That Joy is Mine

John 3:22-36

Introduction: What is it that makes you clean? John 3:22-25

What makes a man pure? Many believe that they can be pure based on their own actions. If they live good enough then they will be pure.

This is much like the way that the Jews purified themselves with water believing that in the ritual of purification they can be clean the stain of sin. Before dining at the wedding banquet in Cana of Galilee, these Jews would wash themselves with the water in the stone jars outside the house. This was not a sanitary act at all but a symbol of purification. Jesus took those stone jars and turned the dirty water into new wine showing us that He can take the impure and transform it. The stone jars at the wedding ceremony pointed to Himself as the coming bridegroom.

In the next story, Jesus went to the temple at Passover. There people gathered at the temple to offer animal sacrifice. They bought and sold various lambs and doves. The hope was that if they could simply enter the holy temple and offer the blood of the animals as a sacrifice, they would be clean. Jesus turned over the money changers and drove the animals out. He was zealous for the house of God. What was meant to be a place of purity had turned into a common marketplace. This again, points to the failure of man to cleans themselves. The stones that made up the temple would be torn down. This past covenant was coming to an end. Jesus would now be the temple that would provide redemption and purification for the people. The temple was not meant to permanently purify and restore but to point to the one who can. John has set the stage showing us that Jesus is the one who can bring transformation and reconciliation.

This becomes clear in Jesus’s discourse with Nicodemus. He needed to go from shallow faith to deep faithfulness. His faith was based on the signs that he had seen Jesus preform. He believed that He had come from God, but that was not enough. Jesus told him to see the Kingdom he needed to be born of the Spirit. He must look to the Son of Man as he was lifted like the snake in the desert. God loves the world. He sent His son so that like Nicodemus we can have life through His name. Again, the thing that brings us life or purification is Jesus, the Son who was freely given for the world. John continues to drive us into the question of where we find transformation, purification, or salvation. It is not in ritual acts or animal sacrifice it is found in believing in God’s son.

After this, Jesus and his disciples go out to the Judean countryside to spend time baptizing. This sets the stage for the next conversation. It is not with Jesus, but between John the Baptist and his disciples. This exchange will open the door for John, once again, to testify about who Jesus is and his relation to Him. He will show that it is Him who can offer true purification. John’s disciples and the disciples of Jesus were both in the same area because there was plenty of water. Though the text seems to imply that Jesus went there to baptize, John clarifies in the next chapter that it was truly the disciples of Jesus who was preforming the baptisms. They were in the area of Aenon and Salim because there was plenty of water. As Jesus had said in his conversation with Nicodemus, “very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Sprit,” so now He goes to a place that there is plenty of water. Large amounts of water would have been necessary for baptism or immersion. Jesus went to this are for just that reason.

While they were in the area, there was an argument between Johns disciples and a certain Jew. John calls it an argument, so I’m sure it wasn’t like the healthy debates that I seem to find myself in so often. It was passionate. The topic was ceremonial washing. This is the second time the phrase “ceremonial washing” has come up. The first time was in John’s description of the stone jars at the wedding banquet. The washing for the Jews was a ritual practice done before eating. It was an accepted practice by all. Still, there were other types of ceremonial washing accepted by the Jews at the time. Like John’s baptisms, Jews would often have Gentile people be baptized before converting to Judaism. This made sense to the Jew. However, what John was doing was different. He was baptizing Jewish people and calling them to repentance. The argument this would most likely cause between John’s disciples and the Jews would be something like, “what is the point of purifying a people that are already pure? What are you baptizing Jews into if they are already the people of God? The arguments would surround the topic of what John’s baptism is accomplishing.

Based on the conversation that comes as a response to this argument, we must also assume that Jesus, and his baptism, was also part of the passionate exchange. Now, in this one area, there seems to be three types of ceremonial washing going on. There was the type that the Jews recognized, the kind that John was doing, and now just across the spring Jesus’s disciples were baptizing too. Who is right and are they complementing or competing against one another? We should note that it is not the simply ceremonial washing they are arguing about but the larger question of who can be purified and how is that accomplished. It is the same argument that we continue to have. We want to know what makes a man clean. This story will tell us that the age of the law over. The time of the prophets are becoming less. They all point to the one on the other side of the spring who can truly purify the world. We simply need to get out of the way and promote the truth of Jesus.

We will see this in the exchange between John and his disciples.

Point One: Self-promotion causes division John 3:26

This first point might hit different since we live in an age of self-promotion. Every child I talk to about what they want to be when they grow up tells me they want to be a youtuber. When I first heard this response, I thought they were joking. They aren’t. There are people who promote their own channels that make quite a bit of money videoing themselves and a particular talent they have. We live in a world that has pointed the spotlight straight on ourselves and allowed the world to watch. We like the attention. This is human nature. In fact, I think that John’s disciples liked the attention as well.

After the argument with the certain Jew, they came to John and complained that Jesus, the one he testified about, was baptizing and everyone is going over to Him. Perhaps they forgot what he had said in his testimony about Jesus. Looking back, here is his testimony: “He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie” (John 1:27), “Look the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), “I have seen, and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One” (John 1:34). Maybe John’s disciples were not paying attention the day he said these things. Maybe they just didn’t get the ramifications of the statements. More likely they understood what he said but when Jesus’s disciples started baptizing more people and John’s disciples received less attention, they were jealous. This too is human nature.

This makes the most sense simply because for them it is all about the numbers. They exaggerate the number by saying, “everyone is going to him.” This could possibly be true. Though we do know that Jesus grew in popularity as His ministry progressed. He was not accepted by everyone. When talking about the success of Jesus’s ministry, Mark writes, “Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. (Mark 1:45). (There could probably be another sermon about how his popularity forced him lonely places, but for another time) He was popular. An effect of this was that fewer people were coming to be baptized by John. This is what John wanted to happen.

There jealousy is understandable. I think. It is difficult to accept change or to shift our commitments. Disciples of John had spent their lives following him. During this time, to be a disciple or a student was to mimic the Rabbi. You would literally follow them through the day watching what they do and mimicking how they live. John continued to have a following even after Jesus was crucified. Luke writes about them in the book of Acts. He says that Paul met some disciples when he arrived in Ephesus. They had not received the Holy Spirit since they had only known John’s baptism. Paul explained that they needed to believe in Jesus, and they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 19:1-7). I am attempting to point out how hard it would be to go from following one thing to following another without letting jealousy get into the way. First Nicodemus must give up the old life, all that he knew and trusted in, and be born again. Now John’s disciples must go from everyone paying attention to them and coming to them to be baptized to watching all the people flock to Jesus. Their jealousy is understandable.

It is a jealousy that we saw among Jesus disciples. Even John got jealous when the attention is taken off him. Luke tells us of a time when John, who wrote the gospel we are reading, came to Jesus with a similar issue. He records their conversation: “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” “Don’t stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 19:49-50). Think of John’s words. “He is not one of us.” It was pride that made him think that driving out demons was only for the disciples. This same issue continued into the early church. Imagine being in the church of Corinth and the tribalism and division that was going on there. Paul has to write them because they are arguing over who to follow. He appeals to them to agree and not to cause division. Some say, “I follow Apollos;” another, “I follow Cephas;” still another, “I follow Christ.” “Is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1:10-17). The same jealousy that caused the disciples of John to complain that people were leaving them and going to Jesus was seen in the church and continues today.

Perhaps it is the affections of others that drives people to take on this attitude. Maybe it is the uncertainty of the thing that you have always done is no longer correct, and it is the fear of change that will drive people to dig their heels and refuse to stir division. Regardless, their attitudes were the very thing standing in the way of God’s work. It was also their attitudes that kept them from Jesus. We should be cautious then when promotion of self becomes more important that promoting Jesus. Instead, it should be our joy to shine the light on the bridegroom.

Point Two: Our joy to promote the bridegroom 3:27-30

A long breath. That’s what I picture John doing as he hears the complaints of his disciples. They are just not getting it. Their pride has got in the way of God’s plan. So, he takes a long breath and continues his testimony about Jesus. However, in this final testimony, we not only get a picture of the great importance of Jesus, but we also see how he sees himself in relation to Him. The very thing that his disciples feared (the loss of attention) was the very thing that made John the Baptist rejoice.

It was true that more people are following Jesus. God gave a greater following to Jesus and a lesser following to John. This is made clear in his first response. “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.” John had been given the ministry of testifying about Jesus. He even talks about his own commission. He says, “I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, the man whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit” (John 1:33). Now that John has fulfilled his mission, he must be willing to step back. (This is not to say that I think John retired but he did step back)

His statement is powerful and point out that success and failure is in part because it is in accordance with what has given. Here is the point though: For John to drive himself further into his own ministry would have put him at odds with God and with Jesus. This is not to say that John is put to pasture but given a lesser role. He needs only to submit to the role that God has given him. He cannot go after more than what God has mandated. This submissive attitude is repeated when he reminds his disciples of what he once said. “I am not the messiah but am sent ahead of him.” It is the same thing that many of the more charismatic teachers need to hear today. John was sent as the preparer of the Messiah. He was clearing paths and making a way. He is not a competitor with Jesus. Though he is loved by his disciples must be willing to take o secondary role to Jesus. This is not something that should cause him jealousy but joy!

To make this point John tells a parable. I know you may have been told there are no parables in the gospel of John, but the Baptist tells one right here. He tells a simple story that points to a larger lesson. We might call it the parable of the best man. It contrasts the different role between John and Jesus or the bridegroom and his friend. The characters are simple to point out. The bride is the people of God. In the Hebrew scriptures that is Israel. Then later the bride is the church. Consider how Paul puts this. He writes, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.” (2 Corinthians 11:2). Paul understood the church to be the bride and the husband or bridegroom to be Christ. The bridegroom is clearly Jesus. This is also seen in how John fulfills his role as the friend. The friend, we will call him the best man, would take care of the details of the wedding. He would stand and listen for the bridegroom to come and sing in the procession announcing the coming when he goes to get the bride. The point is that the friend is not jealous when the bridegroom enters, he is overwhelmed with joy and gladness. That joy is complete when John saw Jesus coming and proclaimed, “behold the lamb of God.” It is intensified when he witnesses the disciples of Jesus baptizing people and more coming to see them.

The Joy that John felt is ours as well. We are celebrating that the bridegroom has come. We are invited into the worship service in heaven with the multitude. John writes, “Hallelujah, for our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean was given her to wear, (find linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) The then angel said to me, write this down, blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the lamb! (Revelation 19:6-9). We will miss this, and not be invited, if instead we put the spotlight on ourselves and instead of the bridegroom. He is the one on the throne who reigns and the one that glory, and honor is due. He must be greater! I must be less. John understands this. His role is completed. God’s will is now for Jesus to become more. This must happen. Just as we cannot enter unless we born of water and Spirit. Just as must be lifted. We must become less! These are the imperatives of John 3.