John 3:22-36

III. Jesus in the Country of Judea: 3:22-36.

The previous testimonies of John the Baptist were appeals to faith. That which is to follow assumes the character of a threatening protest against the generally hostile attitude and the rising unbelief of Israel. This discourse appertains, therefore, to the picture of the manifestation of Jesus and its general result in Israel.

After the feast of the Passover, Jesus did not immediately return to Galilee; the reason of this course of action will be pointed out in John 4:43-45. He repaired to the country region of Judea, where He set Himself to preach and baptize almost as John the Baptist was doing. John 3:25-26, lead us to suppose that the place where Jesus set Himself to the exercising of this ministry, was not far removed from that in which the forerunner was working.

How are we to explain this form, which the activity of Jesus assumes at this time? The temple was closed to Him and He had gone over the holy city, without meeting in it any other man of note disposed seriously to prefer the light to darkness, except Nicodemus; then he removes still further from the centre, and establishes Himself in the province. To this local retreat corresponds a modification in the character of His activity. He had presented Himself in the temple with full authority, as a sovereign who makes his entrance into his palace. That summons not having been accepted, Jesus cannot continue His Messianic activity; He restricts Himself to the work of prophetic preparation; He is obliged to become again, in some sort, His own forerunner, and by this retrogade step He finds Himself placed, for a moment, at the same point which John the Baptist had reached at the termination of his ministry. Hence the simultaneousness and the sort of competition which appeared between the two ministries and the two baptisms. After His return to Galilee, Jesus will Himself renounce this rite, and as the single element of Messianic organization He will only preserve the apostolate. He will no longer aim at anything except to awaken faith by the word. The foundation of the Church, with which the re-establishment of baptism is connected, will be deferred to the epoch when, by His death and resurrection, the bond between Him and the unbelieving people shall have been completely broken and the foundation of the new society prepared.

These changes in the mode of Jesus' activity have not escaped the notice of the rationalists; they have seen in them nothing else than the result of a growing miscalculation. Yet Jesus had announced all from the first day: “ Destroy this temple; ” and the final success of His work proves that there was something better here than the result of a deception. Faith, on the contrary, admires, in this so varied course, the elasticity of the divine plan in its relations to human freedom, and the perfect submissiveness with which the Son can yield to the daily instructions of the Father. Thereby the absence of plan becomes the wisest and most wonderful of plans; and the divine wisdom, accepting the free play of human freedom, can make even the obstacles which the resistance of men opposes to it, the means of realizing its designs. This glance at the situation explains the momentary juxtaposition of these two ministries, the one of which, as it seemed, must succeed the other.

The following passage contains: 1. The general picture of the situation (John 3:22-26); 2. The discourse of John the Baptist (John 3:27-36).

ADDITIONAL NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR.

XV.

On John 3:22-30 we may remark:

1. The object of the passage is, evidently, to introduce a final and impressive testimony of John the Baptist to Jesus. The insertion of this testimony indicates the importance which the writer gives, in his own mind, to John as a witness. It is most simply and easily explained, if we suppose that the writer was the unnamed disciple and had gained from John the first and strong impulse towards the life of faith. The emphasis laid upon this testimony and that in John 1:19-35 will partly, if not wholly, account for the prominence given to John in the Prologue. We may well believe that these words of their old master or friend, being brought to their knowledge, strengthened greatly the belief of the five or six original disciples.

2. The statement of the 24th verse may be intended to correct a wrong impression, which readers of the Synoptics might derive from them as to the relation in time between the imprisonment of John and the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. But, whether this be so or not, this statement shows that the portion of Jesus' life which is recorded in these first Chapter s antedates the Synoptic account of His public work.

3. The words of John 3:27 are best taken as conveying a general truth, which in the present instance finds its application to both of the persons compared. That they have a reference to John himself is indicated by the close connection with John 3:28, where he denies and affirms only with respect to his own office, and with John 3:26, in which his disciples call upon him, as it were, to claim superiority to the new prophet, or at least equality with him. His answer to the complaint and implied demand of these disciples is, that he is content with the position and work assigned to him by God. He takes joyfully what God has given him, though it even involves a decreasing and passing away before the higher glory of Christ. But the words also refer, in his use of them, to Jesus, for it was the application to Him which was calculated especially to bring his disciples to a state of contentment with the present and prospective condition of things. He must increase, because He is the Christ.

4. These verses respecting John, though representing an incident in the country region of Judea after the close of the Passover feast, are so nearly connected with the first visit to Jerusalem, that they may be regarded as belonging, in the author's arrangement of testimony, with what occurred at that time. If we view the matter in this light, we find that the disciples had now received the σημεῖον consisting in a wonderful miracle, the σημεῖον in the strict sense, and, in addition to this, the proofs or σημεῖα given by the remarkable act of the prophet, by the great prophetic declaration respecting the temple, which offered food for thought even until His resurrection made its meaning clear, and by the words addressed to Nicodemus, which spoke to them both of the earthly and the heavenly things connected with the kingdom of God, the knowledge of which on His part showed that He had descended from heaven. Following upon all this, they had heard a last word from John, which answered, as it were, to the first suggestion which had pointed them to Jesus. He had said to them at the beginning, that he was not the Christ but only the forerunner, and had bidden them go and see the greater one for whom he was preparing the way. In the words addressed to his own followers, he now says to these former followers also, that his joy as the friend of the bridegroom is full, and that, while his work is closing, the one to whom they have joined themselves is to increase and to establish the kingdom. The presentation on the part of the author of this testimony in these different lines and the selection of these narratives which contain them are manifestly in accordance with an intelligent plan. But the plan is of just that character which attaches itself to, and finds its foundation in, the remembered experience and development of the inner life.

XVI.

With respect to the question whether John 3:31-36 are a portion of the discourse of John the Baptist to his disciples, or whether, on the other hand, they are added by the evangelist, two suggestions may be offered: 1. In a certain sense, these verses form the conclusion of one section of the book.

The testimonies which came to the disciples at the beginning of their course and in connection with the time of the first Passover, and which are apparently arranged with special care by the author, here come to their end. That at such a point the writer should allow himself to pass from the history into reflections of his own, would be less surprising than it would be elsewhere. The passage might be regarded in this respect, as having somewhat of the same position as the summary passage at the end of ch. 12. The case is different with John 3:16 to John 21:2. The difficulties in supposing John the Baptist to have used expressions such as we find in these verses are much greater than those which are alleged, in John 3:16 ff., as bearing against our understanding that the words there used were spoken by Jesus. It will not follow, therefore, even if we hold that the evangelist gives his own thoughts and words in John 3:31-36, that he does the same thing also in John 3:16-21.

The considerations which favor the view that John 3:31 ff. are the words of the evangelist are the following: (a) The greater appropriateness of the thoughts to the time of the evangelist's writing, than to that of the Baptist's speaking. The thoughts, it is claimed, are beyond what the Baptist could have had. (b) The phraseology is that of the writer of the Gospel, and not in accordance with what we know of John the Baptist. On the other hand, this view is opposed by the very close connection of these verses with those which precede, 27-30; and by the fact, as it is claimed, that there is a marked consecutiveness and coherence in the whole passage viewed as one discourse. Godet affirms that all the details of the discourse are in harmony with the character of John the Baptist. It can hardly be denied, however, that we seem to pass into a new form of expression, as we move from John 3:30 to John 3:31, and that in the latter verse we seem to be in the atmosphere of the evangelist's language. Moreover, John 3:32 a is strikingly like John 3:11, and John 3:34-36 bear the stamp of expressions of Jesus which were used at a later time. The words of John 3:32 b, on the other hand, are truer to the standpoint of John the Baptist, than to that of the writer near the end of the apostolic age. Perhaps the most correct view of the passage may be, that it is a report of what John the Baptist said, but that, under the influence of his own thoughts of Jesus' work and exaltation, and especially of what He had set forth in His conversation with Nicodemus in the earlier part of the chapter, he was led to express the Baptist's thought with an intermingling of his own language, or even with some intermingling of his own thought. The phenomena of the passage which point, in some measure, in the two opposite directions, would be satisfactorily met by such a supposition. But the entire separation of these verses from the historical occasion referred to in what precedes can scarcely be admitted, consistently with the probabilities of the case.

The words of John 3:32 b, whether used by the Baptist or the evangelist, must be understood in a comparative, not in an absolute sense this is proved even by John 3:33. There is no serious difficulty in any apparent opposition between this sentence and John 3:29 as compared with John 3:26. Indeed, the difficulty is much greater in case the words are supposed to be those of the evangelist, for the Gospel-message had had wide success before he wrote this book.

The word ἐσφράγισεν of John 3:33 seems to be used in connection with the general idea of the inner life which so peculiarly characterizes this chapter and this Gospel. The testimony of Christ to what He has seen and heard is the witness to the great spiritual truth the plan of God for salvation and the life of faith (see John 3:16). The man who receives this witness, and thus believes, gives the answering confirmation of his inward life to the truth of God in this which is witnessed. He sets the seal of his own soul's belief to the words of Christ as the words of God, and the union of the soul with God is thus accomplished in the full sense of the word. He who does not receive the witness, in like manner, puts himself thereby apart from God and His life. Comp. 1 John 5:10 ff.: “He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he hath not believed in the witness that God hath borne concerning His Son. And the witness is this, that God gave unto us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life.”

The last clause of John 3:34, if the reading without ὁ θεός is adopted, is in a general form, and the precise application and meaning are somewhat uncertain. This form of the text is probably the correct one. We must observe, however, that the clause is introduced as a proof of the preceding, that is, a proof of the proposition that he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. The natural evidence of this would seem to be that the Spirit is given to Him without measure, rather than that the gift of the Spirit, when this great gift is made to the world or the souls of believers, is an unlimited one, or that the Son Himself gives the Spirit without limitation. The subject of the verb gives is, therefore, probably to be supplied from ὁ θεός of the preceding sentence, and not from the subject of λαλεῖ. For the same reason, the application of the general phrase is to the Son, although there is no αὐτῷ in the sentence. The connection with the following verse, also, serves to show that the thought is of the Father as giving to the Son.

XVII.

If the words of John 3:31-36 are words of the evangelist himself, they are most naturally to be taken as his statement of the truth (as he saw it at the time of writing), which was involved in what John the Baptist had suggested by the comparison between himself and Jesus as the παρανύμφιος and the νύμφιος, and by the words, He must increase. They thus indicate what he himself thought, afterwards, that the testimony affirmed when fully apprehended in the wide reach of its meaning. If they are on the other hand, the words of John the Baptist, that prophet must have been granted a vision of the exaltation and work of Christ which was beyond that of his time a thing which, considering his peculiar office in relation to the Messiah, would not seem impossible. John was not only the greatest of the prophets of the older system, he was the last of the prophets. He was the one who handed over the truth of the Old Testament times, as it were, to the New Testament times; the one who pointed to Jesus the earliest disciples of the new system. Why may it not have been granted to him to see what Jesus was, to know that He possessed the Spirit without measure, and to understand that his own ministration of repentance was to be supplemented and perfected by the ministration of faith? If Abraham, with whom the covenant was originally made, rejoiced in the foreseeing of the day of Christ, and saw it with rejoicing, it would seem by no means strange that John the Baptist might have had a vision which opened to him more than others saw and that he might have expressed what it brought to his mind, either in the precise words which we find here, or, if not this, in words which could be filled out in their significance by the evangelist while yet moving in the sphere of his thought.

However we may view the words, they suggest an inquiry of much interest namely, how far may we believe that the faith of the disciples, of whom the author is particularly speaking, had advanced at this time? They had had before them manifestations of His power, His zeal, His outlook on the future, His claim to have descended from heaven, His insight into the nature of the kingdom of God, His view of eternal life as related to faith, and finally they had had a closing testimony of John the Baptist which was, apparently, more full and emphatic than any that he had given them at the beginning. They had thus seen all that they could hope to see, so far as the different kinds of evidence were concerned. But we cannot suppose that their belief as yet answered fully to the abundant measure of testimony which had been given them. What we are told in the Gospels of the slowness of their development in the new life, and in their comprehension of its teachings and mysteries, is altogether in accord with what we should expect from the circumstances in which they were. The strangeness of the doctrine of the spiritual kingdom and all that belonged to it, and the ever-deepening mystery in the character of Jesus, as He spoke to them of Himself and of the eternal life of the soul, must have made belief seem a hard thing oftentimes. They were opening in their life to a completely new world. Every day, every thought almost, brought them to new wonders. How could the inward life, long educated under the Jewish ideas, and with the controlling influence of the temporal and outward view of the kingdom, keep pace in its progress with the evidences which were set before them? The evidences might come rapidly they might come fully; but for faith to grow to its fullness, they must be repeated again and again, they must work their way into the mind gradually, they must find themselves partially understood at one moment, but partially also only at a later, and perhaps a much later, moment. One manifestation of power or insight may have made them believe as soon as it was given; another may have only suggested questioning, or left them in bewilderment, until the great fact of the resurrection enlightened all the way which led onward to it.

When, however, the testimony was to be recorded, years after the history was ended, it was necessary that it should be given in the words in which it was uttered, and of course, as thus given, it would convey to the reader, who had entered into a deeper understanding of the Christian truth, a proportionally deeper and clearer meaning. To be appreciated as a part of the development of the apostles' belief, it must be viewed from the standpoint of the time in their progress when the words were uttered. When it is claimed that there is no advance of thought in this Gospel, that we reach the end immediately from the beginning, etc., those who make the criticism may be called upon to consider the author's plan and its necessary limitations. He does not propose to prove his doctrine that is, the great truth that Jesus is the incarnate Logos by a doctrinal course of argument, as if in a treatise. In such a work, he might have arranged his matter altogether at his own will. But he proves by a biography, and in accordance with a plan which involves two ideas: testimony and answering belief. He must select and arrange, accordingly, within the limits thus imposed. The advance indicated in a book of this character must be found largely in the growth of the impression of the testimony, rather than in that of the testimony itself. And even with regard to the impression, the necessities of the biographical element may prevent the presentation of a steady progress. Life, whether external or internal, does not move as the critical mind is disposed to demand that this Gospel should move.

Moreover, as to the presentation of ideas, Jesus had before Him, on the occasion mentioned in the beginning of this third chapter, one of the leading men of the Jewish nation, a man, no doubt, of intelligence and learning “the teacher of Israel.” This man came to test and judge Him as a professed prophet, and to ask Him with reference to the kingdom of God. How can we suppose, in such a conversation, that there would have been no utterance of the deeper truths of the new teaching. That the occasion was near the beginning of the public ministry is a matter of no importance here; the presence of the particular man was the determining point. The man's condition of mind and spirit called for the setting forth of the earthly and heavenly things, and we may believe that it was because they were thus brought forward, that he was gained as a disciple, as he might not have been by another kind of discourse. Another listener, or body of listeners, on another day, might have called for a more elementary or plainer method of instruction. But that other day might as easily have been a year later than this one, as a year earlier. The teaching was determined by the opportunity, not the opportunity by the teaching.

We may also look at the matter in another light. If we conceive of the discourse with Nicodemus as intended to bear, in the way of testimony, upon the minds of the disciples, or even upon them as being present and hearing it, we may well believe that Jesus thought it fit to give expression to thoughts which they could not yet fully comprehend, but which might find a lodgment in their minds and become seed-thoughts for future growths. Suggestive and always asking for explanation, such words as these must have been, first, a witness for them to some deep life and power in Him who uttered them; then, matter for reflection and further inquiry; then, as something of a similar character was uttered afterwards, a help towards further knowledge; and so continually a means of opening the mind to more light and of strengthening the heart in faith with every increase of knowledge.

In the case of these disciples, who were to be the intimate companions of His life and afterwards the source of instruction and authority in the Church, it was especially important that such seed-thoughts should be given for their future meditation, and this, too, at an early time in their discipleship. We see, in this Gospel, how much higher a place in the sphere of testimony is given by Jesus Himself to the words than to the works. It would seem that it must have been so, because the system itself was truth. These chief ministers of the truth must, therefore, above all others, have been educated by the words; and, we may believe, by words which, even from the first, called them to higher things than they were able at the moment to attain. What such a process of education made of the Apostle John, we can see in his writings, and surely, if it moved forward by the repetition of the same truths oftentimes, it was no education without progress. The progress, however, must be found in the testimony and the faith as working together.