John 3:22-36 - Jared Skitt

We're continuing in our study in the book of

John. And as we start, I want to ask, if you've

ever seen that movie Finding Nemo, and you're

saying, okay, what does this have to do with

the book of John? Well, as soon as I say, mine,

mine, mine, right? You're thinking of the seagulls

in Nemo. There's also a comedian, his name's

Brian Regan, and he has this bit about the Mii

monster. He talks about going to a dinner party

and he sits there and there's someone at the

table who's like, oh, me, mine, mine, you, me,

you, me. And it's kind of funny, right? Because

we recognize it. But it also is kind of uncomfortable

because we recognize it in ourselves. See, this

idea of my life, my calling. my family, my future,

my church, my story is so common. I fall prey

to it. I say things like this all the time. See,

the danger is that we can even start treating

Jesus like a supporting character in our story.

Just like the seagulls in Finding Nemo are focused

on mine, and just like there's me monsters, which

I also fall prey to, we can start to twist and

we can start to change the focus of Jesus' role

as being a part of our story. Jesus helps me

become fulfilled. Jesus helps me become successful.

Maybe we dress it up a little bit more in Christianese.

You know, Jesus has given me grace. And, you

know, we go, but there's this focus on Jesus.

helping me, giving to me. We can make it sound

spiritual, but if we keep ourselves at the center,

our focus is still on ourselves. But John 3 doesn't

merely tell us to stop being self -centered,

it shows us who Jesus is. So the deeper question

is not, how does Jesus fit into my story? The

deeper question is, how do I fit into his? That's

the movement of all of John chapter 3. and that

John 3 · chapter mention

fits into the larger movement of the book of

John that we're going through verse by verse,

chapter by chapter. We're going to be there all

the way through into December. See, last week

in the first part of John chapter 3, Nicodemus

John 3 · chapter mention

comes to Jesus with his own categories. He comes

with his own understanding, his own framework,

and Jesus doesn't simply add new information

or kind of change the perspective a little bit.

He actually confronts the entire framework. See,

Nicodemus says, in essence, we know you're a

teacher who came from God. And Jesus responds,

truly I tell you, in John 3, 3, unless someone

is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

In other words, Nicodemus, you don't need God

to improve your story. You need God to give you

new life altogether. And then immediately after

that conversation, we get to the text we're going

to be in this morning. where John, the author,

brings John the Baptist back into the scene.

And why is that? Well, we're going to see that

John gives a response that Nicodemus wasn't ready

to give yet. And the whole passage turns on one

sentence. It's the big idea for the day. And

that's John chapter 3, verse 30. He must increase,

John 3:30

but I must decrease. So we're going to look at

three from our text in John chapter 3 this morning,

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in verses 22 through 36, and it's going to tie

into that big idea. So it's three R's, receive,

rejoice, and respond. Receive, rejoice, and respond.

But before we dive into that, let's pray. Heavenly

Father, we just, we thank you. Lord, you are

so good. Lord, it is not about us, but it is

about you. As we open your word this morning,

I just pray that you would be at work in all

of our hearts. Lord, draw out from your text

what you have. Lord, it can't mean to us what

it didn't mean to the people of that day, but

Lord, it still applies to us even today. Lord,

help us to glorify and to magnify and make much

of you. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So we're

going to open our Bibles to John chapter 3. If

John 3 · chapter mention

you don't have a Bible, on the back table there's

these little blue books, and they're actually

the book of John. There's a section in there

where you can write some notes. I'd encourage

you, pick one up, take it. It's yours. There's

some pens in the back. Grab that. Mark up some

notes. You can also do that in your normal Bible.

We're going to underline and focus in on certain

pieces. But we're going to open into John chapter

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3 and verse 22, and we're just going to walk

through the text verse by verse. So John chapter

John 3:22

3 verse 22 says, After this, Jesus and his disciples

went to the Judean countryside where he spent

time with them and baptized. Guys, I want to

pause. I'm going to be pausing a lot as we go

through this because the text here just... just

kind of struck in different ways than it ever

has for me, even as I got to dive into it this

week. Don't miss the simplicity of that phrase

that he spent time with them. Because Jesus is

with his disciples. They're learning from him.

They're watching him. They're being formed by

him. And the text says this is out in the Judean

countryside. and they're baptizing. Verse 23

and 24 says, John was also baptizing in Anon

near Salim, because there was plenty of water

there, and people were coming and being baptized,

and since John had not yet been thrown into prison.

So Jesus's disciples are baptizing, and John

the Baptist is still baptizing too, and they're

actually kind of out in the same area. See, there's

a moment of overlap. The author, John, tells

us that John the Baptist's ministry hasn't stopped

yet. It mentions that this was before he was

in prison, but Jesus's ministry is beginning

to grow. Back in John chapter 1, we saw where

John 1 · chapter mention

John the Baptist was looking, and he sees Jesus,

and he says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes

away the sins of the world. He calls attention.

So John, the gospel writer, is locating this

before John the Baptist's imprisonment. John's

still active and he's out there. He's fulfilling

his calling to make way in the wilderness and

point towards the coming Messiah. So we get to

verse 25 and 26. Verse 25 says, Then a dispute

arose between John's disciples and a Jew about

purification. So they came to John and told him,

Rabbi, the one you testified about, and who was

with you across the Jordan is baptizing and everyone

is going to him. So we don't know exactly what

this dispute about purification was. There's

a lot of people that like to pontificate on this

and say, well, it could have been this. And in

Jewish culture, this was what baptism would have

represented in the purification rites. And those

are not bad things to think about, but the author

doesn't tell us exactly what this dispute is.

But what's interesting, is it's mentioned, but

then the concern quickly moves from a theological

question to something that's a little bit closer

to home for some of John's followers, his disciples.

And they say, you know, John, everyone is going

to Jesus. Their rabbi is losing followers. Admittedly,

the way things worked as followers of John the

Baptist as a rabbi and a teacher, the higher

level disciples, their status was also kind of

being impacted by this too. But they were actually

probably a little more concerned about this teacher

that they have brought their life to follow and

his ministry declining. But that's only a crisis

if John is actually supposed to be at the center.

That's only a crisis if the disciples are setting

a piece of what they're doing at the center.

So, see, it's same facts, different center. Because

if Jesus is the center, people going to Jesus

is absolutely wonderful news. If someone or something

else is at the center, it feels like a loss.

So the issue is not here that John's disciples

reject Jesus. They're troubled because Jesus

is drawing attention away from John's ministry,

from their ministry. So their question is not

really like, hey, what's Jesus doing? Which,

however, that got sparked about this conversation

about purification with a Jew or maybe Jews.

The question... Kind of at the root of this is,

well, you know, what does this mean for us? John,

what does this mean for your ministry? And that

question always distorts reality when we're at

the center. Even as a local church, in the valley,

sometimes I've heard another pastor call it musical

sheep when people are kind of bouncing between

churches. And sometimes pastors are like, well,

you know, our numbers are down and they're going

to this church. If our focus is our church and

how we grow, we're taking our eyes off of Jesus.

The eyes actually need to remain on him. And

we're going to see a little bit further in the

text where it's going to talk about how God gives,

heaven gives. It's not on us. So it's not about

what we do. It's not about John's ministry. John

then actually responds to his disciples differently.

So verse 27. John responded, no one can receive

anything unless it has been given to him from

heaven. See, that sentence actually, it kills

comparison at the root. John's saying if something

is given from heaven, we can receive it with

gratitude and we can hold it with open hands.

John's saying, look, any success here is not

the doing of John the Baptist the Great. Any

success. The whole reason we're doing this is

to point the way in the wilderness. So any growth,

any goodness, this is coming from the Lord. See,

calling, influence, fruitfulness, opportunity

are gifts, they're not possessions. See, that

doesn't need to make us passive. It didn't make

John passive. It frees us to be faithful without

needing to own the outcome. John continued in

the ministry, even though all these people are

leaving, What's going on with John and going

and following Jesus? And then in verse 28, John

tells his followers this, you yourselves can

testify that I said, I am not the Messiah, but

I have been sent ahead of him. See, back in John

John 1:20

chapter 1 verse 20, John clearly makes that statement.

He goes, I am not the Messiah, but I have been

sent. And both parts of that mattered. This is

what John was saying. I'm not the Messiah, and

in that he's acknowledging his role and humbling

himself. But I have been sent is the reminder

of his role and also a movement away from false

humility. See, humility doesn't mean that you're

pretending you have no place. Humility is knowing

your proper place before Jesus. John was not

Jesus. John the Baptist's job was not to save

anyone or to be the answer for anyone. That's

the same for us, guys. We're not Jesus. I'm not

Jesus, praise the Lord. Our job is not to save

anyone or to be the answer for anyone or even

an answer for anyone. But we have been sent.

We do have a place. We do have a calling. We

do have work to do. And that's the first response

of this passage. Receive your places given by

God. See, John knew the role God had given him,

but do we trust him with ours? So the first action

there was receive. But we receive with Jesus

as the focus. And then we get to this idea of

rejoice. And this is in John chapter 3, 29 through

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30. If you could pull the mic down a little bit,

I'm starting to feed back there. Verse 29. He

who has the bride is the groom. But the groom's

friend who stands by and listens for him rejoices

greatly at the groom's voice. So this joy of

mine is complete. This idea of rejoicing in this

joy. John here is then telling his followers,

guys, look, I'm not the groom. I'm the friend

of the groom. Culturally, in that time for a

Jewish wedding, the family was involved, but

the friend of the bridegroom, essentially the

equivalent to like the best man, actually did

quite a bit of the setup, of the planning, of

the coordination. One of his jobs was actually

to bring the bride to the groom. And so the bridegroom

came, and the groom was there, and the friend

helped arrange the wedding, but he was never

the focus. See, the friend of the groom then,

and hopefully still today, isn't standing there

and saying, hey, why am I not the focus of attention

here? Could you imagine if the groomsman in the

middle of a wedding just kind of, you know, You're

standing up there. You've got the guy marrying

them, the couple's there. And all of a sudden,

the friend of the groom, the best man, kind of

comes. Hey, guys! Isn't this great? Many of you

are smiling. That would probably be one of the

more cringeworthy weddings you've ever been to.

Some of you are like, yeah, I'd be at that wedding.

It'd be a little bit more interesting. But that

would be insane. See? The friend of the groom,

his joy is to see the groom receive the bride.

That's the picture. And when people go to Jesus,

that's not a loss. John is using this as a picture

to his followers to say, guys, I'm not the focus

here. I actually want to see the bride go to

the groom. I actually want to see people go to

Jesus. And when people go to Jesus, that's not

a loss. That's actually the mission. So if the

bride belongs to Jesus, grasping for attention

is not faithfulness. It's kind of like the friend

of the groom flirting with the bride in the middle

of the wedding. See, when ministry becomes about

my name, my influence, my preferences, my recognition,

a platform control, how I serve, how I volunteer,

what the church does for me, how I can come and

be served. We're taking our eyes off Jesus and

we're actually acting like a competitor. We're

actually acting like that best man who's stepping

out in front and kind of being like, hey guys,

look at me. And John is painting this picture

to his disciples. But then he says, so this joy

of mine is complete. See, John doesn't want to

decrease with bitterness. He's actually decreasing

with joy. He says, I'm not losing what was mine.

I'm seeing Jesus receive what belongs to Jesus.

So John's saying it's not this try harder to

be humble kind of thing. John's not anti -John.

This is not a false humility. He's just pro -Jesus.

He says his joy is not found in being seen. His

joy is found in seeing the bridegroom receive

the bride. And then we get to that big idea,

that hinge in our text, and that's verse 30.

John chapter 3 verse 30 says, he must increase,

John 3:30

but I must decrease. Not he should increase,

not, oh man, sure would be nice if he increased.

He must increase. That's the way this works,

because the reality is it's his story. I heard

somebody say that John chapter 3 is a must -read

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter, because it gives us several musts. In

John chapter 3, verse 7, Jesus is telling Nicodemus,

John 3:7

you must be born again. And we have the Savior's

must in John chapter 3, verse 14, where he says,

John 3:14

so the Son of Man must be lifted up. Then you

have the sovereign's must in John chapter 3,

John 3:30

verse 30, where he says, the text says, he must

increase. Then we have the servant's must. John

John 3:30

chapter 3, verse 30, where it's, I must decrease.

See, verse 30 is this hinge, and it's toward

the end of John chapter 3. But that picture that

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was painted before with Nicodemus, where it was,

how does this Jesus fit into the framework that

I have as the Jewish leader? And he's wondering,

he's questioning, he's coming, he's asking. And

Jesus is telling him, look, no, it's actually

a totally different thing, man. Nicodemus is

like, what? And then John here is saying, no,

he must increase and I must decrease. I need

to get out of the way. That doesn't mean disappearing.

John's still preaching, still baptizing, still

serving. See, this idea of decreasing doesn't

mean passivity. Decreasing is surrender. When

I say that, I'm not like, I surrender. Decreasing

is this posture. With our hands open of surrender.

So it's not hands up. It's hands out and raised.

That means I can be faithful without needing

to be central. See, Christ -centered humility

is thinking of yourself less because you are

more captivated by Christ. Christ -centered humility

is thinking of yourself less. because you are

more captivated by Christ. So the more clearly

you see Jesus, the less tightly you have to hold

to yourself. And so that's where that second

response, that idea of rejoice, that joy, is

rejoice that the bride belongs to Jesus. That

it wasn't John's ministry. This is what he's

telling his followers. Guys, rejoice, because

they're going and following Jesus. And that's

such a wonderful thing. So then we get to this

third action, which is respond. And we respond

to the Son who comes from heaven. So then in

verse 31, John says, See, Verse 30, that hinge

verse isn't just floating there by itself. The

rest of the passage, we actually see why Jesus

must increase. See, this idea of him being above

all, Jesus is not just one more religious voice.

He's not just simply a wise teacher. He's not

merely a prophet with better insight. There's

a lot of religions that will say, yeah, Jesus

was, he was a good teacher. He was a prophet.

He actually had gifts given by God. But then

that's where they stop. See, John's saying, no,

he comes from above. And then John's saying,

we're from earth. And this means that Jesus doesn't

need to be edited by our understanding. We need

to be corrected by his. See, this was part of

Nicodemus' struggle. He came to Jesus with his

categories already in place. But Jesus didn't

submit himself to Nicodemus' framework. Nicodemus

was saying, hey, we know you come from God. Like,

where do you fit? What's going on here? He confronts

it. Jesus tells Nicodemus, hey, you need to be

born again. The framework you have needs to get

flipped on its head. You need to grow. back to

this idea of a baby and relearn and see the things

that God has. So he confronts it, Jesus does,

and he tells him he must be born again, and he

does the same with us. See, Jesus doesn't enter

our lives to become one more piece of our preferred

story. Verse 31 says, he comes as the son from

heaven who is above all. And then verse 32, he

testifies to what he has seen and heard, and

yet no one accepts his testimony. John's not

saying literally nobody believes, but he is lamenting

how few receive and trust and hear and accept

his testimony compared to who Jesus is and what

he deserves. Guys, I was thinking it's kind of

like dip netting in Alaska. You go out sometimes,

and there's tens of thousands of fish running

up the river in a day, and you somehow get skunked.

You come home, you're like, I caught nothing,

or like, I got two fish on a tide. Even on the

days where you're like, man, I was slaying it.

I limited in 30 minutes. Even when that happens,

it's this idea of your catch is tiny compared

to the run. So John's not saying literally nobody

believes, but he's saying, guys, compared to

what Jesus deserves, he is above all he is from

heaven, it's like no one accepts his testimony.

And that's the grief here. See, the issue wasn't

lack of truth. The issue is the refusal of so

many to receive it. And then in verse 33, it

says, the one who has accepted his testimony

has affirmed that God is true. See, to receive

and accept Jesus' testimony is to affirm that

God is true. That means rejecting Jesus. Guys,

that's not a small thing. It's not merely having

a different opinion. It's rejecting the one who

speaks what he has seen and heard from heaven.

And then John says in verse 34, for the one whom

God sent speaks God's words, since he gives the

Spirit without measure. He's saying Jesus speaks

the words of God because he is sent from God.

He is God. He's not offering one perspective

amongst many. And that was a little bit different

than the day where you would have all these different

rabbis and they had these different schools of

thought. And different people would say, oh,

you're with Hillel, like you see this. And oh,

you're with Shammai and you think this way. And

John is saying, guys, he's not offering one perspective

amongst many. He's sent to speak God's word because

he gives the Spirit without measure. See, the

prophets of old had the Spirit for their calling

in measure. They had a peace. In the text, all

throughout the Old Testament, we see this idea

of, and the Spirit came upon them and they prophesied.

And it wasn't this continuous empowerment by

the Spirit. Here, John's saying no, but Jesus

is different because he has the spirit without

measure. We're not talking about different schools

of thought. His words are actually from God.

And then verse 35 says this, the father loves

the son and has given all things into his hand.

And that is why Jesus must increase. Not because

humility is an impressive religious virtue where

we say, ah, yes, I should decrease and he must

increase. Not because John's unusually secure.

With the right religious discipline, you could

be too. No, that's not. Jesus must increase because

the Father loves the Son and has given all things

into his hands. And that means all things, including

the parts of life that we're most tempted to

control. Our gifts, our influence, our families,

our money, our future, our health, our fill -in

-the -blank with what it is for you. But John's

reminding us everything belongs to him. So the

question's not, will Jesus fit into my life?

The question actually is, will I surrender my

life to him? Then we get to verse 36. And it

says, the one who believes in the Son has eternal

life. But the one who rejects the Son will not

see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on

him. This verse doesn't let us admire Jesus from

a distance. Where your story intersects with

Jesus, response is required. You can't say, I

want Jesus, but actually reject Jesus. You can't

receive eternal life while rejecting the Son

of God who gives it. Eternal life is received,

it's not achieved. But it is received by believing

in the Son. Then John gives this warning plainly.

The one who rejects the Son will not see life.

The wrath of God remains on him. And that word

remains, in the original language, has a little

more weight. It matters because it doesn't say

wrath begins. It remains continuously. See, apart

from Christ, we're already under judgment. Not

because God is petty or impulsive, but because

God is just. The focus here really isn't actually

on the wrath of God. I'm not up here about to

lay out fire and brimstone, because the focus

is actually that apart from Christ, we're already

under judgment. Even that warning about wrath

is meant to turn our eyes to the Son, because

He's the only one who can actually give. eternal

life. God would be unjust to overlook sin. All

sin must be paid for. But in mercy, God delays

judgment. In grace, God makes the payment himself

through his son. So yes, God is for you, but

that doesn't mean his story is about you. It's

not. God is for you by bringing you into the

story of his son and into his story. And that's

the final response. This idea of believe the

son and receive. And that's not like, okay, check

the box. Cool. I now have this action. John chapter

John 3 · chapter mention

3 is not this chapter of moralistic cliches that

we apply to coffee mugs, stickers, and signs

that we hold up at, for whatever reason, particularly

like WWE wrestling events of John 3 .16. That's

not what John chapter 3 is. It doesn't mainly

John 3 · chapter mention

say stop being self -centered. The whole chapter,

with both Nicodemus and with John the Baptist,

says look at Jesus. Jesus tells Nicodemus you

must be born again. Your understanding, your

framework has to be flipped. John is telling

his disciples, we're like, John, your ministry

is kind of going over to this Jesus dude. Like,

I know you like him. I know you're his cousin,

but come on. And John's like, no, awesome. I

rejoice because they're going to Jesus. It's

all about Jesus. He is the son from heaven. He

is above all. He speaks the words of God. The

father loves him. All things have been given

into his hands and eternal life is found in him

alone. So, I mentioned verse 30 was that hinge.

I want to ask, what does it look like for him

to increase and for us to decrease? And I think

a piece of that means receiving your place as

given from heaven. It means serving without needing

ownership. It means rejoicing when Jesus is glorified,

even when you're not noticed. It means asking

the hard question, where have I wanted attention

that belongs to Christ? The final question isn't

simply, will you decrease? The final question

is, will you believe in the Son? Because we have

to apply. We have to contextualize. But that's

not the end of this. The actual focus is turning

our eyes back to Jesus. When we do that, that

changes us. If it doesn't, Are we actually putting

our gaze and our focus on Jesus? Because when

you see who he is, this idea of decreasing, it's

no longer a loss. It's actually joy. Just like

John was saying, no, I get to be the friend of

the groom. I get to see the bride come to the

groom. I rejoice. Guys, we get to see others

come to Jesus. John's joy was not found in being

the Christ. But it was found in belonging to

him, pointing to him, watching others go to him.

Guys, so radiant. The story belongs to Jesus.

And by grace, we get to find our place in him.

He must increase. And we must decrease. For his

glory. Pray. Lord, you are good. We praise you

because you are worthy of all honor, praise,

and glory. And Lord, help us to not put ourselves

in a way in your story that we don't fit. Lord,

it is all about you. I just pray that you would

just keep doing a work in our heart this day,

this week, as we go out. that we would just desire

to be radiant reflections of Jesus. And Lord,

if there are any who don't know you as Lord and

Savior, who are still at the point where they

say, I don't even understand what that means

to make Jesus increase, I pray that you would

be at work in their hearts. Draw them to yourself.

For those that know you as Lord and as Savior,

Lord, help us to keep our gaze and our focus

on you. Lord, I pray that we would not be Christians,

but that we would be Christ -centered. You are

good. We submit all things to you. We pray this

in Jesus' name. Amen.