Two Testimonies
TRANSLATION
(22) After this Jesus and his disciples went out to the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. (23) And John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because there was plenty of water there, and people were coming and being baptized. (24) (This took place before John was imprisoned.)
(25) A discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the issue of ritual washing. (26) They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, (you need to know that) the one who was with you beyond the Jordan and about whom you testified is baptizing and everyone is going to him.” (27) John responded, “A person can only receive what he has been given from heaven. (28) You, yourselves, can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am only the one sent to introduce him.’ (29) The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who waits and listens for him rejoices greatly when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is now mine in full measure. (30) He must increase, but I must decrease.”
(31) He who comes from above is above all. He who comes from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly manner. He who comes from heaven is above all. (32) He testifies to what he has seen and heard. Yet, no one receives his testimony. (33) The one who receives his testimony has affirmed that God is true. (34) For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. (35) The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. (36) Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life, but whoever does not obey the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.
OBSERVATIONS
We might characterize this segment as “the testimonies of the two Johns.” The first paragraph (vss. 22-30) contains the witness of John the Baptist as Jesus’ forerunner directing everyone to follow the Messiah, the bridegroom. The second paragraph (vss. 31-36) serves as the corroborating testimony of John the Apostle. At this point in writing his Gospel, he provided the reader with a summary of all that he had been attempting to communicate regarding Jesus who, having come down from heaven as the Son of God, revealed God’s life-giving truth to those who were willing to receive him. The final verse of the chapter set forth the sobering choice that confronts everyone who reads his Gospel: “Whoever trusts in the Son has eternal life, but whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.”
Repetitions in this segment can be sorted according to the two paragraphs in which they occur with the exception of “heaven” (vss. 27 & 31). In the first paragraph (vss. 22-30) we find four uses of “baptizing/baptized” (vss. 22, 23, & 26) and three occurrences of “bridegroom/bridegroom’s” (all in vs. 29). In the second paragraph (vss. 31-36) both “above” and “earth” occurred three times (all in vs. 31). We then find “testifies/testimony” (vss. 32 & 33) three times and “life” (vs. 36) occurring twice.
OUTLINE
I. John the Baptist gave his testimony regarding the Messiah he had come to introduce. (22-30)
II. John the Apostle gave his testimony regarding the Son who came from heaven. (31-36)
IDEA STATEMENT
In the parallel testimonies of John, the Baptist, and John, the Apostle, we have all the information we need to place our faith in the Son of God so that we can receive the gift of eternal life.
APPLICATION
Twice in Deuteronomy Moses established the standard for determining the veracity of a truth claim: “On the evidence of two or three witnesses” shall an assertion be established (Dt. 17:6 & 19:15). Here at the end of the third chapter of John’s Gospel, we have the powerful testimony of two witnesses, John the Baptist, and John the Apostle. The first was given to John’s own disciples along with the statement for which John the Baptist is most admired: “He (the bridegroom) must increase but I (the friend of the bridegroom) must decrease.” The second, establishing the credibility of the first, provided a summary of all that the Apostle John had written to this point, namely, that Jesus is the Son of God, sent by the Father from heaven, to give eternal life to all who believe in him. This passage anticipated the summary we find at the end of John’s Gospel which expressed the Apostle’s purpose for writing: “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31).