Pointing to Jesus

John 3:22-30

Main Idea: John the Baptist tells his followers that his ministry is all about pointing other people to Jesus.

1. John the Baptist’s Perspective on Ministry (3:27)
2. John the Baptist’s Pattern of Ministry (3:28)
3. John the Baptist’s Pleasure in Ministry (3:29)
4. John the Baptist’s Purpose in Ministry (3:30)

The first YMCA was started in London in 1844 in response to the working and living conditions in London at that time. It was a rough place to live, and many of the young men who came there for work were living in awful conditions. A farmer-turned-shopkeeper named George Williams saw the need, and he along with eleven friends founded the YMCA. The acronym stands for Young Men’s Christian Association. The YMCA was to be a place for spiritual refuge—Bible studies and prayer times—to help the young men who had moved to London for work.

When I was in the early stages of planting a church, we needed to find a building to meet for our services. One of the places we looked into was a new YMCA. We walked in to talk with the person in charge about the possibility of renting the YMCA out on Sunday mornings for a church service. He told us, “I don’t think we’re able to do anything with churches or religious organizations.” Here’s how I wanted to respond: “So you’re telling me the Young Men’s Christian Association can’t be associated with Christians?” This organization founded to minister to young men in the name of Christ had forgotten why it started. It had drifted from its purpose. This happens a lot. It can happen to us. The ministry of John the Baptist provides a fresh reminder of the purpose of all Christian ministry.

In John 3 we’re deposited into the middle of a brewing conflict (vv. 22-26). Two charismatic leaders have emerged, and people are flocking to hear both of them. The disciples of one of them start to grow a little frustrated. “Why’s Jesus getting all of the attention? Why are people following him?” So they bring these questions to their leader. John’s answer is a bit surprising. Here he has a captive audience devoted to following him. He has the perfect opportunity to declare why he’s the man. But he doesn’t. When John the Baptist is asked about the popularity of Jesus, he tells his followers that his ministry is all about pointing other people to Jesus.

We’re dropped dead center into a “dispute.” The ESV translates it “a discussion” (v. 25). That’s the phrase married couples use that really means “argument,” and that’s what it means here. Apparently a Jewish man brought up the subject of purification with some disciples of John the Baptist. Something in this conversation triggered frustration over what was happening.

John the Baptist is the well-known, well-liked, popular spiritual leader in Israel. He’s the wild man who dresses crazily, eats weird things, and speaks with remarkable power. John is a spiritual attraction. People flock from all over to hear him preach and then to be baptized by him. Now someone is beginning to steal John’s thunder. Jesus and his disciples are attracting attention. John’s disciples feel people are being forced to make a choice between Jesus and John, and it doesn’t sit well with them. After all, they’ve given their time, effort, and affection to John the Baptist. So they come to him and make a pointed statement—a statement with an implied question. They want to know what he thinks about those who are going to Jesus.

This section of Scripture is built around a contrast between John the Baptist and Jesus. One clue to this contrast is the use of the title “Rabbi” (v. 26). Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus is called Rabbi. Already in this chapter we’ve seen it used for Jesus (v. 2), and all the other seven times in the book it’s used to address Jesus. The apostle John is including this detail to help us understand how to navigate this particular passage. We’re supposed to read this statement not as a question about baptism but about authority. John the Baptist’s disciples are wondering who has the authority. Who should men be following?

They’ve already made up their minds. To them it’s clear that men are to be following John, and Jesus is an imposter. You can hear the resentment toward Jesus in their statement: “The one you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan” (v. 26). They remembered the encounter between Jesus and John. John publicly testified Jesus was the Messiah. Despite hearing what John said, they missed the significance. John’s role was to bear witness about Jesus. Once he did that, it was natural for people to then follow Jesus based on John’s testimony.

However, in their minds John is still the superior leader. Jesus owes everything to John, and yet he’s stealing John’s followers. Their concern for John drips from this statement: “Everyone is going to him” (v. 26). That’s not true. In verse 23 we read that people are still coming to John to be baptized. But to John’s followers the shift in attention feels like a great tragedy. John is losing his popularity and momentum to someone else.

This is one of the typical attacks of Satan that is especially effective. He convinces us to criticize others who are faithfully doing God’s work. We see the crowds going elsewhere, and we get jealous. Envy and division were a massive problem for the Corinthian church. The apostle Paul wrote to them,

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction. For it has been reported to me about you, my brothers and sisters, by members of Chloe’s people, that there is rivalry among you. What I am saying is this: One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” or “I belong to Apollos,” or “I belong to Cephas,” or “I belong to Christ.” Is Christ divided? (1 Cor 1:10-13)

Christians in Corinth started to rally around a person instead of Christ. Some chose Paul; others Apollos; still more Peter; and then the really spiritual ones looked down their noses at everyone else and said, “Well, I follow Christ.” Paul asks a great question: “If you’re all following Christ, how can you be on different sides? Unless there’s more than one Christ, you shouldn’t be split up.” The remedy for the ills of the Corinthian church was to focus back on Jesus Christ. Jesus should be the focus, not earthly leaders.

John the Baptist answers the implied question from his disciples similarly. They want to know who should be followed. In essence he says to his disciples, “Don’t follow me instead of Jesus. Follow Jesus.” Ministry is about pointing other people to Jesus. If we miss that, we miss it all. If we surrender that, we’ve lost.

John the Baptist’s Perspective on Ministry

John 3:27

John understands God is sovereign. Everything good that happens to John is the result of God’s grace in his life. As people flocked to John, crowding around him, listening to him preach, it would’ve been natural for him to think, Wow, I’ve got it together. You know, I’m really good at this. Maybe he’d look at the scribes and say to himself, Those guys wasted all of that time in seminary. Ha! I didn’t need any special training. I’ve got the tools to do it on my own. But he didn’t. He understood the divine origin of every success he had. He says, “No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven.” We can do nothing good or successful apart from the kindness of God. God brought every person who listened to John preach. God brought every person whom he baptized.

When the apostle Paul was dealing with the jealousy and division in the Corinthian church, he said something remarkably similar:

The purpose is that none of you will be arrogant, favoring one person over another. For who makes you so superior? What do you have that you didn’t receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn’t received it? (1 Cor 4:6-7)

Everything good you’ve received, whether it’s financial prosperity, physical abilities, or ministry success, comes from heaven. It’s a gift from God. For John to grow frustrated, angry, or unhappy with God for taking people away from his ministry would be to act as if it was because of himself that people came. His perspective was that God is in control. God brought these people to him, and if God takes them elsewhere, that’s God’s decision.

The good hand of God is the reason for any success in ministry. Big buildings, growing budgets, and increased attendance don’t measure the success of a ministry. The results are not ours, they’re God’s, and he has the authority to do with us what he desires. Jesus said to his disciples, “I will build my church” (Matt 16:18). Ministry drift happens when we lose that perspective—when ministry becomes focused on our success, our accomplishments, our victories, and our crowds. But it’s not about us. It’s about God and what he’s doing. Ministry is about pointing people to Jesus, not gathering people to us.

John the Baptist’s Pattern of Ministry

John 3:28

John reminds his unhappy disciples he is not the Messiah. His role is to come “ahead of” the Messiah. He emphasizes Jesus. It’s not important who John is. The only thing that matters is that people know Jesus. The reason God so powerfully used John the Baptist was because John recognized his own, inherent nothingness compared to Jesus. Martin Luther, the sixteenth-century reformer, once said, “God created the world out of nothing. When I realize that I am nothing, perhaps God can create something out of me too!” (cited in Davey, Nehemiah, 1). God doesn’t need me to accomplish his plan. He can do it without my help, supervision, or permission. Only when I realize that can he use me.

John’s role was significant. He wasn’t a nobody. Jesus said about John the Baptist, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared” (Matt 11:11). However, John knew his role was to point others to Jesus. He was not the story. He just needed to share the story. John’s consuming desire was to tell others about Jesus Christ. What an impact a group of believers could make in a community if each one was consumed with a passion to spread the message of Jesus Christ! If each said, like John, “It’s not about me. It’s about Jesus. I’m just here to point you to him.”

John the Baptist’s Pleasure in Ministry

John 3:29

John compares Jesus to a bridegroom and himself to the groom’s friend—the best man. His role was to prepare the wedding festivities and to make sure the wedding went smoothly. The best man’s job was to make sure the bride was there and the wedding could begin. Once the groom showed up, his job was complete. He did what was asked of him. What best man after fulfilling his responsibility is going to get angry because the groom showed up and married the bride? John’s point to his disciples is that Jesus is the groom, and he has come to marry his bride. John doesn’t matter anymore. John doesn’t want people to ignore the groom and focus on him. His joy comes from watching the bride and groom come together.

I don’t think John’s choice of illustration was random. Throughout the New Testament we see this same imagery applied to Jesus and the church. Paul writes to a local church, “I have promised you in marriage to one husband—to present a pure virgin to Christ” (2 Cor 11:2). The church is the bride, and Jesus is the groom. The apostle John was given a glimpse of the wedding, which will take place at the end of time: “Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself” (Rev 19:7). Each Sunday worship service is a preview of that wedding, and the bride of Christ—the church—comes before the groom to renew and recite the engagement covenant that has been made. He loves us in spite of our unfaithfulness, our spots, and our failures. We come to worship each week desperate to look upon the face of the groom, to see the one who loves us with an eternal love.

John’s pleasure did not come from popularity. It was not affected by influence. His pleasure was seeing the bridegroom appear. His joy was complete in the coming of Christ—not just because his mission was successful but because Jesus was there! In a real way John was both the bridegroom’s friend and part of the bride. John’s pleasure came not only because the “wedding” was successful—because he’d done his job—but because the one whom he needed as a Savior for his sins had come. The one he was longing for and hoping for, the promised Savior, was present. John’s sin would be paid for by Jesus.

John the Baptist’s Purpose in Ministry

John 3:30

John’s purpose was not to achieve fame or recognition. His purpose was to bring glory to Jesus Christ. He lived so the fame of Jesus might increase. Neither personal ambition nor a growing estimation in the eyes of other men motivated John. In fact, when John had the opportunity, he encouraged his disciples to follow Jesus. Not only in this passage but earlier in chapter 1, he sent Andrew and another disciple after Jesus.

Ministry drift happens when we stop thinking about Jesus and start worrying about ourselves. When we evaluate everything based on what we like and dislike, we’ve lost our purpose. Next time you’re tempted to complain, ask this question: Am I complaining because the glory of Jesus is decreasing, or is it about me? Jesus must increase, but it will only happen as we—our wants, desires, and likes—decrease.

I spent one summer in the mountains of Wyoming. The camp I was at was up on a mountain, a solid twenty-five minutes from the closest small town. When the sun went down, the moon and stars began to light up the sky. There were no city lights for them to compete with—no haze or smog—just cool, clear mountain air. As night deepened, the intensity of the stars and the moon grew. I was amazed at how bright they were. We would lie out under the stars and enjoy the wonders of the night sky. But every morning the sun would come up, and the stars and moon, as bright as they were, would start to fade. When the sun appeared, the stars were unnecessary. John the Baptist was a star, but when the Son came, the star faded. “It’s OK,” John declared in essence. “Follow Jesus; he’s here now.”

Reflect and Discuss

1. How is the title “Rabbi” used to contrast John the Baptist and Jesus?
2. Are you too jealous to let Jesus take priority over certain things in your life—jobs, children, school, or relationships? In what ways is Jesus better?
3. Describe God’s power.
4. Do you believe God’s power is sufficient to do all that he wills?
5. Do you believe God’s power is sufficient to change your heart, desires, and passions?
6. Would you say you have a consuming desire to tell others about Jesus?
7. How is a wedding a picture of Christ and the church?
8. Think back to a recent frustration in life and ask yourself, Why am I complaining?
9. How does John the Baptist’s example of ministry affect your understanding of evangelism and discipleship?
10. What does this passage show is the ultimate purpose of ministry?