John chapter 3

vs 25

Arguments were thick and fast regarding jewish law I am sure, because it had been so complicated by the body of law created by the elders. I'm assuming this had something to do with baptism, because that is what they end up talking about.

vs 26

Oh no, John TB is going out of business! Well, not really, but lots of people were going to Jesus to be baptised. John is still dangerous enough to be killed by Herod though, so it obviously doesn't mean that he became a has-been.

vs 27

That is a fairly good attitude I think. It's not like John TB did anything great to deserve his position - he was appointed there by God.

vs 28

John TB also knew what that position meant. He was sent to herald the Christ, not to be it. It was not a position that was going to be forever. His ministry had a beginning and an end. There are probably quite a lot of Christian workers who could be helped by learning that lesson too.

vs 29

The marriage illustration is a common one, but it serves us well, because of course we still have weddings, and it seems they weren't all that different in principle. The bride and groom are the most important people there. Everything you might do to serve them will be well appreciated, but you are not going to get the glory on the wedding day - it all goes to the happy couple.

vs 30

John was ready for himself to fade in the mind's eye of the public. If only all of us could have the same attitude in our ministries. Again, the quote marks could end here, with the rest of the chapter being from John the author. The two bits that may or may not be in quotes are pretty similar, so it is possible both are explanitory notes by John the author.

vs 31

This seems like a lot of repetition, doesn't it? But John TB is also explaining to his disciples just how important the Christ will be. That was another thing that wasn't clear to a lot of Jews. John was a prophet, but he is only from earth, so he is not as good as the one who has come from heaven. Perhaps John didn't even really understand fully - but at least he knew that, as Jesus had said, he was from heaven.

Or John the author is explaining it to the reader.

vs 32

This does seem like an odd thing for John TB to say, considering the context that everyone is going to Jesus to be baptised.

vs 33

Of course, nobody in the last verse is just hyperbole. It's something we've got to get used to - hyperbole is used a lot in the NT especially, but it is a cultural thing that is still in existence in the Middle East today, and was used in many of the documents around that time. This is a classic example of why we shouldn't take words like "any" and "all" too seriously, but we should let their context do the talking.

vs 34

Jesus quite obviously speaks the words of God, being God and all. This might not be fully understood by John TB (probably more fully understood by John the author though). The idea is that God has given Jesus his Spirit without any limit. The greek is more literally "without measure". This is fairly specifically to Jesus, to explain his ability to speak the words of God.

vs 35

This is yet again another reference to the supremacy of Christ - not just over John TB, though, but over all things.

vs 36

This is a quite extraordinary verse, and a quite extraordinary thing for John TB to say. It's not impossible, though. Here's what I think are some reasonable conclusions:

John wrote this bit, not John TB. If John wrote this and the other bit in chapter three, then they form two commentary passages about Jesus' life and actions, and show that he knew the gospel well - big deal, he wrote a Gospel, he should know!

John TB did say this stuff, because Jesus said the other stuff to Nicodemus, but not only to him - he had said similar things to John TB, and that is probably partly how John TB recognised Jesus as the Messiah, and so John TB was able to repeat such things to his disciples.