John 3:22-30
Introduction
John Quincy Adams held more important offices than anyone else in the history of the U.S. He served with distinction as president, senator, congressman, minister to major European powers, and participated in various capacities in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and events leading to the Civil War. Yet, at age 70, with much of that behind him, he wrote, "My whole life has been a succession of disappointments. I can scarcely recollect a single instance of success in anything that I ever undertook."
Have you ever had anything in life not turn out the way you expected it to? Did you make plans, or have dreams, or hope for something and it never panned out? Have you tasted the bitterness, the disappointment, the frustration and even resentment of unmet expectations?
If so then you can understand how some of John the Baptist’s disciples felt. The gospel writer records for us that these disciple’s were upset because what they expected from John the Baptist’s ministry wasn’t turning out. They go to John and complain that everyone is leaving him and going over to Jesus. The response that John the Baptist gives is beautiful. And what John says in his last recorded sermon reaches all the way up to us today.
His last sermon is the same as his first sermon – it’s all about Jesus Christ. The One who comes after me surpasses me. He is greater than me. If you’re following me, then you need to stop and begin following Him. I am just a voice in the desert – He is the Word of God from eternity. I am not worthy to untie His sandals – He is the One who is worthy to be worshipped. I am only a witness preparing the way – He is the One I am preparing the way for.
Context (v. 22-26)
After Jesus’ midnight conversation with Nicodemus during the Passover Feast, He leaves Jerusalem to go into the countryside of Judea. The reason He goes there is because He wants to spend time with His disciples alone. He does this often. The first 12 chapters of this gospel focus on the ministry of Jesus to the public. But, chapters 13-17 all deal with a private, behind-the-scenes ministry that Jesus gives His disciples.
It says that Jesus was spending time with them and baptizing. But, if you notice chapter 4 verse 2 the Apostle John clarifies for us that it was actually His disciples that baptized - not Jesus. So Jesus is spending time with His disciples, they’re baptizing, and verse 23 says that John also is around and he is still preaching and baptizing too.
What we see here an overlap in the ministry of Jesus and John the Baptist. Remember that John’s gospel is supplementary to the Synoptic gospels. Over 90% of John’s information is not included in Matthew, Mark or Luke. This event where Jesus and John are ministering at the same time is not in the other gospels.
Why does John include this? Why does he mention this short, transitional time where both Jesus and John the Baptist are ministering at the same time? The answer is because it provided an opportunity for John to point. John said, “The One who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me. Among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me and who’s sandals I am not worthy to untie.” Now the people could see the One who came after him. Now they could see the One whom John testified to be the Son of God. And seeing Him, they could then obey John and go to follow Jesus.
Then in verses 25 and 26 it says that some of John’s disciples had an argument about ceremonial washing. Now we’re not given any details about the argument, and, it actually isn’t even brought up again after this verse. But, a lot of good scholars have given some good educated guesses as to what the argument could have been based on the context.
Remember that the issue is baptizing – Jesus and John both have a baptizing ministry going. Baptism was a sign of cleansing. (Jews washed pots and utensils and their hands ceremonially all the time).
And the argument could have gone something like this: John’s disciple’s could have been telling the Jew that he needed to be baptized by John for repentence. Then the Jew would say to them, “I see you guys baptizing over here, and then I see Jesus baptizing over there. All the people are going over to Jesus to be baptized, so maybe his baptism is better. Why do I need to be baptized by you guys?”
Whatever the argument was about, it brought up a deeper issue. They did not like that Jesus was gaining a bigger following then John the Baptist. They saw Jesus as a rival, a competitor, and they envied Him. Notice verse 26, “They came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan – the one you testified about – well, he is baptizing and everyone is going over to him.” They saw Jesus as their competition when they should have seen Him as the culmination of their ministry.
Do you see the foolishness of this? First of all they knew John had told them that this was the Son of God, the Messiah. And they were still hanging around John. They should have left him to follow Jesus the first time John pointed Jesus out back in chapter 1.
But they don’t. They rally around a man instead of God. You know where else we see this? First Corinthians chapter 1 – Paul rebuked the Corinthian believers because they were becoming divided over following men instead of Christ. Turn with me there if you will to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 12 and 13,
“…there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’, another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?”
Do you see how divisive men become when they identify with people rather than Christ? They quarreled and were childish – Paul says later that they are infants in Christ. That’s what these disciples of John’s are like – very childish. They were threatened that people were going over to Jesus when they should have been with Jesus themselves. They saw Jesus as taking away from them the very thing that gave them a sense of meaning in life. He was taking it away.
Has the Lord ever taken anything from you? Listen, Jesus was taking away everything they had so they had nothing left and would come to Him themselves. It is not malicious, but gracious when God takes things away from us that keep us from coming to Him. In this case, He was taking away a ministry that at least for those disciples – it was never about Jesus. They never were in it for the glory of God, they were in it for their own glory and popularity.
God graciously takes from them their source of pride because their pride kept them from coming to Him.
Know Your Role
“To this John replied, ‘A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’’”
John’s humility is in stark contrast to that pride of his disciples. Where the ministry was an opportunity for self-glory, and for advancing themselves, John humbly restates that his goal is never about himself. It always has been about Jesus Christ. Listen, the Christian life – the Christian ministry – is hard because it requires humility.
This is a life of humility that says “I don’t look for the easy way, I take up my cross. I don’t lead; I follow someone else. I don’t pursue my desires, I deny myself. I count myself as dead and someone else is living their life in me.” The Christian life is hard because my life is not mine anymore. Someone else literally owns me and I am called a slave to Him.” I can honestly say that 1) I don’t want it any other way and 2) I do want it any other way. My sin nature fights and my new nature in Christ.
John knew his role. He did not make up his ministry. He did not forge his own destiny. According to John 1:6-8 he was “a man sent by God. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”
He came preaching and baptizing because it was God who gave him that ministry. John is telling His disciples about the sovereignty of God - Who sovereignly works out His purposes with whoever He chooses and in whatever way He determines.
John didn’t choose anymore than the apostle Paul chose. Paul says to the Galatians in chapter 1 verse 1, I am “Paul, an apostle – sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father.” Paul’s ministry as an apostle was given to Him from heaven, and so was the gospel he was preaching. In verse 10 Paul tells them, “I want you to know brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.”
John’s disciple’s didn’t realize that. They didn’t realize that their leader, John the Baptist, had received a temporary ministry from God. But, John points out something here, “You yourselves can testify that I said….” They thought they were being loyal to John by staying with him, but, they actually insulted his ministry. His ministry was to prepare people to receive Jesus Christ and follow Him. They completely missed it. The listened to all John’s sermons, but, they never heard him.
-The reason all the people are leaving him and going to Jesus is because God is giving them to Jesus. John 6:37, “All that the Father gives to me will come to me”. And in verse 65, “no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
Belonging to the Bridegroom
“The bride belongs to the Bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegrooms voice. That joy is mine, and is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”
The friend of the groom was a man who oversaw many details of the wedding and his final end of his task was to see the bride joined together with the bridegroom. If the groom rejected his bride at any point during the engagement (called the betrothal) then in that culture it was absolutely forbidden for the friend of the groom to ever marry the bride. She was off-limits. This is why in the book of Judges Samson was enraged when his best man married the bride who had been pledged to him.
The point John is making here is that the bride belongs to the groom. You and I who believe in Jesus belong to Him. He is our Bridegroom and we are His Bride. Second Corinthians 11:2 Paul says, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you to him as a pure virgin to him.” The metaphor is that we as the Church are betrothed to Christ when at our conversion and our marriage to Him will be consummated when He returns. We will be joined together with Him. And Paul like John the Baptist, is the friend of the Husband who waits for the coming of the Husband to take His bride away.
We belong to Christ. Romans 1:6 says, “And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” Chapter 14:7, “If we live we live to the Lord; if we die we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die we belong to the Lord.” John 8:47 says, “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” First Thessalonians 5:5, 8, “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” The difference between night and day is light. We belong in the light, John 3:21 says, “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be plainly seen that what he has done has been done through God.” We belong to the light and so we live in the light. Jesus Christ is the Light. We belong to Him and we live in Him.
Notice he says that he “listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegrooms voice.” Why does that matter? Because John referred to himself in chapter 1 as only a voice, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert”. His voice was to prepare the nation of Israel to receive Jesus, and now John says I am the friend who has been waiting to hear His voice. The Groom who comes after me, who surpasses me because He was before me, who’s sandals I am not worthy to untie and He is here. I hear His voice. And it is His voice that has that you must hear. It is his voice that has the power to raise the dead and give life (John 5:24-25; 11:43-44).
The bride is leaving John’s care to go be with her groom. John knew His role; he knew God had given him a role to play. His role was complete. The Messiah whom He was to announce had arrived. John had faithfully introduced the Messiah to Israel.
John had joy because his job was complete. His fame was fading as Jesus was growing. And that’s what it was supposed to be. He never was to attract followers to himself. Always his was a temporary and transitional ministry where the Messiah was to take over when He arrived. John knew that and because he knew his role and his calling he could have joy in carrying it out.
Not enough room for Two
Verse 30 says, “He must become greater, and I must become less.” I love western movies and there’s an old cliché that says, “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us.” Both of us can’t operate in this same place and one of us is going to have to leave.
The Christian life ain’t big enough for Jesus and me. He must increase, and I must decrease. There is nothing good I have to offer. There is nothing that is acceptable to God apart from Christ that I can offer. This is the sanctified Christian life. It’s what Paul said was happening to us in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory.”
What humility. The last and greatest of all the prophets, a man whom Jesus called the greatest among men, and never for a moment did pride motivate him. Always the magnification of Christ
Those disciples should have heard John say this and been ashamed. They are like a bride that has rejected her groom and gone after the friend instead. They remained with John the Baptist when they should have left him to go be with Christ.
Conclusion
We began today talking about expectations. John the Baptist’s disciples had the wrong expectations about Jesus Christ. What are yours? Who do you believe Him to be? They believed Him only to be “the one that John testified about.” They wouldn’t even mention his name. They believed Him to be a threat to their success. It’s frightening how similar these men were to the Pharisees who also saw Jesus as a threat. They were religious like the Pharisees. I imagine these men who followed John may very well have been side by side with the Pharisees yelling Crucify Him!
When you believe in Jesus, you enter into a relationship with Him that is described in the Bible as a marriage. You become His Bride, you belong to Him. There is no greater sense of belonging than to belong to the Son of God.
Introduction
John Quincy Adams held more important offices than anyone else in the history of the U.S. He served with distinction as president, senator, congressman, minister to major European powers, and participated in various capacities in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and events leading to the Civil War. Yet, at age 70, with much of that behind him, he wrote, "My whole life has been a succession of disappointments. I can scarcely recollect a single instance of success in anything that I ever undertook."
Have you ever had anything in life not turn out the way you expected it to? Did you make plans, or have dreams, or hope for something and it never panned out? Have you tasted the bitterness, the disappointment, the frustration and even resentment of unmet expectations?
If so then you can understand how some of John the Baptist’s disciples felt. The gospel writer records for us that these disciple’s were upset because what they expected from John the Baptist’s ministry wasn’t turning out. They go to John and complain that everyone is leaving him and going over to Jesus. The response that John the Baptist gives is beautiful. And what John says in his last recorded sermon reaches all the way up to us today.
His last sermon is the same as his first sermon – it’s all about Jesus Christ. The One who comes after me surpasses me. He is greater than me. If you’re following me, then you need to stop and begin following Him. I am just a voice in the desert – He is the Word of God from eternity. I am not worthy to untie His sandals – He is the One who is worthy to be worshipped. I am only a witness preparing the way – He is the One I am preparing the way for.
Context (v. 22-26)
After Jesus’ midnight conversation with Nicodemus during the Passover Feast, He leaves Jerusalem to go into the countryside of Judea. The reason He goes there is because He wants to spend time with His disciples alone. He does this often. The first 12 chapters of this gospel focus on the ministry of Jesus to the public. But, chapters 13-17 all deal with a private, behind-the-scenes ministry that Jesus gives His disciples.
It says that Jesus was spending time with them and baptizing. But, if you notice chapter 4 verse 2 the Apostle John clarifies for us that it was actually His disciples that baptized - not Jesus. So Jesus is spending time with His disciples, they’re baptizing, and verse 23 says that John also is around and he is still preaching and baptizing too.
What we see here an overlap in the ministry of Jesus and John the Baptist. Remember that John’s gospel is supplementary to the Synoptic gospels. Over 90% of John’s information is not included in Matthew, Mark or Luke. This event where Jesus and John are ministering at the same time is not in the other gospels.
Why does John include this? Why does he mention this short, transitional time where both Jesus and John the Baptist are ministering at the same time? The answer is because it provided an opportunity for John to point. John said, “The One who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me. Among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me and who’s sandals I am not worthy to untie.” Now the people could see the One who came after him. Now they could see the One whom John testified to be the Son of God. And seeing Him, they could then obey John and go to follow Jesus.
Then in verses 25 and 26 it says that some of John’s disciples had an argument about ceremonial washing. Now we’re not given any details about the argument, and, it actually isn’t even brought up again after this verse. But, a lot of good scholars have given some good educated guesses as to what the argument could have been based on the context.
Remember that the issue is baptizing – Jesus and John both have a baptizing ministry going. Baptism was a sign of cleansing. (Jews washed pots and utensils and their hands ceremonially all the time).
And the argument could have gone something like this: John’s disciple’s could have been telling the Jew that he needed to be baptized by John for repentence. Then the Jew would say to them, “I see you guys baptizing over here, and then I see Jesus baptizing over there. All the people are going over to Jesus to be baptized, so maybe his baptism is better. Why do I need to be baptized by you guys?”
Whatever the argument was about, it brought up a deeper issue. They did not like that Jesus was gaining a bigger following then John the Baptist. They saw Jesus as a rival, a competitor, and they envied Him. Notice verse 26, “They came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan – the one you testified about – well, he is baptizing and everyone is going over to him.” They saw Jesus as their competition when they should have seen Him as the culmination of their ministry.
Do you see the foolishness of this? First of all they knew John had told them that this was the Son of God, the Messiah. And they were still hanging around John. They should have left him to follow Jesus the first time John pointed Jesus out back in chapter 1.
But they don’t. They rally around a man instead of God. You know where else we see this? First Corinthians chapter 1 – Paul rebuked the Corinthian believers because they were becoming divided over following men instead of Christ. Turn with me there if you will to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 12 and 13,
“…there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’, another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?”
Do you see how divisive men become when they identify with people rather than Christ? They quarreled and were childish – Paul says later that they are infants in Christ. That’s what these disciples of John’s are like – very childish. They were threatened that people were going over to Jesus when they should have been with Jesus themselves. They saw Jesus as taking away from them the very thing that gave them a sense of meaning in life. He was taking it away.
Has the Lord ever taken anything from you? Listen, Jesus was taking away everything they had so they had nothing left and would come to Him themselves. It is not malicious, but gracious when God takes things away from us that keep us from coming to Him. In this case, He was taking away a ministry that at least for those disciples – it was never about Jesus. They never were in it for the glory of God, they were in it for their own glory and popularity.
God graciously takes from them their source of pride because their pride kept them from coming to Him.
Know Your Role
“To this John replied, ‘A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’’”
John’s humility is in stark contrast to that pride of his disciples. Where the ministry was an opportunity for self-glory, and for advancing themselves, John humbly restates that his goal is never about himself. It always has been about Jesus Christ. Listen, the Christian life – the Christian ministry – is hard because it requires humility.
This is a life of humility that says “I don’t look for the easy way, I take up my cross. I don’t lead; I follow someone else. I don’t pursue my desires, I deny myself. I count myself as dead and someone else is living their life in me.” The Christian life is hard because my life is not mine anymore. Someone else literally owns me and I am called a slave to Him.” I can honestly say that 1) I don’t want it any other way and 2) I do want it any other way. My sin nature fights and my new nature in Christ.
John knew his role. He did not make up his ministry. He did not forge his own destiny. According to John 1:6-8 he was “a man sent by God. He came as a witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”
He came preaching and baptizing because it was God who gave him that ministry. John is telling His disciples about the sovereignty of God - Who sovereignly works out His purposes with whoever He chooses and in whatever way He determines.
John didn’t choose anymore than the apostle Paul chose. Paul says to the Galatians in chapter 1 verse 1, I am “Paul, an apostle – sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father.” Paul’s ministry as an apostle was given to Him from heaven, and so was the gospel he was preaching. In verse 10 Paul tells them, “I want you to know brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.”
John’s disciple’s didn’t realize that. They didn’t realize that their leader, John the Baptist, had received a temporary ministry from God. But, John points out something here, “You yourselves can testify that I said….” They thought they were being loyal to John by staying with him, but, they actually insulted his ministry. His ministry was to prepare people to receive Jesus Christ and follow Him. They completely missed it. The listened to all John’s sermons, but, they never heard him.
-The reason all the people are leaving him and going to Jesus is because God is giving them to Jesus. John 6:37, “All that the Father gives to me will come to me”. And in verse 65, “no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
Belonging to the Bridegroom
“The bride belongs to the Bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegrooms voice. That joy is mine, and is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.”
The friend of the groom was a man who oversaw many details of the wedding and his final end of his task was to see the bride joined together with the bridegroom. If the groom rejected his bride at any point during the engagement (called the betrothal) then in that culture it was absolutely forbidden for the friend of the groom to ever marry the bride. She was off-limits. This is why in the book of Judges Samson was enraged when his best man married the bride who had been pledged to him.
The point John is making here is that the bride belongs to the groom. You and I who believe in Jesus belong to Him. He is our Bridegroom and we are His Bride. Second Corinthians 11:2 Paul says, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you to him as a pure virgin to him.” The metaphor is that we as the Church are betrothed to Christ when at our conversion and our marriage to Him will be consummated when He returns. We will be joined together with Him. And Paul like John the Baptist, is the friend of the Husband who waits for the coming of the Husband to take His bride away.
We belong to Christ. Romans 1:6 says, “And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.” Chapter 14:7, “If we live we live to the Lord; if we die we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die we belong to the Lord.” John 8:47 says, “He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” First Thessalonians 5:5, 8, “You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.” The difference between night and day is light. We belong in the light, John 3:21 says, “whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be plainly seen that what he has done has been done through God.” We belong to the light and so we live in the light. Jesus Christ is the Light. We belong to Him and we live in Him.
Notice he says that he “listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegrooms voice.” Why does that matter? Because John referred to himself in chapter 1 as only a voice, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert”. His voice was to prepare the nation of Israel to receive Jesus, and now John says I am the friend who has been waiting to hear His voice. The Groom who comes after me, who surpasses me because He was before me, who’s sandals I am not worthy to untie and He is here. I hear His voice. And it is His voice that has that you must hear. It is his voice that has the power to raise the dead and give life (John 5:24-25; 11:43-44).
The bride is leaving John’s care to go be with her groom. John knew His role; he knew God had given him a role to play. His role was complete. The Messiah whom He was to announce had arrived. John had faithfully introduced the Messiah to Israel.
John had joy because his job was complete. His fame was fading as Jesus was growing. And that’s what it was supposed to be. He never was to attract followers to himself. Always his was a temporary and transitional ministry where the Messiah was to take over when He arrived. John knew that and because he knew his role and his calling he could have joy in carrying it out.
Not enough room for Two
Verse 30 says, “He must become greater, and I must become less.” I love western movies and there’s an old cliché that says, “This town ain’t big enough for the two of us.” Both of us can’t operate in this same place and one of us is going to have to leave.
The Christian life ain’t big enough for Jesus and me. He must increase, and I must decrease. There is nothing good I have to offer. There is nothing that is acceptable to God apart from Christ that I can offer. This is the sanctified Christian life. It’s what Paul said was happening to us in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory.”
What humility. The last and greatest of all the prophets, a man whom Jesus called the greatest among men, and never for a moment did pride motivate him. Always the magnification of Christ
Those disciples should have heard John say this and been ashamed. They are like a bride that has rejected her groom and gone after the friend instead. They remained with John the Baptist when they should have left him to go be with Christ.
Conclusion
We began today talking about expectations. John the Baptist’s disciples had the wrong expectations about Jesus Christ. What are yours? Who do you believe Him to be? They believed Him only to be “the one that John testified about.” They wouldn’t even mention his name. They believed Him to be a threat to their success. It’s frightening how similar these men were to the Pharisees who also saw Jesus as a threat. They were religious like the Pharisees. I imagine these men who followed John may very well have been side by side with the Pharisees yelling Crucify Him!
When you believe in Jesus, you enter into a relationship with Him that is described in the Bible as a marriage. You become His Bride, you belong to Him. There is no greater sense of belonging than to belong to the Son of God.
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