John 3:22-36
John the Baptist's Testimony About Jesus
22After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. 24(This was before John was put in prison.) 25An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26They 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 to him."
27To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' 29The 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 bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less.
31"The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."
John the Baptist gives us testimony about Jesus...John was baptizing at Aenon, near Salim, where there was plenty of water...People were constantly coming to John to be baptized...John was with Jesus on the other side of the Jordan river...John had a following of disciples...Many of John the Baptist's disciples were leaving John and now going to the other side of the Jordan and listen to and follow Jesus...
John replied to a question, about his disciples leaving and following Jesus, "a man can receive only what it given him from heaven...You yourselves have testified that I am not the Christ, but am the one sent ahead of Him...The bride belongs to the bridegroom...As a friend (John the Baptist) or friends we wait and listen for Him, and are full of joy when we hears the bridegroom's voice...That joy is mine, and is now complete... Jesus must become greater, and I must become less."...
John understands that God sent him as the messenger for the Messiah...John knows that it is Jesus we need to be focused on, not him...Jesus must become great and widely followed...John now, who has announced the Messiah is here now, must become less of the focal point for the people...We are to study and follow Jesus ways and teachings, and not John the Baptist...
John further explains that Jesus is from above, from heaven...The one who comes from heaven is above all...Jesus will testify to what He has seen and heard (from heaven and earth)...But since man is from earth and not from heaven, man is limited in his understandings and knowledge...Man is limited, because he is from earth, and Jesus in unlimited, because He is from heaven...No one will accept His testimony (His teachings will be hard for man to understand, since He is from above)...Jesus comes with and brings us knowledge from heaven and because He is from heaven, He is divine... The man or men who do accept His testimony also are certifying that God is the truth and are certifying that God is truthful...Jesus is divine, He is able to give us the Holy Spirit without limit...The Father who loves His Son, has placed everything in His hands...Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. but whoever rejects the Son will not see life or eternal life, for God's wrath remains on him...
John tells us that, if we believe in the Son, then we believe in the Father...The words of Jesus were from the Father...Part of the knowledge that Jesus brings us is that we are sinners and need forgiveness...He is the One from God, not us...We are from the earth...We are not His advisers (even though we sometimes want to be or think we are)...We are sinners...We are in need of mercy and forgiveness...Sometimes our self righteousness gets in the way and we forget or do not even know we are sinners and need forgiveness...When Jesus was recruiting Matthew, the tax collector, to be a disciple, the Pharisees question Him...The Pharisees ask Him about who He is hanging around with...Jesus tells the Pharisees that He came for sinners...He did not come for the righteous...Those who were self righteousness and were and are constantly judging others is not who He came for...The Pharisees did not see they were self righteous, or sinned or needed forgiveness...He tells the Pharisees I came for sinners, I did not come for the righteous...It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners...He did not come for the righteous Pharisee or those who think they are righteous...
We must realize that we are not consultants to the Father...We are not righteous, we are sinners...We are from earth and not from above...We must realize this to get close to Him...
John the Baptist baptized with water, while Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5 and Acts 11:16)...John without question tells his disciples that he is from earth and Jesus is from heaven...Jesus is superior to John, because He is from above...John knows he is a man and is a sinner...John understood God's assignment for him and was content with doing God's will...
John the Baptist realizes that Jesus is the Light of the World...That Light is now on earth...Something had changed on earth for the better on His arrival...A few verses earlier, when Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about heaven and His Father, we are told that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life....And John the Baptist reiterates this thought in verse thirty six, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life...