John 3: 22-36 > John the Baptist hands the reigns to Jesus

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They 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—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."
27 To this John replied, "A person can receive only what is given from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.' 29 The 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. 30 He 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. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 The person who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God [i] gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them.

This is a pretty big chunk, enough for two or three posts, yet it really needs to be considered as a whole. So heck, it's the weekend, grab a cup of coffee and tinkle on the way back to the laptop, and here we go:

22: The passage says "after this," yet we really have no clue as to the amount of time that passes between Jesus's meeting with Ol St. Nic and the moving to the area outside Jerusalem. John does try to put the timing of this in context by noting in verse 24 that it was before John's arrest---although that fact would be implied by John's freedom. Many scholars suggest that these events actually happened right after the wedding at Cana (which is in chapter 1). There is an interesting theory about the location where John was baptizing---verse 23 says it is at "Aenon near Salim." Aenon means spring, and Salim means peace. Some theologians have suggested this is symbolic of John's ministry being near peace although it is just as likely that it's a simple geographic location. John often used intentional double meanings in his writing, so I'm inclined to think both may be true. Note too, I seem to recall reading somewhere that Jesus Himself did not actually baptize folks, only His disciples, however the text here implies He does. Interesting...

25: One would love to think that the power of God beaming within John the Baptist and Jesus would be enough to subdue all petty arguing---especially among the disciples, yet noooo; here, John's disciples are in a tizzy thinking Jesus is cashing in on John's fame or perhaps the fuss is over Jesus's teaching that the Jewish ceremonial washings are old school, and a new day has come; we don't really know the full nature of the dispute. It's amazing how often the disciples, both John's and Jesus's, were clueless. Here, John's disciples seem to be the precursor of the closed door meeting where the Baptist church leaders are fussing because they're suddenly losing members to Methodists who have a new praise band. I think perhaps John's disciples were expecting permission to go smite Jesus's disciples---it's funny and sad how things stay the same.

27-29: John lays it out to his disciples---many of these guys likely saw the Holy Spirit descend like a dove when John baptized Jesus not long before, still they have not grasped that they are not following the messiah, but rather the messiah's advance guy. John seems to have kept telling these guys the game plan, yet they were so hopeful, they did not believe him. They wanted John to be the one. I believe some of them saw in John the traits they hoped to see in the Messiah and simply bet on the wrong horse. In another passage it is noted that many of these same guys left John and followed Jesus.

Regarding verse 30 "He must become greater, I must become less," this was a beautiful saying and totally appropriate in context for John. Unfortunately I hear this as a mantra from many Christians in a manner that I believe is wrong. Jesus said that we would do greater things than He did (through Him of course) so I suggest that we should look not to be less, but rather ALL He created us to be---which in perfection is MORE than Jesus in the flesh. The other argument is the weakness of the flesh and sinful nature of our bodies---to this I must respectfully call bullshit. God created us in perfection and all goodness. Jesus came, lived, died, and bodily resurrected to restore us to that state of perfection and goodness. There is a delicate balance here, yet we must not diminish the calling God has on us by dwelling on the old nature. We must embrace our highest self, even when we can't see it in the mirror.
As we get into verse 31, it appears that the comments by John the Baptist have concluded (the quotation marks indicate this, and the tone shifts too). The comments beginning in 31 are likely the thoughts of the author of the gospel, and in that context we begin to get a better idea of why this passage directly follows the story with Nicodemus. Keep in mind that John, probably more than any other gospel writer, has an agenda---to demonstrate the divinity of Jesus. John had just written about Jesus saying that being born again means being born from above; so in verse 31 John makes it clear that Jesus is the One (the first one) that is born from above. John also clarifies that John the Baptist is born of the earth, although, it is generally understood that the spirit of Elijah was mysteriously in John, so I don't know that he's a good example of one born of earth. Verses 31 to 36 seem a continuation of John's sermon in the first part of the first chapter.
John speaks of Jesus's speaking the very words of God, the creator, by and through the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. John is continuing to hammer home Jesus's divinity. I love verse 35, that God loves Jesus and has put all power in Jesus's hands. This perhaps uses John's typical hyperbole, however it clarifies that God has put the reigns to the kingdom in Jesus's care (not John the Baptist's).

Last, 36 is one of those verses that traditional folks seek to use to prove that you either accept Jesus and go to heaven or the opposite occurs---you stay in wrath and presumably go to hell. I do see some distinction here: rejecting Jesus is different from simply never coming into a place where you are able to accept the gospel. When you grow up in India and have never known anything other than Hinduism---are you really rejecting Jesus? I hope not; if God is a "just God" as I believe and so often hear, it's really not fair to send someone to eternal horrific torment for being born into the wrong culture. I think rejecting Jesus must be overt, as deliberate an act as can occur on earth.

To be honest, I really don't like the final phrase "God's wrath is still upon them." Of course it's there regardless of whether I like it. I understand God's wrath when someone kills or hurts or betrays or commits a great injustice upon other people, yet millions of people live decent lives, and regardless of what they believe religiously, they are good moral people. Is God's WRATH on them too? That is not what I expect from a "just" God. Unfortunately, once you blur the line on whether someone can escape the wrath by good behavior you have to pick a side. Either a small percentage of all that have ever lived will enter the Kingdom of God, or nearly all people will. You have to pick your presupposition one way or the other in light of your understanding of the heart of God. (You know my pick, and my hope.)

To those that read all this---Blessings, I love you...