THERE ARE FIVE REASONS WHY JESUS WAS SUPERIOR TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.
1. Jesus comes “from above” (heaven). 2. In heaven, Jesus had first-hand experience learning from His Father. 3. Jesus’ testimony is always in harmony with God the Father. 4. God the Father gives His Son the Spirit without measure. 5. Jesus is superior because God the Father “has given all things into his hand”.
3:31 – He who comes from above is above all. The Greek term ‘above all’ suggests what is written in John 3:3. To be “born from above” is to have faith in Jesus.” He who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks of the earth… “The man whose insights are conditioned merely by his nature ‘in the flesh’ cannot (understand) the meaning of that which originates in the realm of the Spirit” (The Interpreter’s Bible). [Read 1 Corinthians 2:9-12 & 1 John 5:10].
3:32 – What he has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His witness. It’s likely the author was thinking of the Jewish nation. Many of the Jews rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah.
3:33 – He who has received His witness has set his seal to this… His seal that God is true- “feeling that he (Jesus) whose word is the truth is absolutely dependable, and will stand to his promises, however impossible they sound; and testifying… that God means what he says and does it” (The Interpreter’s Bible).
3:34 – For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God gives the Spirit without measure (without limit). “The fullness of the Spirit marked the Lord’s ministry on earth, whereas the prophets of the Old Testament we’re given the Spirit by measure.
3:35 – The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand (Jesus). This is about the delivery of authority by the Father toward the Son (Read John 5:26-27; 17:2).
3:36 – (he) who believes in the Son has eternal life… (he) who disobeys the Son won’t see life, but the wrath of God remains on him… We have two alternatives: genuine faith or defiant disobedience. The ultimate consequence of failure to believe is “the wrath of God” (John MacArthur).
-All of the Scripture passages are taken from the World English Bible-
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