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THE PENTATEUCH

GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36--- DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES --- ISAIAH 1-5 --- 6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 ---

NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6 --- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- REVELATION

--- THE GOSPELS

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John the Baptiser Decreases (John 3.22-36)

3.22 ‘After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there he stayed for a time with them and baptised’. The land of Judea is in Southern Palestine, below Samaria. Galilee was above Samaria in northern Palestine. All are differentiated from Jerusalem which looked on itself as a city on its own. This was true from the days of David, when Jerusalem was his personal possession having been taken by him from the Jebusites, and not a part of Israel or Judah (see Mark 1.5).

Thus Jesus may have ‘come into the land’ of Judea from Jerusalem. It is significant that until 6.1 John makes no mention of a Galilean ministry. He does of course mention the visit to Cana and Capernaum in chapter 2, which appears to have been for a few days, and he will mention a further visit in 5.43-54, but there is only the slightest suggestion of any ministry there in that we are told that ‘the Galileans welcomed Him’ (4.45). Nothing further is said. There is no suggestion of a public ministry.

This agrees with Mark’s statement that Jesus’ Galilean ministry, of which the other Gospels are full, commenced after John the Baptiser was put in prison (Mark 1.14), which has not yet happened at this stage as he is still baptising at Aenon near Salim (John 3.23).

Thus we have in John valuable new material about the beginnings of Jesus’ ministry which is not mentioned by the other Gospels. This demonstrates that His first ministry was in Judea, and carried out in parallel with and alongside John’s. It may suggest that, while He clearly had a following of ‘disciples’ at this point (some of whom would leave him - John 6.66), that may not have included many of the twelve. We cannot, in fact, be certain which of the twelve were with Him. They are never mentioned until 6.67 where they are looked on as a specific unit, and this is after we know that the Galilean ministry has been in progress for some time (6.1).

This agrees with the other Gospel accounts where the twelve are appointed before the feeding of the crowds, but clearly after the first Judean ministry. In 6.67 John just assumes that the appointment of the twelve will be known to his readers.

Furthermore, it is clear that John is very sparse in his dealings with the Galilean ministry. Except when it suits his purpose he leaves it out of the reckoning. This is because he is not trying to write a full scale life of Jesus, but is drawing on material of which he has special knowledge in order to present Jesus to his readers in a certain way. As he writes long after the others he is, of course, aware that the details of the Galilean ministry are already public knowledge in the churches. He is happy to ignore them for his purposes. Yet he constantly assumes what is in them, for he mentions such things as John’s imprisonment as a matter of course rather than as new information (John 3.24).

‘There he remained with them and baptised’. Jesus is at this stage carrying on a similar ministry to John the Baptiser, identifying Himself with the work of John. The work of the Spirit which that baptism symbolises has already begun, as is evident from the constant mention of the Spirit in John’s Gospel (John 3.5-6; 4.24; 6.63) and in His indication that ‘the life of the age to come’ is available already (3.15), and indeed is evident in John’s ministry also. But as yet it is localised to a certain extent and not the great outpouring that follows the resurrection (John 7.39). To suggest that somehow this ministry was not effective in the power of the Spirit, but simply symbolic, is to ignore the evidence of both Old and New Testament that the Spirit has worked through the ages.

The new age of the Spirit would be notable for the power manifested and its widespread nature, but it was not a totally new work. Ezekiel in 18.31 can tell his listeners ‘cast away all the transgressions you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit’, which in view of Ezekiel 36.26-27 must mean the work of God’s Spirit. Compare also Psalm 51.10-12; 139.7; 143.10 and the mention of Holy Spirit inspired people in the early chapters of Luke.

While baptism is important as a commitment to God and a new way of living, and a declaration of a desire to take part in the pouring out of the Spirit, it is that inner work that is most important. As Paul makes clear, to him baptism is secondary to preaching the Gospel, for it is the latter which produces the saving work which the former confirms (1 Corinthians 1.17-18).

It is stated in 4.2 that Jesus Himself did not baptise, but left the responsibility to His disciples. Aware of His special status, it would certainly have been wise for Jesus to leave baptising to His disciples, as otherwise all kinds of problems could arise as people fought to be baptised by Him. Jesus knew what was in men. He would therefore know very well the complications that could arise later if some people had been specifically baptised by Him. We can compare how Paul clearly left the baptising of people to others (1 Corinthians 1.11-17) and was thankful that he had done so. Thus this is not a case of special pleading.

We do not know how such baptisms were carried out although we know they required ‘much water’ (v.23). It seems probable that people went down into the water. Perhaps the water was poured over them, or possibly they were dipped under the water, and it is probable that John’s disciples also acted on John’s behalf as well. In view of the great crowds this seems likely.

3.23. ‘And John was also baptising at Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there’. He did not feel his work was over because the One to whom he pointed had come, nor did he feel it necessary to become a disciple of Jesus (in the technical sense). The relationship between Jesus and John is informative. John is happy to go on preaching but to ‘decrease’ and turn people to Jesus. Jesus on the other hand is careful not to bring discredit on the ministry of John, but to work alongside him. Both recognise that each has a purpose to fulfil in God’s service.

The reference to ‘Aenon near Salim’, an obscure place, is again evidence of the author’s personal knowledge, and of the genuine basis of the narrative. Various identifications have been made but certainty is not obtainable.

‘Because there was much water there.’ The need for much water arose from the success of his ministry. Huge crowds were coming to be baptised.

3.24 ‘For John had not yet been put in prison’. Thus this is before the ministries of Jesus mentioned in the other Gospels. Jesus is quite happy at this stage to be connected with John for whom He had profound admiration and they engage in parallel ministries. It was only when He learned that there was talk about His greater success than John, that He took the step of moving to Galilee so as not to upstage John.

It is clearly around this time that John was put into prison, and it is only then that Jesus is prepared to commence an active ministry. While John is around Jesus wishes to act as support to his ministry and does not draw on his pool of disciples. But once John is in prison Jesus commences a new ministry in the power of the Spirit. . We learn from the other Gospels that crowds followed Him from Judea, which confirms a Judean ministry first (Mark 3.7).

3.25 ‘A discussion therefore arose between John’s disciples and a Jew (or ‘the Judaisers’) about purifying’. Presumably one of the representatives of the Jewish leadership, or a group of them (the authorities are relatively equally divided) was seeking to pin down the meaning of John’s baptism, seeing it as an aspect of ceremonial purification. It may be that while seeking to argue this theological point (was he asking whether John’s baptism was intended to be a purifying rite?), he commented to them that Jesus was clearly more successful than John (4.1). The fact that the author is aware of what the discussion was about shows how close he was to the action, but he deliberately leaves the matter vague. The fact that he does so shows that it is not important to the meaning of this section. It is only mentioned because it happened. There was clearly constant communication between John the Baptiser’s group and the disciples of Jesus (see 4.1-3).

3.26 ‘And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you beyond Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold the same baptises and all men come to him.’

John’s disciples bring to the teacher the news of Jesus’ great successes. Had they listened as carefully to their teacher as the writer had previously they would not have been so disturbed. But even genuine people very often only hear what they wish to hear.

‘All men come to Him’. Typical Hebrew exaggeration. it really means huge crowds, more even than came to John.

3.27-28 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing except it has been given him from Heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said ‘I am not the Christ (Messiah), but that I am sent before him’. John recognises that each man must do well the task he has been given. He has been given the position of being ‘the voice’ preparing the way. It is Jesus Who has been given the greater task of being the Messiah. John is happy at doing well the job he has been sent to do. There is no room for jealousy under the Rule of God.

‘A man can do nothing except it has been given him from Heaven.’ Nothing, that is, that is worthwhile and effective in God’s work. Jesus’ very success is proof of God working through Him so that John is well content. Indeed he has stressed in his ministry that he has come to prepare the way for the Christ.

3.29 ‘He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase and I must decrease.’ Israel was regularly pictured as God’s bride in the Old Testament (Isaiah 62.4-5; Ezekiel 16.8; Hosea 2.19-20), so John says it is right that she should listen to the bridegroom. The bridegroom’s helper can only be glad about this, because it means he has been carrying out his duties successfully. The depiction of Jesus as the bridegroom is another indication of His status, for in the Old Testament God was the bridegroom and Israel the bride. John gladly recognises the total superiority of Jesus as a unique divinely chosen figure.

‘The friend of the bridegroom’. Not strictly ‘the best man’ but with a fairly similar function. He makes all arrangements for the success of the bridegroom. Having prepared the way John is delighted that the One has come Who is the Way (14.6). Just to hear His voice brings joy to John’s heart and he is fully satisfied.

‘He must increase, and I must decrease’. John does not hide the truth from himself, nor does he wish to. These words should be written on all our hearts. We are most successful when we are seen as unimportant because men’s eyes are turned on Jesus. John is content to become unimportant, so that the One to whom he testifies is recognised for what He is. The very fact that Jesus is the Christ makes His increase certain, and John accepts that this must lead to he himself being put in the background. These verses bring out John’s greatness, and the even greater greatness of Jesus.

3.31-34 ‘He who comes from above is above all. He that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaks. He who comes from Heaven is above all. What he has seen and heard, of that he bears witness, and no man receives his witness. He that has received his witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives not the Spirit by measure.’

It is sometimes difficult in this Gospel to know when the speaker’s words cease and the comments of the writer begin, and many would see these words as the comment of the writer, in which case he now summarises what he has been writing.

‘He that is of the earth is earthy, and speaks of the earth, He Who comes from Heaven is above all’. He contrasts the One Who has come from above (compare v.13) with the one who is but an earthling. The latter can only speak of earthly things, however exalted, for he is limited to earthly knowledge even if it is revealed knowledge. But the One Who comes from Heaven is above all. This is repeated twice for emphasis. He has knowledge both of earthly things and of things that none on earth can know, even by revelation, for He is over everything in Heaven and earth. This contrast is true not only of John in contrast to Jesus, but of all men apart from Jesus. Men who claim special heavenly knowledge deceive themselves. It is beyond their understanding.

‘What He has seen and heard, of that He bears witness.’ Only the One Who has come down from Heaven can understand such things. This is because He has actually seen and heard them. So He bears witness to what He has seen and heard above. Even John in Revelation only had a partial revelation of such things in dreams and visions which were largely symbolic, for they are beyond man’s vision even when in the Spirit. But He, being Himself ‘Spirit’, and being above the spiritual and angelic world, has full knowledge of all things. This is the most emphatic statement possible of the uniqueness and unique knowledge of Jesus.

Yet still ‘no man receives His witness’. Men as a whole reject His testimony. It is only man as enlightened by the Spirit of God Who can even begin to receive it for such things are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2.11-14).

Thus it is not true of all that they fail to receive His witness. There are those who do hear Him, and by doing so they are in fact certifying that God Himself is true. ‘They set their seal to this, that God is true’. They recognise that the One Whom He has sent is uttering God’s words and by believing those words they are believing God Himself. And in believing God they are testifying to the fact that God is true, for no one believes some one unless they accept him as true.

They accept Jesus Christ’s words because He has the Spirit in full, without measure. In contrast to this Midrash Rabbah on Leviticus 15.2 declares that the prophets received the Spirit by measure. (Midrash is the subjecting to writing by the Rabbis of oral testimony about the Torah since the time of Ezra. It is not possible to date its contents). Thus Christ’s experience exceeds that of the prophets. he is supremely blessed.

‘He gives not the Spirit by measure.’ The above sees this as referring to God’s giving of the Spirit to Jesus enabling Him to speak the words of God.. Others see it as referring to Jesus as the giver ‘without measure’ in speaking the words of God, a giving which is not restricted in any way. Still others see it as a general statement that God always gives the Spirit overflowingly, He does not give by measure, and that this is especially exemplified in the ministry of Jesus. However, experience suggests that God does give the Spirit to individuals ‘by measure’, therefore if the last meaning is accepted it must indicate ‘to the whole church’.

3.35 ‘The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.’ Jesus receives the Spirit without measure because He is ‘the Son’ and the Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hands. This is the first mention of Jesus as ‘the Son’ in this Gospel, but the first of many such mentions. It is a frequent title in John’s Gospel. The title stresses His total uniqueness. He is not one of many but the only One, with a unique relationship to the Father above that of the angels, indeed a ‘family’ relationship. He is of the same essence. Compare Matthew 11.27; Luke 10.22; Mark 13.32. This is why all things without exception are given into His hand.

3.36 ‘He who believes on the Son has eternal life. But he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.’

Thus not to listen to the Son is dangerous indeed. ‘He who believes on (believes into) the Son has eternal life, ‘the life of the coming age’, spiritual life, immortal life. He who does not obey the Son will not see such life, but God’s divine anger will rest on him with its consequent results. Notice that believing and obeying are used synonymously. Those who believe will always obey, and lack of obedience indicates lack of faith. The believer has God abiding in him (14.17, 23). In contrast the non-believer has God’s wrath, and the results of that wrath, abiding on him.

4.1-3 ‘When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptising more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptise, but his disciples) he left Judea and departed again into Galilee.’

‘Now when the Lord knew’. The use of ‘the Lord’ by John speaking of Jesus is elsewhere limited to after the resurrection except for 6.23 and a comment in 11.2 . Many ancient manuscripts have ‘Jesus’ here, but on balance there is considerably stronger, more widespread and earlier evidence for ‘the Lord’, and in view of the other references there would seem good grounds for accepting it here as the ‘harder’ reading . In view of what we have just read about the exalted Son it seems quite feasible that John is stressing the contrast between Jesus and John by using of Jesus the title ‘kurios’ which Paul certainly equates with the name above every name, the great name of God ‘Yahweh’ (Philippians 2.9-11).

Thus the writer is stressing the greatness of the One to whom he is referring. It was ‘the LORD’ Who heard and responded as He did.

‘That the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptising more disciples than John’

‘More disciples’ - notice the way the term ‘disciples’ is used here. It is used of all those coming for baptism. The term is sometimes very general in John.

‘The Pharisees had heard.’ Clearly some Pharisee, possibly hoping to gain favour, had told Jesus that it was common knowledge among them, as a result of reports from their agents, that He was gathering more ‘disciples’ than John. Clearly they were weighing the two men up. Probably because as ‘guardians of the faith’ they were seeking to assess them. Whatever it was the imprisonment of John and disappearance of Jesus to Galilee interrupted their inspection, although as we discover elsewhere the assessment of Jesus went on in Galilee (e.g. Mark 2.6, 16, 22).

So in His greatness ‘the Lord’, who had every right to exert His superiority had He wished, when He learned that a certain amount of ignominy was being cast on John the Baptiser, withdrew into Galilee. And it was not in order to change His sphere of ministry, but simply to prevent His activity from interfering with John’s, for in Galilee He did not begin a public ministry until after John was imprisoned. Such was His sensitivity that He wished to protect His servant John from embarrassment.

What a lesson lies here for all who compete to make a name for themselves at the expense of others, and think that they are so important that they can ignore the effect of their ministry on other works of God.

Yet had He not done what He did the great revival in Samaria, which we will next consider, would not have occurred.