On Line Bible Study - For the Week January 2-8, 2012

Lesson 517

John 3: ²² After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. ²³ Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. ²⁴ (This was before John was put in prison.) ²⁵ An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. ²⁶ They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

²⁷ To this John replied,

“A person can receive only what is given from heaven.

²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’

²⁹ The bride belongs to the bridegroom.

The friend who attends the bridegroom waits

and listens for him,

and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.

That joy is mine, and it is now complete.

³⁰ He must become greater; I must become less.”

I will probably say this repeatedly as we consider John's gospel - This passage is complicated! Some questions:

• Is this where the passage belongs in the text, or was it moved by an editor?
• Is the relationship between this passage and the story we will consider in Chapter 4 (The Woman at the Well) theologically related, or are the similarities coincidental?
• Is verse 28 an addition?
• The above translation (Today's New International Version) makes verse 27 sound less ambiguous than the Greek suggests. Raymond Brown (whose commentary on John is providing the scholarly basis for us) translates that verse as follows:

No one can take anything
unless heaven gives it to him.

This translation better highlights some of the questions left unanswered - Who (or what ) is the 'it'? Is the 'him' a reference to Jesus, or to believers in Jesus? It is also similar to what Jesus will say to Pilate later in the Gospel - You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. (19:11)

Let's consider the bride / bridegroom imagery - a theme that is played out in the relationship between God and Israel. The prophet Jeremiah speaks of that relationship as like to two young lovers, with Israel the 'bride' who would follow her husband anywhere (Jeremiah 2:2). The prophet Hosea laments that the relationship between God and Israel has become like that between a husband and a wife who has become a harlot (Hosea 1 & 2).

John is the "best man" to Jesus, and the people are the bride. It would be unthinkable and the worst kind of deceit were there to be any impropriety between the best man and the bride. John understands his role and accepts it joyfully.

Two Points of Interest ... Father Brown notes that the Feast of the Birthday of John the Baptist occurs on June 24 - the time of the year in the northern hemisphere in which the light of the sun begins to fade. Jesus' birth is celebrated on December 25 - the time of the year in the northern hemisphere when the light of the sun begins to increase.

Augustine captures the distinction between John and Jesus:
I listen; he is the one who speaks;
I am enlightened; he is the light;
I am the ear; he is the Word.

May you hear the Word and walk in the clarity of God's Light in the new year.