the significance of the baptisms John and Jesus were performing—what they were for and what was at stake.

3:27–33 The Testimony. The Baptist’s reply to the disputants falls into a chiastic structure, highlighting the declaration, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (v. 30). This central statement is bracketed by contrasts of the Baptist and Jesus in verses 29 and 31 and by statements about bearing witness in verses 28 and 32 and about what people receive in verses 27 and 33:

3:27: “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”

3:28: “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’”

3:29: “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.”

[Note the contrast between the Baptist and Jesus.]

3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

3:31: “He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.”

[Note the contrast between the Baptist and Jesus.]

3:32: “He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.”

3:33: “Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true.”

The Baptist’s reply to the dispute over purification and to the concern that all are going to Jesus is a study in humility and salvation history. The Baptist’s humility comes from his understanding of himself, Jesus, and the roles they each play in God’s plan. John articulates at least fifteen truths here that constitute what he knows about himself and Jesus, knowledge that enables him “not to think of himself more highly than he ought” (cf. Rom. 12:3):

1. Man’s inability: “A person cannot receive even one thing” (John 3:27a)
2. The source of faith: “unless it is given him from heaven” (v. 27b)
3. John’s identity: “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ’” (v. 28a)
4. John’s role: “but I have been sent before him” (v. 28b)
5. Jesus’ identity: “The one who has the bride is the bridegroom” (v. 29a)
6. John’s relationship to Jesus: “The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him” (v. 29b)
7. The proper response to Jesus: “rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete” (v. 29c)
8. Christ-centeredness: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (v. 30)
9. Jesus’ origin: “He who comes from above” (v. 31a)
10. Jesus’ preeminence: “is above all. . . . He who comes from heaven is above all” (v. 31b, e)
11. John’s origin: “He who is of the earth belongs to the earth” (v. 31c)
12. John’s manner: “and speaks in an earthly way” (v. 31d)
13. Jesus’ testimony: “He bears witness to what he has seen and heard” (v. 32a)
14. The improper response to Jesus: “yet no one receives his testimony” (v. 32b)
15. The essence of faith: “Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true” (v. 33)

Pride comes from thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought. By recognizing that he is not the Messiah, the Baptist understands he is not Israel’s king, its champion, or its savior. John knows who he is and who he is not. John knows his purpose: to prepare the way for Jesus. John knows his own origin: he is from earth, not heaven. John knows he possesses nothing he has not received (1 Cor. 4:7), and whatever he has received has come from God (John 3:27).

As a result of what he knows, John is not threatened by everyone’s going to Jesus. He knows the new covenant was spoken of as a new marriage between God and his people (Hos. 2:14–23), and he knows Jesus is the bridegroom who will initiate God’s new covenant with his people.

In John 3:27–33 the Baptist speaks to the concern of his disciples about everyone’s going to Jesus (cf. v. 26) and to the dispute with a Jew about purification (v. 25). If that dispute had to do with the relationship between the cleansing rites prescribed in the Torah and John’s baptism, John’s answer has declared that both his baptism and the Torah’s cleansing rites have their fulfillment in the cleansing Jesus brings. Jesus spoke of that cleansing to Nicodemus when he referenced the prophesied birth “of water and the Spirit” (v. 5). That water will cleanse people in a way that fulfills everything intended and anticipated by the Levitical system. It will restore people to life in God’s presence. The purification Jesus brings thus creates a new relationship between God and his people, a new covenant that is like a marriage, with Jesus as the bridegroom.

The Torah’s cleansing rituals, the cleansing prophesied by the prophets, and the cleansing enacted in John’s baptism all pointed forward to the cleansing Jesus makes possible for his people. All reality exists for God to display the amazing greatness of his love and power and mercy and justice in the salvation he achieves in Christ.

3:34–36 The Explanation. The Baptist has testified in verses 27–33, and from the end of verse 31 Jesus is the subject of the statements. Even though the speaker changes at verse 34 to John the author of the Gospel, Jesus remains the subject of the statements.³ The Baptist has just stated, “Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true,” and John explains, “For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure” (vv. 33, 34). Jesus is the one God has sent, and to him God gives the Spirit without measure.⁴

God sent Jesus, and when Jesus speaks he speaks God’s words. This makes explicit something hinted at by the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus as he spoke of hearing the bridegroom’s voice (v. 29), the one from heaven bearing witness to what he has seen and heard (v. 32), and that testimony being received (v. 33). When the bridegroom spoke, he spoke God’s words, which gave the friend of the bridegroom joy (v. 29). When he bore “witness to what he [had] seen and heard” (v. 32), he spoke God’s words. Those who set their seal that God is true have received testimony, the content of which is the very word of God (vv. 33–34).

John explains the ability of Jesus to speak the words of God in a short phrase that communicates the profundity of the triune God: “He gives the Spirit without measure” (v. 34). The Father gives the Spirit to the Son, enabling the Son to speak the words of God. Jesus is greater than Elisha, who received a double portion of the spirit of Elijah at the Jordan River. Jesus has been baptized by John in the Jordan, at which point the Spirit descended on Jesus to remain. Fully God, infinite in being, Jesus is able to receive the fullness of the Spirit because of his matchless capacity and utter holiness. No sin to grieve the Spirit. No limited being to leave some remainder of the Spirit unaccommodated. As a result, there is no error in what Jesus says, no misplaced emphasis, no incorrect nuance, no bad word choice. Because he is the Word made flesh, he can receive the Spirit without measure, and when he speaks, God speaks.

Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man in 3:13, and in Daniel 7:13–14 the “one like a son of man” is presented before the Ancient of Days to receive everlasting dominion. The Baptist then referred to Jesus as the bridegroom in John 3:29, addressing the dispute over purification. This dispute likely concerned the relationship between prescriptions of the law of Moses and John and Jesus’ actions. If Jesus is the Daniel 7:13 Son of Man, if he is the bridegroom who will initiate the new covenant, if he is the 2 Samuel 7:14 Davidic Son of God, then the cleansing in the baptism of John and his disciples fulfills everything anticipated by the cleansings Moses prescribed. When Jesus speaks, God speaks (John 3:34), and Jesus will reign over all because the Father “has given all things into his hand” (v. 35). This is not some mechanical exchange or begrudged transfer of power. “The Father loves the Son” (v. 35). The Father does not become so focused on holding everything together and accomplishing his purposes that he becomes an unfeeling machine. He is not a manipulator of marionettes. God loved the world (v. 16) and loved his Son by giving him “all things” (v. 35).

Verse 36 reveals what is at stake in one’s response to the Baptist’s testimony to Jesus: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Verses 14–15 have stated that the Son will be lifted up like the bronze serpent in the wilderness so that those who believe in him might have eternal life. Verse 16 has stated that God gave the Son so that whoever believes in him might not perish but have eternal life. Verse 18 spoke of the condemnation of those who do not believe. Those who believe have eternal life, but those who do not believe—and notice how verse 36 describes these as not obeying the Son—will be condemned and will perish under the wrath of God (vv. 16, 18, 36).

Why do unbelievers face God’s wrath? Because of God’s love for the world and for his Son, the world’s rightful King who received the Spirit’s measure and spoke God’s words. Because the Baptist gave credible testimony to Jesus, we owe him our trust, our allegiance, our obedience, our lives.