Jn. 3:22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.
This verse may seem to be in contradiction to verse 4:2, but may not be for this reason. If you will notice, verse 4:2 is in parenthesis which means that it was added later by a scribe and was not part of the original manuscript. For some reason known only to him that scribe didn’t want Yeshua being the One doing the baptizing. So, he added that verse. There is no real reason why Yeshua wouldn’t be baptizing, especially if He was showing His disciples the proper way to do it.
Jn. 3:23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized.
It is thought that Aenon was about eight miles south of Scythopolis (Beth Shan), west of the Jordan.
Jn. 3:24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison.
Jn. 3:25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification.
Jn. 3:26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to who you have testified – behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him.”
Jn. 3:27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from Heaven.”
It appears that the dispute was not necessarily about purification, but who was doing it. John very correctly tells the people that the blessing is not in the baptizer, but from Heaven regardless of who is baptizing. It does not take an ordained minister to do the baptizing, but a contrite heart in the candidate. Jewish ritual immersion that was even carried forward into the early church was always self-administered.
Jn. 3:28 “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah,’ but ‘I have been sent before Him.’”
Jn. 3:29 “He who has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.”
These were especially selected friends of the bridegroom that took messages from the bridegroom to the bride and ministered to the joy of the occasion. Sometimes they conducted the bride from her father’s house to the house of the bridegroom. The bride is always under the authority of her father until she is placed under the authority of her husband in marriage. But, if her father surrendered her to the emissaries, the friends of the bridegroom, she is under the authority of her husband already.
Source: M:Kethuboth 4:5
Jn. 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Jn. 3:31 “He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from Heaven is above all.”
Yochanan very correctly knows that his time has come and now he must remove himself from the scene. But he tells his disciples very forcefully who Yeshua is. He is no ordinary man like Yochanan, but He has come from Heaven, God Incarnate.
Jn. 3:32 “And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.”
Yochanan also knows that a lot of people are not going to accept Yeshua as Messiah, even though He speaks the words of God. This is such a profound statement and you can almost detect a note of sadness in Yochanan’s voice. God has come to save His people and many will not listen. Yochanan knows that God gave him a specific task to accomplish, and he knows that he has failed also. And according to the prophecy of Malachi the Lord will bring "utter destruction upon the earth" (Mal. 3:23). History is doomed to repeat itself over and over again as the same thing happens continually.
Jn. 3:33 “He who receives the testimony has certified that God is true.”
Jn. 3:34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.”
Jn. 3:35 “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.”
Jn. 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
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