John 3:22–36
Read the passage.
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. 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. Regardless of who physically performed the rite, the point is that more and more people were following Jesus to learn from Him. John’s disciples noticed this, as John was preaching and baptizing somewhat nearby.
I really want to know more details about the discussion mentioned in verse 25. Was this Jew one of the Pharisees disciples? (This seems most likely given that they were discussing ritual purification.) But if so, why was this the trigger for John’s disciples to come to him talking about everyone starting to follow Jesus?
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. John has an important role, but he’s not the main character, as it were. 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.
Verses 31 to 36 may or may not be a continuation of the quote from John the Baptist. Different manuscripts end the quote at verse 30 or verse 36. 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. 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. The themes and word choices are more similar to chapter 1 than anything we have recorded of John the Baptist. 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.
Jesus is distinguished from every other man by His descent from heaven, whereas everyone else who has lived is from the earth. He is exalted over everyone because of this. God has sent Him, and He gives the Spirit of God freely to those who believe in Him.
May You ever increase while we decrease.