John3v22to36: JOHN THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY ABOUT JESUS

(A) Introduction. (Read the reference.)

When I was a schoolteacher I would occasionally get very upset with a boy or a girl over what seemed a triviality. If I subsequently reported the offender to senior management they might think I was over reacting. They failed to realise that the flare up was the culmination of a series of incidents. The final eruption of fury had a history. So it was with the dispute between the disciples of John and a certain Jew whose allegiance was to Jesus.

(B) Superficially the dispute was over a matter of little consequence.

John the Baptist loyalists fell out with an anonymous Jew over ceremonial washing. It is possible that the Jew was John the son of Zebedee who was very reluctant to name himself in his gospel. John was very jealous for the reputation of Jesus. At a later date he told him: "Teacher, we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." Mk9v38. John was quick to leap to his master's defence. He and his brother were quite prepared to call down fire from heaven to consume an unwelcoming Samaritan village. He was, indeed, a Son of Thunder.

We do not know exactly what the followers of John and the disciple of Jesus argued about. There are at least three possibilities:

    (1) Perhaps, John thought the Baptist should stop baptising people now that the Messiah had arrived.

    (2) John the Baptist's supporters may have queried Jesus' practice of letting his disciples do the actual baptisms. See John4v2.

    (3) John's more legalistic devotees, like the Pharisees, may have wondered why Jesus and his friends did not wash their hands before a meal. See Mt15v1to2.

The fact is we are not told in detail the immediate cause of the disagreement between John's disciples and the Jew who was close to Jesus. It was such a trivial matter.

Many upsets in the church are like that. They are over something petty. A lady in my brother's fellowship left because his children ran down the chapel aisles. However, underlying the heated argument over ceremonial washing were other issues. It was the same with the lady - she was dissatisfied with my brother's ministry.

(C) The underlying cause: a smouldering resentment.

The Baptist's disciples were feeling rather put out, even jealous, because Jesus and his followers were baptising more than John. Jesus was growing in popularity in comparison with the austere desert preacher. That in it self is interesting - the majority preferred the more relaxed approach of Jesus!

It is hard to accept gracefully that some are more successful than we are. For the first two years that I taught at Debenham High School everyone's exam results were better than mine. It was a bitter pill to swallow. It is not uncommon to find the spirit of rivalry in the church. My mother led a women's meeting for many years. Eventually she was succeeded by Kath who presided over a very considerable increase in attendance. My mother, to her credit, was not resentful of Kath - but she was not unaware of the situation! I used to attend a Sunday evening service in Bury St Edmunds. It was noticeable that the congregation was always larger when the resident minister was away. This must have been difficult for him to accept. Why do Christians put their leaders to the test?

It is particularly galling when our own church is in decline and nearby churches are growing. We sometimes have a middle-aged man to preach at our chapel who was once in membership with us. He left with his family to attend a lively, charismatic church. I do not exactly rejoice when he tells us about the tremendous blessing enjoyed by his fellowship. I invariably think - 'You should still be here helping us.'

Whenever we are subject to jealousy, envy, frustration, disappointment or resentment it only requires a small incident to trigger a disproportionate response.

(D) At a deeper level - John had a loyal following who would not commit to Jesus.

John identified and introduced Jesus but still many Jews continued to follow the Baptist rather than Jesus. Why was this?

    (1) Several would have preferred John's personality and style. He was austere, reclusive, stern, dramatic and fiery. There were not many laughs when John was preaching. Religion was deadly serious. I am reminded of a church secretary who banned me from preaching at his mission hall because I was too humorous.

    Jesus was meek and lowly of heart. He liked to relax with his friends. Jesus was sociable, approachable and accessible. His utterances were pungent, pithy and paradoxical. Jesus liked to use irony and tell riddles. He was a deep and subtle teacher albeit one who used observations from daily life and told stories.

    There have always been very serious minded Christians who have seemed closer in spirit to John the Baptist than Jesus.

    (2) Some folk preferred a religion of works to a gospel of grace. John urged his listeners to repent and live worthier lives. He told them what to do. Ordinary folk should share with the poor, tax collectors refrain from extortion and soldiers be content with their wages.

    Jesus left us in no doubt how he expects his followers to behave but he also came to seek and to save the lost. He was the friend of publicans and sinners. Jesus was the Great Physician. He promised eternal life to all who believed in him. John wrote earlier in his gospel: From the fulness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. John1v16.

    Sadly, the majority of Jews never abandoned Judaism because they preferred the legalism of the old order. Christianity itself has always had a large constituency who much prefer rules and regulations to grace. Philip Yancey in his book, 'What's So Amazing About Grace', writes about the proscriptions that existed in the fundamentalist church he attended as a youngster in Georgia: smoking and drinking, attending movies, wearing makeup and jewellery, reading the Sunday paper, playing or watching sports on Sunday, mixed swimming, skirt length for girls, hair length for boys ... . Some Christians embrace legalism because it allows them to feel superior to others - those who do not keep the rules. They are just like the Pharisees in the days of Jesus!

    (3) John would not have accomplished much but for the vigour and effectiveness of his preaching. His disciples were infected with the very passion John showed during his ministry. He was a victim of his own success. When his work was done his influence lived on. There is even a strange, ancient sect in Iran and Iraq called the Sabaean-Mandaeans that follows the teachings and practice of John the Baptist to this day. They live by a complex set of morals set out in the 'Book of John.' The baptism they practice is very distinctive. A person is baptised by going down into flowing water up to their waist and then more water is poured over their head. It is a ceremonial washing for cleansing. The Mandaeans reject Jesus as a false prophet.

    Judaism itself was like this. Paul wrote that the law was like a child minder to bring us to Christ the true teacher. However, for Judaism to survive until the time of Jesus it had to be strong and virile. This very robustness meant that it outlived its usefulness.

    This happens over and over again. The Salvation Army was set up as a mission to bring men and women to Christ and to establish them in existing churches. It was a powerful movement and soon took on a life of its own. Today it is really another Christian denomination but because of its origins does not observe the Lord's Supper. It is very foolish of the Salvation Army to persist in a tradition that is contrary to the desire of Jesus. They are a church - as is any group of believers.

(E) The primary reason for the dispute.

The main reason for the argument between John's disciples and a certain Jew who followed Jesus was the continuing ministry of the Baptist after Christ commenced his work. We have to ask why John, who identified the Christ and pointed him out to others, did not follow Jesus him self. This subject is not dealt with by many modern commentators but it is a problem recognised by the author of the old 'Pulpit Commentary' on John.

There are at least 3 possible explanations:

(1) John's mistaken view of the Kingdom of Heaven.
John probably thought that the Kingdom would be dominated by a reformed Judaism. It would be a righteous, God fearing Jewish state purged of wickedness and ruled by a zealous, holy avenger - a God appointed warrior judge. Messiah would come to separate the wheat from the chaff and to cut down the unfruitful.

John believed he was preparing men for such a Kingdom - warning them and calling for repentance and reformation. It was right for him to carry on because he was contributing to the establishment of that Kingdom. He was playing his part although he acknowledged that it would be superceded by the greater work of the Messiah.

The Kingdom of Heaven was not quite as John envisaged. When the Pharisees asked Jesus when the Kingdom of God would come he said: "The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is' or 'There it is,' because the Kingdom of God is among you." Luke17v20and21. The Kingdom of God was right there amongst the Pharisees - it consisted of Jesus and his followers. That is how it has always been and will be until Christ returns. The Kingdom of God consists of those who believe in Jesus. It is a Kingdom within many Kingdoms. It exists today in virtually all the sovereign states of the world.

The church has brought itself into disgrace when it has forgotten what Jesus said and assumed political power. Trouble arises when church and state are indistinguishable as in John Calvin's Geneva. Whenever the church gets too much political influence legalism rears its ugly head. It was a sad day when the Puritans abolished Christmas following the Civil War!

(2) John had reservations about Jesus.
John was supremely the herald who announced, identified and proclaimed Christ: "Look, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!" John1v29. Yet John was surprised that Jesus was the Messiah. (See exposition on John1v19to34.) He may have thought to himself, 'Jesus - he will never be the holy, warrior king.' Later when John was in prison his doubts resurfaced and he sent some disciples to Jesus with a question: "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Mt11v2. Jesus at the time was teaching and preaching in Galilee. John could not understand this. He thought, as did Jesus' brothers, that the Messiah should be in Jerusalem - not in a provincial backwater.

It remains possible for folk to have misconceptions about Jesus. The disciple John wrote: For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. John3v17. The Word did not become flesh to make men and women feel guilty! The church has done this with its legalism - its rules and regulations and censoriousness. Many people have had a very negative experience of church. My friend Tommy Bamber who attended a Roman Catholic church as a lad told me it just made him feel bad about him self. Jesus came to save. He said to a woman taken in the act of adultery: "Neither do I condemn you. God now and leave your life of sin." Jesus allowed a prostitute to wash his feet with her tears, kiss them and pour perfume over them to the disgust of his host, Simon the Pharisee. I remember preaching on this incident in the life of Christ and an American girl coming up to me at the end of the service and saying, "That was just plain sleazy." Her sympathies were with Simon.

Jesus came to restore those who feel terrible about them selves.

(3) John underestimated how great Jesus was.

    (a) John knew Christ was a greater figure than he was.
    In the passage we are studying John uses a telling illustration to reinforce what he had said earlier about the status of Christ. John compared himself to the bridegroom's friend responsible for making all the arrangements for a wedding. The bridegroom is the main man at the wedding. When the bridegroom arrives for the ceremony his friend is glad. He has done his work. The bride is not for him - she is for the groom. It is perhaps significant that sometime into Jesus' ministry John is thinking in terms of a wedding celebration. Jesus spoke in the same vein when the Pharisees criticised his disciples for not conducting them selves more soberly.

    However significant our Christian service we do well to remember that Jesus is the main man. The church does not exist for our benefit. A local church can never be our baby. The church belongs to Jesus - it consists of those he has ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven. The church is the bride of Christ.

    (b) John did not appreciate the full measure of Christ's greatness.
    The apostle John emphasises repeatedly in his gospel the unsurpassing greatness of Jesus. He knew how great he was! Verses 31 to 36 are John's commentary on the rivalry between the two sets of disciples. John makes absolutely clear the unique status of Jesus. He writes:

      (I) The one who comes from above is above all. v31. Jesus is the only man of divine origin - begotten and not created.

      (II) For the one God has sent speaks the words of God. v34. Jesus' teaching was not merely homespun earthly wisdom. It might seem a bit like it because of the illustrations he used. No, Jesus was given the Spirit without limit and spoke the absolute truth. John the Baptist missed a heaven sent opportunity to listen to Christ's gracious words.

      (III) The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. v35. The authority of Jesus has not been vested in him by any earthly body but established by Almighty God the Supreme Creator. God has complete confidence in the Son he loves.

      (IV) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. v36. The greatest gift we can receive is his to bestow. Jesus did not come to reform Judaism, to purge the Jewish people of wickedness but to give eternal life to ALL who believe.

    (c) John didn't realise how great Christ could make him.

      (I) John was great by association. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist." Mt11v11.

      John was not made great by his powers of leadership. Moses was a much greater leader. He was not made great by his creativity. David was far more creative as a poet and musician. John was not made great by his warmth and humanity. Abraham was a more winning character than John. John was made great because of his relationship with Jesus - God's beloved Son.

      (II) John could have been greater still. Jesus said of the Baptist, "Yet he who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Mt11v11. So when John said, "He must become greater; I must become less," (John3v30) he was wrong. Jesus makes his followers great. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God. John1v12. All who yield to Jesus and accept his authority become Sons of God and joint heirs with Christ. There is no higher status than that.

      Christians must ever keep in view just what Jesus has made them.

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