Religion & Spirituality
It is possible that John intentionally moved north to avoid being “right on top” of Jesus. The editorial note in vs. 24 assumes that the reader is familiar with the story of John the baptist and particularly that they may have read the synoptics. It is almost certain given the lack of explanation that Jesus is baptizing for the repentance and forgiveness of sins just like John was. Purification in vs. 25 is likely a question about baptism and given the context the question likely had something to do with why there were two parties baptizing. We have already seen the Pharisees question John’s authority before… “now everybody thinks they can do it,” they might have thought. There is some emphasis in the use of “Rabbi” to refer to John. It would be perfectly natural for them to call him that, but in this Gospel we should see that this is used in 1:38, 1:49, and 3:2 with great respect toward Jesus. It is a tell that these disciples are clinging to John and not fully embracing Jesus. This is also seen in that they do not use Jesus’ name. Vs. 27 emphasizes that “God is doing this.” It is this verse that ties this text most closely to the one before under the theme of Divine sovereignty. (See 3:8 and 3:21) Vs. 28-30 emphasize that John agrees with (and takes joy in) what God is doing because he has a right understanding of who he is in comparison to Jesus. In the illustration of the bridegroom and the friend, the people are the bride. This is both telling of John’s understanding of who Jesus was and of his role. He knew that God had come to care for his people, and his job was to prepare them for Jesus and point them to Jesus.