The bridegroom is descending

Who is Jesus? part 45 – John 3:22-4:3

Brides magazine is no longer available in print but still exists online. When my fiancée and I were planning our wedding, I noticed that 1980s articles focused entirely on the bride: the wedding dress, reception venue, cake, and honeymoon destination were all her choices. Other wedding magazines mentioned the groom’s role too: to make her day perfect.

Things have improved, as there are now online sites about wedding planning from a man’s perspective. Back in the day there was Groom magazine, but that was how to look after horses.

Looking at John’s Gospel, you might think the bride is unimportant, whether it’s at the wedding at Cana or in this passage.

²² After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. ²³ John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized ²⁴ (for John had not yet been put in prison).

²⁵ Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. ²⁶ And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” ²⁷ John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ ²⁹ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase, but I must decrease.”

³¹ He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. ³³ Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. ³⁴ For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. ³⁶ Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John ² (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), ³ he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.  

John 3:22-4:3 ESVUK

There is a structure to chapters 2 to 4. They are one big chiasmus. Chiasm, meaning crossing over, is a poetic form used in nearly all Psalms and is a repetition of similar ideas in the reverse sequence. Where there is a central section, here marked X, that is usually the focus of the poem.

A. John 2:1-11 Miracle at Cana – Water into wine.
B. 2:12-22 Temple cleansed – new Temple of his body.
C. 2:23-3:13 We must be born from above.
X. 3:14-21 God so loved the world that He gave His Son.
C’. 3:22-4:3 Christ comes from above.
B’. 4:4-46 Temple to be replaced by a new place of worship.
A’. 4:46-54 Miracle at Cana – healing of a nobleman’s son.

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I usually discuss the structure of the passage, as the writing style influences understanding. This passage is a chiasmus, where a long phrase in the first part of the chiasmus corresponds to only a few words in the second, and vice versa. As it is an unusual form, I shall ignore it, and I will address each part in the order they appear.

This passage is bookended with this: After meeting with Nicodemus, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside (3:22), and then he left Judea to go back to Galilee (4:3).

Baptizing

vv. 25-28. We are now past the halfway point in the chiasmus that is John chapters 2 to 4. Instead of continuing with the structure, John goes back to what he sas said already, in this case Chapter 1 verses 19 to 34, The story of John the Baptist pointing our Jesus to his followers. I wrote about this in three posts starting here.

In verse 25 we see that John the Baptist’s followers have had an argument with a Jew or with a group of Jews about purification. We don’t know the form of that argument because when they approach Joh,n the question is about Jesus baptising more followers than John is baptising. (It turns out that it is Jesus’ disciples, not Jesu,s who are baptising, contrasting perfectly with it is John’s disciples, not John who is baptising.)

I understand the anxiety in John’s disciples; they had invested a lot of time, energy and money in following this prophet in a time when prophecy was rare.

Bridegroom

This can be confusing. I’m going to discuss how John the Baptist spoke about Jesus and how that fits into the story told by John the Evangelist. I’ve written this before, but it was unclear. Here’s another attempt.

At the beginning of this cycle, the evangelist wrote of a wedding in Cana, but with no mention of the bride. The focus here was on Jesus’ abundant provision of wine. That he was able to do this shows that the culture was very different to what we have now. It is with that culture in mind that we have to interpret the words of the Baptist.

The bridegroom analogy also links forward to the woman at the well in Chapter 4. The Baptist probably knew nothing of this; it was the compilation by the Evangelist that linked these wedding analogies. The Baptist was pointing out, again, that his job was to point people to Jesus. Yet despite this, his followers were inventing a rivalry, so the Baptist pointed out that there is no rivalry in ministry, as all of it comes from God, he did this by using a analogy, being the best man to the bridegroom. Once the wedding is over, his job is over, and he goes home happy.

Becoming less

John concluded, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (v 30). The repetition of “must” reminds us of what Jesus told Nicodemus:

• You must be born again (or from above). (v7)
• And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. (v14)

He must increase, but I must decrease. This phrase emphasizes that any ministry, not just within the church, should focus on glorifying Jesus rather than yourself. Jesus warns that those who seek self-glory have already received their reward and will find nothing more. “Beware of practising your righteousness before other people to be seen by them, for you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1.

“ He must increase, but I must decrease.”He who comes from above is above all.” (vv. 30,31) said John, linking this passage to the one where Jesus said, “You have to be born from above.” From above was the message of Jesus to Nicodemus, and it is the message of John the Baptist to his fractious followers here.

What John says next connects to the Jewish belief that creation has two kingdoms: the kingdom of Earth and the kingdom of God (referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew’s Gospel and “from above” in John’s Gospel). The Temple is where these kingdoms meet, but that will be covered in the next post.

In his list of what it means for Jesus to be from above, John refers to Jesus sending the Holy Spirit. In his conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus also mentioned being born of the Spirit, showing that being born again, from above, and in the Spirit are different ways of expressing the same idea. The kingdom of heaven has been given to Jesus and will soon be shared with his followers, leading to a merging of the earthly and heavenly kingdoms when Jesus returns.

The other things in this list are things of the Kingdom of God, where Jesus came from:

Jesus was not accepted because his actions and words were from God.
Those who accept Jesus show the truth of God.
Jesus shares God’s message and gives the Spirit freely.
The Father loves the Son and has entrusted everything to him.
Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life,
but those who do not obey the Son will not see life, and God’s wrath remains on them.

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