John 3:22-30
We see John the Baptist once again, and we see that he is continuing to baptize people. We saw that John the Baptist was baptizing people earlier in the book. People asked him if he was the Messiah and John the Baptist said that he wasn’t. John the Baptist was pointing people to Jesus. He even referred to Jesus as the Lamb of God.
As we look into this section of Scripture, there is the discussion on the ceremonial cleaning. Now, what they are referring to could be from washing their hands a certain way. But here with baptism was another type of washing. In the Old Testament, ceremonial cleaning (purity) is important.
Now, who was the person who started this? We see that this discussion that the people involved are John’s disciples and a Jew. Now, we do not know the “Jew” by name. But there is a theory that this could be Nicodemus. If you remember from last week that he was surprised over the being born again. Now, we do not know for sure who it is, but that is a theory.
The concern that is also being talked about is that people are going to Jesus and not John the Baptist. There was a concern over John’s disciples that people are following Jesus more than John the Baptist.
John talked about how our gifts come from God and only God. And as we saw earlier in the book is that John is okay with people following Jesus and not himself. John the Baptist even called him out saying that Jesus is the Lamb of God. So, if people are following Jesus instead of John the Baptist, then John the Baptist was okay with that.
John the Baptist is the Best Man at the Wedding. Needing to make sure that the bridegroom gets to the wedding and is at the wedding. When the Bridegroom is married, then the Best Man is done. Jesus is the bridegroom (The main person/important person).
John the Baptist also talks about how He (Jesus) must increase and I must decrease. If I become less popular but Jesus becomes far more popular, then that is a win in our books.
