John – Chapter 3:22-36
3:22-24 “After these things Jesus baptized” – Nowhere else in the NT or in early Christian tradition are we told that Jesus Himself baptized. The Evangelist suggests that the event of baptism was how one became either a disciple of John or Jesus (see also 4:1-2). Upon the death of John, the disciples continued to baptism. 3:25-26 “The disciples of John disputed with a Jew” – This scene is vague and imprecise. But given the Baptismal context, the dispute likely concerned the relative merits of the baptism of John and that which the Christ was to give. But this section is perhaps not historical but rather a literary signal that the final scene of John’s witness is related to the wedding at Cana (2:6). 3:27-29 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom” – No one has anything unless given by God, including station, vocation, authority, and work (e.g., Pontius Pilate in 19:11). John’s witness is given to him from heaven. This passage seems to refer to the OT image of God as the Bridegroom and Israel the bride. Marriage is context or image on three occasions in in chapters 2–4: 2:1-11; 3:29; 4:16-18). See Ezekiel 16:1-14; Isaiah 62:5; Jer. 33:6-13; Rev. 21:9-27. 3:30 “He must (δεῖ) increase, but I [must] decrease.” – These are the last words from John the Baptist in the Gospel. By “he must increase,” John is referring to Christ and His church increasing. The death of the Lamb will be the instrument for gathering of the one church from throughout the world and the center to which the church is gathered (see 10:14-16; 12:23-26, 32-33). 3:31ff “He who comes from above is above all” – Again, like 3:16ff, 3:31 begins a sermonic confession and summary, likely from the Evangelist, although no textual indication is given. 3:35-36 correspond to 3:15, 3:36 with 3:18, and 3:31 to 3:3. This confession makes absolute and universal the witness of John. The Christ is the Son of God. Also the Baptist is universalized to encompass every man. All humanity shares in the common disobedience; all humanity shares in the necessity of the new begetting. 3:31c-32a “He who comes from Heaven gives witness to that which he has seen and heard” – Jesus, the Word, gives witness to Himself (Jn 1:14). The Baptist and Evangelist repeat/confess/echo the witness of Christ. Blood and water from His side (19:35),…