35 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
35 lines
2.3 KiB
Markdown
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title = "John 3:22–36"
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date = "2026-01-09"
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### [Read the passage.](https://biblia.com/bible/esv/John3.22-36)
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After the Passover, and presumably the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus left Jerusalem and went out to make disciples of the people in the countryside nearby.
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Verse 22 says He was baptizing, but if we look ahead a little bit to John 4:2, we find that it was actually His disciples doing the baptizing and not Jesus Himself.
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Regardless of who physically performed the rite, the point is that more and more people were following Jesus to learn from Him.
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John's disciples noticed this, as John was preaching and baptizing somewhat nearby.
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I really want to know more details about the discussion mentioned in verse 25.
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Was this Jew one of the Pharisees disciples?
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(This seems most likely given that they were discussing ritual purification.)
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But if so, why was this the trigger for John's disciples to come to him talking about everyone starting to follow Jesus?
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Even though his own disciples don't seem to understand, John knows precisely what he is about, and how his ministry is to relate to Jesus's.
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John has an important role, but he's not the main character, as it were.
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He points to the Messiah and prepares the people to receive Him, but once He shows up, John's mission is basically complete and he can leave the spotlight.
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Verses 31 to 36 may or may not be a continuation of the quote from John the Baptist.
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Different manuscripts end the quote at verse 30 or verse 36.
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Even though my Bible puts the quotation mark in the earlier position, I didn't notice it and thought it made sense for John to continue speaking these words.
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However, the more I look at these words, I come to the conclusion that they sound more like John the Evangelist than John the Baptist.
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The themes and word choices are more similar to chapter 1 than anything we have recorded of John the Baptist.
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Either way, though, the words are inspired by the Holy Spirit, and we do well to pay attention to what they say even more than who said them.
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Jesus is distinguished from every other man by His descent from heaven, whereas everyone else who has lived is from the earth.
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He is exalted over everyone because of this.
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God has sent Him, and He gives the Spirit of God freely to those who believe in Him.
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* * *
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May You ever increase while we decrease.
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