Bible Study Notes – Gospel of John 3:22-36

We continue our study of the Gospel of John, “Encountering Jesus.”  The great apostle of love writes this gospel to share the human side of Almighty God whom Jesus personifies during His earthly journey.  In Jesus, we glimpse the essence of God’s unconditional love.  Jesus declares the “Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.”  In Jesus, God identifies directly with our daily challenges.  As we study John, we will focus upon Jesus’ teachings and the life changing encounters of the people who meet him.

In this passage, John the Baptist prepares to exit the stage of ministry and life as he completes his mission and purpose.  Arguably, he is one of the most highly evolved and self-accepting persons in human history.  The son of two children of priest and a priest, John the Baptist knows beyond a shadow of a doubt what his role is.  Although gifted with many talents and formidable self-determination, John exemplifies incredible and inimitable humility as he ends his public ministry and unconditionally refers his followers to Jesus.  As Jesus appears, John utters these immortal and enduringly challenging words, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

Those words of John 3:30 offer a mission and purpose statement for disciples.  As we mature spiritually and develop personally, we seek the mind, heart and character of Christ rather than our selfish ambitions an ulterior motives.  Practically speaking, we become Christ’s servants in the world.  We share His love in accordance with Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:18, Matthew 25 and James 1:26-27 and 2:14-26.  We are His instruments of love, messengers of grace and channels of peace.

Living faithfully as a disciple is as individual and unique as our personalities.  Accordingly, each of us needs a mission and purpose statement.  This passage and John’s example offers us a few insights on how to construct a mission and purpose statement.

Consider the following ideas and questions as you study the passage.

• A dispute arises between John’s followers and Jesus’ disciples over the rising numbers of baptisms that Jesus is doing in comparison to John.
• John utilizes this conflict to reiterate his mission and purpose about which he is steadfastly clear notwithstanding the myriad temptations to expand his influence or usurp Christ’s role.
• John teaches us the importance of specificity in crafting a personal mission and purpose statement.  Like heads and tails on a coin, John clarifies who he is and definitively states who he is not.
• In the twenty-seventh verse, John suggests a mission and purpose statement originates fundamentally from God.  “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.”  As a consequence, disciples will receive a revelation of their mission and purpose within an interdependent relationship with God.  I hasten to add this revelation need not parallel the special effects of a Hollywood blockbuster movie.  In many instances, a person’s passion, hobbies, and gifts offer vital clues.  Ideally, disciples discover their mission and purpose and choose them as the practical means of earning a living.
• In the next verse, John repeats for his followers “You yourselves bear me witness that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him.’”  Again, note the clarity and economy of the statement.
• Residually, a specific mission and purpose statement becomes a prism through which we evaluate invitations to participate in good causes.  There are many worthwhile projects we can support and undertake.  However, if they are not consistent with our mission and purpose, then we can refuse as we know Almighty God will orchestrate the selection of someone else for which this task coheres with his or her passion.  Consequently, we do not feel any guilt because we realize we cannot be all things to all people.  We can, however, doggedly pursue our passion, mission and purpose to the honor and glory of Almighty God.
• In the twenty-ninth verse, John employs wedding imagery to illustrate his joy at Christ’s arrival.  He accepts unreservedly the end of his mission as the forerunner.  He describes an indefinable joy.
• Moreover, John forthrightly and unequivocally determines he will subordinate his ministry to the rising popularity and purpose of Christ.
• John returns to the ever-present, prevalent and significant theme of Jesus’ heavenly and divine origins which undergird His earthly ministry.
• John the Baptist’s teachings about Christ’s pre-incarnate deity furthers John the evangelist theological agenda of demanding disciples believe without question that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came in the flesh.
• Acceptance of Jesus is necessary to acceptance of God and certification by God in faith.  In the secular political world, a candidate has not won an election until the Secretary of State within any state certifies the actual votes.  Likewise, authentic Christian faith necessitates a certified belief in the physical appearance of Jesus and bodily resurrection.
• John the Baptist offers a closing argument about eternal life which only Jesus Christ offers.
• Summarily, a mission and purpose statement possesses clarity, specificity, a divine and eternal objective, emerges from passion and pain and glorifies Almighty God in service to humankind.