John's Witness - Jesus is Greater part 1

Well, if you would take your Bible this morning and turn with me to the Gospel of John, John chapter 3. John chapter 3. This morning we will be in verses 22 through 30. Now we are still in our series on Sunday morning. Christ, the Son of God, believe and live. And I hope and pray that you are studying along and you're studying your notes and taking notes and you're listening to the messages so that the Lord will continue to speak all through the week. Now as you're turning your Bible, I want to say a word of appreciation. I'm thankful for the time away, like I said earlier, for a little bit of a vacation.

But I'm thankful that Brother Keith can preach and teach the Word in my absence. I was sharing that with a friend of mine and he was telling me how blessed we were. I said, "I know that and I understand that." I have been enjoying and listening to those messages that he preached. Nicodemus and the Idol Factory and Paul's Heart for the Church both have spoken to me. And I plan on listening to them one more time this week just to get some of the things and hold on to some of the things that he's been showing me. And I am thankful that while I'm gone the Word is preached.

Now, in our verses this morning, these verses, 22 verses 22 through 30, they are really part of a larger portion of Scripture that really goes together. We will study verses 22 through 30 this morning, but verses 22 through 36 are really one message. But because of time and the length of the text, we must divide them up really into a part one and a part two. Now, when we get into these verses, we're going to see a change, if I can use this word, of scenery. We're going to see a change of scenery. We're going to see a change in the audience for Jesus and for his disciples.

We find in these verses that Jesus leaves Jerusalem and John the Baptist is back into the picture. It's been quite a long time since we've seen John the Baptist. First of all, we've spent quite a bit of time in John chapter 3, those previous verses. But we did take a detour before John 3 and we took a detour into seeing what the Bible says about man. But we're going to come back to look at John the Baptist as he comes into the picture again. Now, some of you might say, "Well, I thought that John the Baptist was already dead." Well, that's not taking place yet. We do know that he does lose his life after he is arrested.

We're going to see some important truths from these verses and we're going to see a transition really from John the Baptist and into Jesus and his ministry. Now, let's go to the text together. Let's look at these verses, John 3, verses 20 on down to verse 30. Let's read them together. "After these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea and there he was spending time with him and he was baptizing." And John also was baptizing. And you'll notice there's two different words there for two different cities, Enon and Selene.

We're going to learn a little later that we really don't know where those are, but it's interesting to see where they are when we get into the text. "And John was baptizing there because there was much water and they were coming and they were being baptized." Verse 24, "For John had not yet been thrown into prison. Therefore, there arose therefore a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification. And they came to John and they said to him, 'Rabbi.'" It's interesting they use this same term, 'Rabbi,' just like Jesus' disciples use the term 'Rabbi' with Jesus.

"He who was with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have borne witness, behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him." Verse 27, "John answered and he said, 'A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ or the Messiah, but I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.'" Now, I said earlier we're going to have a part one and a part two.

We're going to be looking at John's witness, Jesus is greater. John's witness, Jesus is greater. We're going to look at three truths out of these verses. Number one, the setting. Number two, the situation. And number three, John's purpose. Now, it's a little introductory, but I want us to look at the setting and then it builds. Then we're going to look at the situation because there is a situation that is really brewing right here in these verses. And really the heart of the message is truth number three, John's purpose. So the message just builds.

And like I said earlier, and I say regularly, I hope that you are taking notes because I want you to study. I want you to get all that the Lord wants you to get so that the truths of this word will be buried deep in our hearts and minds. And they will form us and mold us into the people that God wants us to be. So let's look at truth number one, the setting out of verses 22 through 24. Let's go back to the text together. After these things, what things are is John talking about the things that we have learned previously in John three.

So there's a transition after these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea and there he was spending time with him and baptizing. And then we see in verse 23, John, he was also baptizing. And it goes on to say, because there was what water, what that communicates was there was plenty of water. So therefore they could baptize. So what do we see? This is the setting. And these verses we see there is a transition in Jesus ministry. Jesus is transition from Jerusalem to the Judean countryside. Remember earlier when he was in Jerusalem, that was just a power packed event.

That was the pass over the cleansing of the temple in chapter two verses 13 through 24. Then in chapter three verses one through 21, Jesus has this one on one conversation with Nicodemus and Jesus broadens that audience from just Nicodemus to the Jews as well. And so when Jesus says was in Jerusalem, he had a power packed ministry there in the city. Now, if you know your geography, Jerusalem is in Judea. But this phrase right here, the land of Judea, it tells us that Jesus left the city and simply Jesus moved out of the city into the countryside. So I want you to get that in your mind. He's in the countryside. He's baptizing.

And John is in the vicinity and he is baptizing as well. But let's break these verses down. First, I want you to see the time frame. I want you to see the time frame. Verse 22 says, after these things, Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea. And there he was spending time with them. The English standard version says remained. The King James says, Terry, in the original, the verb implies that there was a good amount of time spent right here. As a matter of fact, some of the writers that I read, one or two of them even mentioned that it could have been several months. So I want you to see that time frame.

It's like he was in the busyness of Jerusalem before. He's there at the busyness of the Passover. He's got this one on one in deep conversation, deep conversation with Nicodemus. And now he's spending a little more laid back time with his disciples. Verse 24 also gives us a time frame because it says that John had not been put in prison. This puts this event between Jesus' temptation and John's arrest. So there is the time frame. But second, I want you to notice the activity of Jesus. What does it say? Verse 22, he was spending time with them, the disciples, and he was baptizing.

Also, John was baptizing because there was much water and they were coming and were being baptized. Notice the activity of Jesus. Jesus is involved with two activities in the countryside. Verse 22 tells us that he was spending time with his disciples and he was baptizing people. That tells us that Jesus was busy pouring into the lives of the disciples. We use this phrase in our church world, in church culture, he was discipling those men. But also he was evangelizing the multitudes. Well, the word "evangelize" is not there. Preaching is not there. Jesus declaring the word is not there.

But I want you to see, Jesus never would have been participating in baptizing individuals had the word not been preached. You must see that. So notice Jesus' activity. He is spending a lengthy amount of time pouring into the lives of the disciples. He is evangelizing the crowds and they are being baptized. The third thing I want you to see is the activity of John. The activity of John. Verse 23 tells us that John the Baptist was still ministering as well. He was preaching repentance and baptizing those who expressed that repentance. You should be familiar with John's ministry. We've studied John before in the past.

But in Luke chapter 3, we have an extensive amount of information about John and his ministry. Luke chapter 3 verse 2 says that the Word of God came to John, the Spirit of God moved on John, and John moved out of his life of seclusion, and he burst out on the public scene, and he is preaching a baptism of repentance. When the religious leaders came out to see what John was doing, he really boldly said to them to produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And so John is still engaged in this same activity. He is preaching repentance and he is baptizing. And verse 23 does give us an indication of John's activity.

Like I said earlier, the location is up for debate. There are some that debate where these little villages were, these places were. But that's not really the point. The point is he was in, now listen close, Samaria. He was in Samaria. And so what do we see here? Jesus is in Judea and John is in Samaria. That means he would have been north of where Jesus was. They were a little bit close to one another, but they were in two distinct places. There was much water. They were both preaching the kingdom, and they were baptizing those. And this was a lengthy amount of time that Jesus was spending with his disciples. Now what do we have here?

We have parallel ministries going on. I don't know if you know it, but the synoptic gospels, that is Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they do not give these early events like John does. They have a habit of starting a little later on in Jesus' ministry. But what do we see here? This is both ministries parallel with one another. And it's important for us to see this overlap in their ministries. This is part of the transition which we will revisit when we get into the next message. We will see the importance of this overlapping ministry. So that's the setting. It's an extended amount of time Jesus is spending with the disciples.

Jesus is busy preaching the kingdom. John is busy preaching the kingdom. They are baptizing those who seem to be accepting the message of repentance, and they are paralleling one another and continuing in their ministry. Let's move on. Let's notice truth number two in our outline. The situation. The situation. Let's go back to the verses together, verses 25 through 26. And I want you to notice there's a transition right here. Notice, "Therefore." "Therefore, there arose a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification.

And they came to John and they said, 'Rabbi," that means teacher, "He who was with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have borne witness, behold, he is baptizing, and all are going or coming to him." Verse 25 tells us that this is a situation, possibly a controversy, that came about and it was brought up by one of John the Baptist's group. Now, notice the language. It really is in the singular. Now I'm reading and I'm studying and preaching from the New American Standard, and it says, "There arose, therefore, a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew." It is in the singular.

The King James in the New International Version, they translate this word "Jews," plural. But that's not really the most accurate. What we have is one person bringing up this situation. But I want us to notice some truths out of these verses. First, I want you to see the discussion out of verse 25. "There is a discussion." "There arose, therefore, a discussion on the part of purification." This was brought about by one of John the Baptist's disciples, a Jew. So there is a discussion. This is a verbal discussion. At first it was a question concerning the ritual of purification. Now, little is known about this mentioned issue.

We know that they had laws concerning the washing of hands and the washing of utensils, but we really don't know the specifics about this debate or this situation. But what do we see? We see that there was a debate between John's disciples and some, possibly, of the Jewish leadership. We really don't know. But this is a discussion that moves on to something greater and deeper. The second thing I want you to see is there is a debate. There is a debate.

Verse 26, "And they came to John, and they said, 'Rabbi, teacher, he who is with you, beyond the Jordan to whom you have borne witness, behold, he is baptizing and all are coming to him.'" See, there was a debate. The discussion about Jewish purification was really not the issue. During this timeframe, there were some of John's followers who began to follow Jesus, and this one Jew brought this complaint to John. Clearly, some of John's followers were bothered by the fact that their followers were following Jesus, and one brings this complaint to John. And it's obvious. Clearly, some of John's followers were bothered by this.

Now, interestingly, Jesus is not named, but it is obvious who this complaint is against. Go back to the text. What does it say? "Rabbi, he who was with you beyond the Jordan to whom you have borne witness." That's none other than Jesus, but they didn't call Jesus by name. So it goes from a discussion to a debate. And then third, I want you to notice the departure. The departure. What does the end of verse 26 say? "And all were coming to him." Basically, this tells us that the peoples were going over to Jesus and Jesus' ministry. The crowds were being attracted to Jesus, and some of John's disciples were going over there as well.

And we see this was a situation, but notice who the situation bothered. This bothered the followers of John, and they were disturbed, but notice John was not disturbed. We will see as we continue that the situation was only a situation for those followers of John who were missing John's role and John's purpose. These individuals lack spiritual understanding. They lack spiritual vision. And later on in verse 27, John says, "I have told you these things, but you do not see them. You do not get them." They lack understanding, and they lack vision. That's the situation.

Now for us, for me, for you, I don't know if you realize it, but vision, spiritual vision and understanding are rare commodities today. There are a lot of people who know the Bible, they know doctrine, and they know theology, but they have no spiritual understanding. When new fads, new movements, and new personalities come along in the Christian world, it is amazing to see how many of these people will flock to that activity, all the while ignoring or not understanding what the Bible says. No vision and no understanding, and there was this group who did not have vision and understanding.

John had clearly stated, and John clearly had vision and understanding. And we will revisit this as we continue. Now, up until now in these verses, we have not heard John the Baptist. You notice? I mean, we've got the setting, we've got a developing situation. In this developing situation, it starts off with a discussion, and then there's a debate, and then there's this obvious departure. But we've not heard John. But beginning in verse 27, not only will we hear from John, but we will hear very deep and very powerful words. We will hear words which have major application in our lives in the life of the church today.

And so really the heart of the message, the punch of the message with this situation comes out of John's words in verses 27 through 30. So when you're outlined, truth number three, we see John's purpose. John's purpose. Let's go to the verses, verse 27. John answered. Isn't it nice? John finally speaks up. And he said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said I am not the Christ, the Messiah, but I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because the bridegroom's voice.

And so this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease." In these verses, we really see John's purpose on earth. If we stop to look at these verses, notice within their context. Jesus' popularity was growing more and more. More and more people were following Jesus. And more and more of John's disciples were leaving him for Jesus. In the midst of that, at least one tries to draw a line of division between John and Jesus. Do you see that? There's at least one who tries this. And John's reaction to this situation reveals John's purpose, and it reveals John's heart.

He reveals that he has spiritual vision and spiritual understanding. So I want us to break these verses down. First, I want you to notice John's call. Notice John's call. Look at verse 27. "John answered and he said, 'A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.' You yourselves bear me witness." In other words, he's saying, "I've already told you that I said, 'I am not the Christ of the Messiah, but I have been sent before him.'" What is John saying? John is reiterating his call. I like how the English Standard Version states verse 27. Let me read it.

It says, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven." Verse 27 is a very popular verse. It's known by many. "But many do not understand what John was speaking of. John was expressing his call from God, and that he could have nothing apart from that call." Remember his call? I referenced earlier Luke and how John is featured in the Gospel of Luke. But in Luke chapter 1 and chapter 2, we have that great and wonderful story about the call of John. Remember his mother Elizabeth and his father Zechariah? Godly people. But they were singled out by God to give birth to who? The forerunner.

And in chapter 1 and chapter 2 of the Gospel of Luke, we see his call. God said that he was to be a Nazarite. He was to be set apart. He was to drink no wine. He was to be a unique individual. He was filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, and he resided in the wilderness. Living as a poor person, living in the spirit, under the leadership of the spirit, growing in wisdom, growing in spiritual stature. And it wasn't until the Spirit of God came to him and called him to step out and begin to exercise his earthly ministry. And in those two chapters we see John's call. A specific, a unique call. John knew of the call. Zechariah knew of the call.

Elizabeth knew of the call. They knew of this call of God. And in these verses John was expressing that in his call, if that meant that his ministry was drawing to an end, he was satisfied. Verse 28 explicitly says that he knew that he was not the Christ, but that he was sent ahead of the Christ, and that he adamantly communicated that to his disciples. He communicated previously, and he's communicating again. John is saying that he knew his call, and listen, he is operating within that call, and he refuses to deviate from that call. The second thing I want you to see is John's role. Look at verse 29.

This might seem strange, but it's very purposeful. He who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full. John is teaching with an example with an illustration. Now verse 29, John uses an illustration that they would have been very familiar with to express his call and his role. This is a familiar example, the teaching of a wedding. Now in that day, this friend of the bridegroom, the new American says, would have been what we would call a best man. From time to time, I will refer to the amplified version.

It's a paraphrase. It has its place. But in the paraphrase, the amplified paraphrase, it uses the word groomsman. It's very accurate. So in that day, that would have been a groomsman, someone that would have been like a best man, and he would have presided over the wedding like a master of ceremonies. He would have been responsible for bringing the bride to the bridegroom in the ceremony, much like the father of the bride does in our culture. Haven't we seen that picture? You know, there's the certain time when a certain music is played, the back door opens and down comes the bride, escorted by her father, to bring the bride to the groom.

And see, that was the purpose of this groomsman, or this best man, or this friend of the groom. He would have brought the bride to the groom, and after he handed the bride over to the groom, his job was complete. So what is John saying? He's saying, that is my role. He was to bring the bride to the bridegroom, and he did that job well. And notice the difference in John and his followers. John rejoiced. Isn't that what it says? When he saw people going to Christ, while his followers did not, John had vision, John had understanding, John operated in his call, and John stayed true to his role.

All his job was, was to simply introduce lost humanity to who? To Christ, to pave the way, to prepare the way. And while the followers were going to Christ, he rejoiced, but yet his followers liked vision and they liked understanding, and they did not understand. And then I want us to see third, John's heart. Verse 30, what does it say? He must increase, but I must decrease. Very direct and very powerful, right after this teaching illustration in verse 29. But verse 30, Millett merely expresses John's heart in this situation and his call. John sees himself in a subordinate role. John is expressing humility.

He's expressing submission and an adherence to God's role for him. And if that meant his ministry was coming to an end, he was totally content with that. That is his heart. That is his heart. And so what do we see? This was John's purpose. He had a call from God and a role expressly given to him from God. And in verse 28, when John says, I told you that I'm not the Christ, in the original languages in the emphatic, meaning that he used very strong language. John is refusing to operate outside of that call and that role. He has no purpose outside of the God given purpose. And that was to introduce the bride to the bride groom.

And I want to ask you, do we have people who understand, now listen, the role of the Christian and the role of the church today. John operated out of his call and out of his role and he refused to deviate. Now what do we see? What's the title of the message? The title of the message, John's Witness, Jesus is Greater. What is John saying with his words and his actions? John is another account of a faithful witness. We know that he has witnessed of Christ previously in the Gospel of John. But what is he saying? I must decrease and he must increase. What do we see?

John the Baptist knows his call and his role, and he was saying, "Jesus is greater than me. He is greater than all that we know, because why? He is God in the flesh." Now this is a little bit of review, but it fits. I've got several resources that I use. I enjoy studying and reading. One of the resources I use is a Bible commentator named D.A. Carson. He's very accurate and good. But I ran across something that he said in dealing with this text. And listen close. He says Jesus surpasses Judaism. Jesus replaces the temple. Jesus fulfills the prophecies concerning the water and the spirit from chapter 3 verses 1 and 21.

And right here, Jesus is greater than John. Do you get that? Carson goes all the way back, starting with chapter 1, and goes right up to these verses, which is really almost like a crescendo. And what is he saying? If we go back and take all that we've learned, we will see that this message has been preached all along. Jesus surpasses Judaism. Why? Because he is God in the flesh. Jesus replaces the temple. Does he not? What does he say? Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days. The temple was where the very presence and spirit of God resided. And what do we see in Christ? He is God in the flesh.

Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning being born of water and born of the spirit. We understand that Jesus was teaching Nicodemus concerning the Old Testament prophecies. And John is basically saying, "Listen, Jesus is greater than me." And he was the last of the Old Testament prophets. So what do we see? All along, the whole message is being, Jesus is greater. Greater than Judaism, greater than the temple, greater than the prophecies because he was a fulfillment of the prophecies and he is greater than John. And John testifies to this. You know why?

Because he said, "I know my calling, I know my role and I refuse to deviate from it." Now, in concluding the message, I want us to take some time to make some application for the church today. Now, I know that we do not see the church in these verses, but we see principles. We see vision and we see understanding in John the Baptist. And we see principles that guided John the Baptist and it is some of his disciples I had a hard time with and they must guide us today. And I want you to notice, John knew his call. I'm afraid that the church seems to have lost her call these days. You hear me?

We must go back to the text, go back to the Scripture, go back to the old ways and look at the call of the church. Jesus says that we are the ecclesia, the called out ones. We are the bride of Christ, the body Paul calls us. We are the separate ones, the holy ones, the called out ones. We are the ones who have been born from above. We have been called to unite with one another for God's purposes. We are called to do kingdom work and we are to be the light in a dark and sinful world. The church is God's representation on earth in this day and in this time. And we have a specific call line out in the Scriptures.

And I want to tell you there are a whole host of people who are taking the church and the things of the church and the words of the church and the so-called purposes of the church and they are adulterating them. They're making them worldly. They're taking the church to do things the church was never called to do outside of the text. John would not do that. He sat right there in some area and he said, "I have what God's given me and I know my role and I know my call and my ministry is winding up. It doesn't matter how I feel. It doesn't matter what my disciples say.

I know my call, I know my role and I know my purpose." And listen, the church has an identity crisis today. We must get back to the text and find out what the Scripture says the church should be and do and stay right in the text exactly like John. And if we sit on the banks of a river in some area while everybody else is running here, there and everywhere we sit right there on the Word of God because we know our call. I'm tired of how people take the church in the name of Jesus and they take it and do anything they want and I don't think God appreciates it. John also knew his role.

You might say, "Pastor, aren't his role and his call, aren't they the same? They're the same but yet they're different." John had a call and he operated out of that call but he also had a role. He had a job. What was that? To be the forerunner, the preparer of the way. He prepared the nation for the coming of the Christ. There was only one John the Baptist. There will never be another man that will be the John the Baptist. Why? Because there was one forerunner and one Christ. But see, our role is singular as well. There's only one church.

There's all types of organizations under the name of Jesus and under the banner of Christianity but there's only one church. There's a lot of parachurch organizations and so-called Christian organizations out there and they might be good and fine but they are supposed to, now listen, work up under the authority of the church, not outside of it. That's the wonderful and beautiful thing about Luke Johnson's ministry as he goes to India.

He has a home church and he desires to be, now listen, under the authority of the church and when he comes here he understands that he is under our authority of the church, the leaders of the church and he operates outside of that and under that. You see, that is his role as a missionary. But we must see our role and our role, listen, is to take the gospel to the lost world. Our role is to build the saints, to be wholly separated, unique, called out ones who love the Lord Jesus no matter what goes on in their life and to do whatever it takes to take the gospel to the world. That's not what John did.

He knew his call because it was from God and he did everything he could do to fulfill his role to prepare the way for the Christ. And so we should do the same thing, know our call and know our role and put our nose to the grindstone facing eternity to fulfill that role. John expressed his heart. It's not about me. It's about the bridegroom. I get joy when I see the bride meet the bridegroom. My heart's desire, my heart's joy, I'm satisfied when I see the bride come in contact with the bridegroom. He must increase and I must decrease. Basically in our English he'd say, "It ain't about me." See, that must be our heart. It's not about me.

It's not about you. It's not about us. We have an identity crisis, yes, but there are a lot of churches, they need to lose their identity because a lot of churches think that it is all about them. Haven't we learned that with the Ephesian church? If it was all about them, Jesus would have patted them on the back for their great wonderful heritage. Would he not? He never did. And see, our heart must be that we are submissive to the lordship of Christ, humble before our God. We know we've been called and we have the privilege to be a part of the bride of Christ, the body of Christ, called to be a part of this wonderful work.

And it is the highest and the greatest and the most wonderful calling on the face of the earth, because he's coming back for what? The church. He's coming back for the church. And listen, that should be our heart. It really doesn't matter how we live. It really doesn't matter what we have. It's what we do with this thing called the church. Our riches and our jobs and our positions, they come and they go. But the church will live forever with Christ's eternity. Because listen, we are the bride and he is what? The bridegroom.

So I want to say to you this morning that the church could learn a lot about this portion of Scripture and John's example and this situation that came up among his believers. And John was resolute. I know my call. I know my role. And this is my heart. He was true. And I'm going to tell you church, if we as the church will get exactly like John, if we will be as convinced and obedient as resolute as John, then we will be just as usable. Our role different, but just as usable. What's the title of the message? John's Witness. Jesus is greater.

Lord Jesus, I pray that you will give us hearts to receive, not just what we've heard this morning, but what you want to continue to teach us from these verses.