Jesus Clear
John 3:22-36,
After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized 24 (for John had not yet been put in prison).
25 Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” 27 John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 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. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
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. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 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.
Okay, to get started here, I need you to use your imagination for a minute. Imagine that you’re in a helicopter and you’re flying over Jerusalem — say the helicopter is an eyewitness news station that you’re a part of — and so you’re flying over Jerusalem to see what’s going on — also it’s the year 28 (so there’s some time travel involved here, but you’re using your imagination).
Well, you’re flying over Jerusalem, over the outskirts, in an area known as the Judean countryside, and you look down and you see a little pocket of people — there’s a leader and some followers — and more people are coming to them and they’re dunking them in the water.
Then you fly up a little more north of Jerusalem, in the countryside and you notice another little pocket of people — there’s a leader and some followers — and they’re also dunking people in the water.
You realize you’ve seen, basically, two identical pockets of people: two different groups led by two different men in two different areas outside of Jerusalem but they’re doing the same thing — that’s the setting of our passage today. That’s how John, the writer of this Gospel, sets this story up.
But now imagine that you jump out of the helicopter (with a parachute) and you come down to one of these pockets of people — and it’s the group led by John the Baptist — and you overhear a dialogue.
There had been a discussion between a Jewish man and the disciples of John the Baptist about purification — that’s all we’re told in verse 25 — but apparently that discussion sparked some confusion for the disciples of John the Baptist and so they came to John the Baptist to talk with him in verse 26 and here is where the real action starts.
And there are three main things going on here that John, the writer of this Gospel, wants us to see. And I think that if we can track with these three things then we will understand this passage. So three things, really simple:
Questions Continue
Mission Complete
Jesus Clear
We’re gonna look closer at each of these three things and we’re gonna find in each one there’s something for us to take away. There’s some practical connections that we need to make. So I’ll pray again and we’ll get started.
Father, you are good and you do good things. Even in the midst of our hard things, we know that you’re at work and you do not make mistakes. We ask that you give us now everything we need, to hear from you and to trust you, in Jesus’s name, amen.
1. Questions Continue
Now there’s not a question mark in verse 26, but these disciples of John the Baptist are bringing a question. Look at verse 26,
And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”
So these guys had found out about that other pocket of people outside of Jerusalem which was led by Jesus, and they found out that they were doing the exact same thing that John the Baptist and his pocket of people were doing — and these guys were confused by that.
Now some have read this and assumed that the disciples of John the Baptist are jealous here; that interpretation assumes they don’t like the fact that more people are now going to Jesus than to John. And that could be true, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on. Notice that these guys recognize in verse 26 that Jesus is the one John the Baptist bore witness to back in Chapter 1. They’re saying: Hey, that guy that you were telling us about — the one that you said some pretty amazing things about — he’s over there doing what we’re doing.
See, the implied question is: If the one you said you were here to point to is now doing what you’re doing, why are you still doing it? (This is the question at least that John the writer wants us to wonder as we read this story.)
Don’t get too distracted by the details of verse 26 because it’s really just there to set up what John the Baptist is about to say in verses 27–30, and the main thing we should see here is that the reality of Jesus raises questions. We’ve already seen this in the Gospel of John. Everywhere Jesus goes, there’s more questions.
In Chapter 1: Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
At the wedding, Chapter 2: Why have we kept the good wine for the end?
At the temple: Who do you think you are to bring this mayhem?
Then, Nicodemus: Can a grown man enter into his mother’s womb a second time and be born?
We’ve already seen Jesus raise questions, and here questions continue (and they’re gonna keep coming), but at this point, let’s drill down into what the question is. Basically, these guys are asking: since Jesus is now here, what do we do?
You get that? They’re asking: How do we make sense of what we’re doing in light of the reality of Jesus?
To Ask Everyday
And I want you to know that question has never stopped being asked — in fact, that’s a question we should ask ourselves today.
How does Jesus being Jesus change the way I live?
And first, we might think broadly about the whole course of our lives and all of our big decisions. If it were not for Jesus, things would look very differently for most of us (I know that’s true for me!) — but let’s not settle with that broad kind of thinking. Take another step.
For example, you might first think … “Because of Jesus I’m a mother.” Okay, yes, but it’s more than that. Because of Jesus you want to be a certain kind of mother. What kind? How does Jesus being Jesus make you a certain kind of mother?
Another example: “Because of Jesus, I give” — and that’s great, but take another step. How does Jesus being Jesus impact the ways you give, and how much you give, and to where?
One more example: You might think: “Because of Jesus, there are certain things I don’t do” — and that’s good, but how does Jesus being Jesus change the way you use your time? What do you give your energy to? How do you think about your purpose?
See, the fact is: Jesus has come! Jesus is real. It’s like he’s right over there. So what do we do now? Today? Tomorrow? The next day? Since Jesus is Jesus, how should we live?
The questions continue. And that’s the question for us.
The second thing to track in this passage is …
2. Mission Complete
This is in verses 27–30 where John the Baptist answers his followers, and what he does here is he gives the concluding explanation of his ministry. Like in Chapter 1, he says again, one more time, what he’s all about. He starts with verse 27:
“A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven.”
Now that’s a true statement all across the board. Every gift we have is ultimately from God. But John is saying this here about what God has called him to do. He’s had one job this whole time — to point people to Jesus. That’s the job God gave John the Baptist to do, and he says he’s done it.
He says to his followers, Hey, you guys can vouch for me. You’ve heard me say, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.
You’re telling me that all are going to him — and they should be! This is the point. Jesus is the bridegroom; I’m just the friend of the groom, verse 29.
And just like that, John the Baptist uses a wedding metaphor. And this is important. When he mentions the “friend of the groom” here he’s talking about the best man. That’s the idea. That’s how John the Baptist understood himself. He is Jesus’s best man.
Have any of y’all ever been to a wedding when after the ceremony, at the reception or wherever, there’s a big receiving line?
Well, have y’all ever seen it that when people are lining up to meet the bride and groom, the best man is over in the corner of the room, and he’s trying to get people to form a line to see him? Ever seen that before? Have you ever heard of a best man who is confused that people wanna see the groom?
Of course not! This is a perfect image, John!
For those of you who have a wedding this summer — a lot of you, actually — understand this: the best man has one job. (Now I know today he does a couple of things — there’s the ring and the speech and all that — but traditionally, the best man had one job). He was to make sure the groom gets to the wedding. That’s it. That’s what he’s for. And when the groom gets there, the best man is done. “This joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
See, this is the fadeout moment for John the Baptist. And his whole ministry has been looking forward to this. He’s known the whole time it’s not about him. His one job has been to prepare the way for Jesus — to clear the way for us to see Jesus — and John the Baptist says here, “I’ve done it. Mission complete.”
And I’m so happy for him! I love that he experienced this! I love that he says mission complete, but it makes me wonder: Do you think we’ll ever say that?
Our Mission Now
John the Baptist was able to begin his ministry with the end in mind, and here he’s reached the finish line. He did it. But when it comes to our mission, is it possible for us to experience that in this life?
At one level, no. When we think of the mission Jesus has given us — “make disciples of all nations” — one day that mission will be complete, but not here. Technically, mission complete for us comes in the New Jerusalem, in heaven.
So then what does that mean for now?
Like for now, are we just spinning our wheels trying to climb a mountain we’ll never reach?
If that’s how we think about our mission, that’s pretty depressing and non-compelling.
So think about it like this: although we may not see the full mission complete in our lifetime, the things we do today on mission have an eternal impact. Our actions have eternal consequences. They matter.
As a local church, last year we focused in on our mission — we exist to make joyful disciples of Jesus who remember his realness in all of life.
This means that we don’t just want ourselves to be happier in God, but we want more people in the Twin Cities to be happy in God! That’s over 3.7 million people! That’s gonna take some time and look, we probably won’t get there in the next 50 years. And that’s okay. It’s not our responsibility to do it all, but we are responsible for a part.
Our cities are full of lost people who must be found, and hopeless people who must find hope, and drowning people who must be saved — and we have a life boat. And we can and should make a difference.
One day, in heaven, it will be mission complete for us like it is for John the Baptist here … but that mission complete does come in part through what we do now.
Questions continue …
Mission complete …
3. Jesus Clear
This is verses 31–36, and it’s where John, the writer of this Gospel, speaks up with his own commentary. Now that John the Baptist has officially faded out, John the writer wants us to focus in all the more on Jesus. Like he did in Chapter 1, John here tells us who Jesus is. He tells us seven truths about Jesus:
Jesus is above all (v. 31)
Jesus has seen and heard from God the Father (v. 32)
Jesus utters the words of God the Father (v. 34a)
Jesus has been given the Spirit without measure by God the Father (v. 34b)
Jesus is loved by God the Father (v. 35a)
Jesus has been given all things by God the Father (v. 35b)
Jesus, therefore, elicits a consequential response (vv. 33, 36)
You can track each one of these in order, but I’m just gonna highlight one here in closing (one and a half). It’s in verse 34, and I want you to see this — I also wanna make sure you’re still with me. So everybody, if you can, find verse 34. Verse 34,
“For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.”
Now, when John is telling us about Jesus here, he’s doing it in contrast to John the Baptist. Remember John the Baptist was an Old Testament prophet, and John wants us to know that Jesus was much greater than just a prophet — he comes from above, and he’s not just told what to say, but he’s actually seen and heard directly from God the Father because he’s been with the Father forever. So what Jesus says, the Father says, “for” or “because” the Father gives Jesus the Spirit without measure.
That’s also meant to be a contrast with John the Baptist, or really with any prophet. It was commonly understood in the Jewish worldview that as God spoke through the prophets, God gave a measure of his Spirit to each prophet for their assigned task. Every prophet received the measure of the Spirit that was required for their assignment.
Well John is saying that it’s different with Jesus. He’s more than a prophet. He doesn’t just receive a bit of the Spirit for a one-off job, but he’s been given the Spirit without limit. His job never ends. Jesus is constantly, always, revealing God to us. He’s always making God known. He’s always the way back to a relationship with God.
And the Spirit is always with Jesus doing that work. The Spirit was doing that work when Jesus was here on this earth, and the Spirit is still doing that work today, as the message of Jesus continues to be told. One way to say it is that anywhere Jesus is made clear, the Spirit is at work.
Closer Than a Copter View
And that elicits a consequential response. This is verse 36. And it’s really simple: Whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life; whoever does not obey him — does not believe him — the wrath of God remains on him.
That’s verse 36, which means we all have to make a choice about Jesus. Whenever we hear about Jesus we come to a fork in the road: will we believe him or not?
Those are the only two options for us when we encounter Jesus. And this book has been written so that we encounter him.
See, a lot of times in life, we can try to stay with only that helicopter view of Jesus. We kinda see him from afar, we know about him, but we don’t wanna get too close to him. We don’t wanna have to make a choice about him.
But the Gospel of John doesn’t let us do that. This book gives us closer than a helicopter view. This book brings Jesus right here in front us. John is all about making Jesus clear to us — and we should choose him. Believe him. Trust him.
Questions continue.
Mission complete.
Jesus clear.
That’s what’s going on in this passage, and that’s what brings us to the Lord’s Table.
The Table
We come to this Table each week, first, because Jesus told us to — he told us to come to this table and remember his death for us. The bread represents the body of Jesus, and the cup represents his blood, and as we eat and drink this bread and cup we are saying together that Jesus is our hope. That’s why this is a meal for Christians.
If you’re here this morning and you’re not yet a Christian or if you’re not sure, I’m so glad you’re here and I invite you, Put your faith in Jesus! Believe him! — and I’d love to talk with you more about that. I’ll hang out down here after the service as usual. Come talk to me.
So for those who believe, if you trust in Jesus Christ, let’s eat and drink together and give him thanks.
