NIV Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 28
J ohn 3 : 2 6
•
page 1804
J ohn’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. j 26They came
to John and said to him, “Rabbi, k that man who was with you on the other side of the Jor
dan — the one you testified l about — look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.
28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of
him.’ m 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. n The f riend who attends the bridegroom
waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That
joy is mine, and it is now complete. o 30He must become greater; I must become less.” a
31 The one who c
omes from a
bove p is a
bove all; the one who is from the e arth belongs
to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. q The one who comes from heaven is above
all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, r but no one accepts his testimony. s
33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has
sent t speaks the words of God, for God b gives the Spirit u without limit. 35The Father loves
the Son and has placed everything in his hands. v 36Whoever believes in the Son has eter
nal life, w but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for G
od’s wrath remains on them.
Jesus Talks to a Woman at the Well (27 )
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing
more disciples than John x — 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but
his disciples. 3So he left Judea y and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar,
near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. z 6Jacob’s well was there, and
Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was a
bout noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me
a drink?” 8(His disciples had gone into the town a to buy food.)
4
a
30 Some interpreters end the quotation with verse 36.
b
34 Greek he
3:26 John the Baptist’s disciples were disturbed because people were
following Jesus instead of John. It is easy to grow jealous of the popularity
of another person’s ministry. But we must remember that our true mission
is to influence people to follow Jesus, not us.
3:27 Why did John the Baptist continue to baptize after Jesus came
onto the scene? Why didn’t he become a disciple too? John explained
that because God had given him his work, he had to continue it until
God called him to do something else. John’s main purpose was to point
people to Jesus. Even with Jesus beginning his own ministry, John could
still point people to him.
3:30 John’s willingness to decrease in importance shows unusual humility. Pastors and other Christian leaders can be tempted to focus more
on the success of their ministries than on Jesus. Beware of those who
put more emphasis on their own achievements than on God’s kingdom.
3:31-35 Your whole spiritual life depends on your answer to one
question: Who is Jesus Christ? If you accept Jesus as only a prophet
or teacher, you have to reject his teaching, for he claimed to be God’s
Son—to be God himself. The heartbeat of John’s Gospel is the dynamic
truth that Jesus Christ is God’s Son, the Messiah and the Savior, who
existed from the beginning and will continue to live forever. Jesus’
testimony was trustworthy because he had come from heaven and was
speaking of what he had seen there. His words were the very words of
God. This same Jesus has invited us to accept him and live with him
eternally. When we understand who Jesus is, we are compelled to
believe what he said.
3:34 God gives the Spirit without measure or limit. Jesus was always
filled, empowered, and totally connected to the heart and mind of God.
Thus, Jesus was the highest revelation of God to humanity (Hebrews 1:2).
He always spoke the words of God.
3:36 Jesus says that those who believe in him have (not will have)
eternal life. To receive eternal life is to join in God’s life, which by nature
is eternal. Thus, eternal life begins at the moment of spiritual rebirth.
3:36 John, the author of this Gospel, wrote to demonstrate that Jesus
is the true Son of God. Jesus sets before us the greatest choice in life. We
are responsible for deciding today whom we will obey (Joshua 24:15), and
God wants us to choose him and life (Deuteronomy 30:15-20). “God’s
3:25
jJn 2:6
3:26
23:7
1:7
kMt
lJn
3:28
1:20,23
mJn
3:29
nMt 9:15
oJn 16:24; 17:13
3:31
pver 13
qJn 8:23; 1Jn 4:5
3:32
rJn 8:26; 15:15
sver 11
3:34
17
12:18; Lk 4:18
tver
uMt
3:35
vMt 28:18;
Jn 5:20,22; 17:2
3:36
wver 15; Jn 5:24;
6:47
4:1
xJn
3:22,26
4:3
yJn 3:22
4:5
zGe 33:19; 48:22;
Jos 24:32
4:8
aver
5,39
wrath” refers to his final rejection of those who reject him. To put off the
choice means choosing not to follow Jesus. Indecision is a fatal decision.
4:1-3 Already opposition was rising against Jesus, especially from the
Pharisees. They resented Jesus’ popularity as well as his message, which
challenged much of their teaching. Because Jesus was just beginning his
ministry, the time was not yet right to confront these leaders openly. He
left Jerusalem and traveled north toward Galilee.
4:4 To go from the territory of Judea to Galilee meant passing through
a central territory called Samaria. Most Jews did everything they could
to avoid traveling through Samaria. The reason goes way back into their
history.
After the northern kingdom, with its capital at Samaria, fell to the
Assyrians, many Jews were deported to Assyria, and foreigners were
brought in to settle the land and help keep the peace (2 Kings 17:24).
The intermarriage between those foreigners and the remaining Jews
resulted in a mixed race, a people who were impure in the opinion of
Jews who lived in the southern kingdom. Thus, the pure Jews hated
this mixed race, called Samaritans, because they felt that their fellow
Jews who had intermarried had betrayed their people and nation. The
Samaritans had set up an alternate center for worship on Mount Gerizim
(John 4:20) to parallel the temple at Jerusalem, but it had been destroyed
150 years earlier. While there was long-standing prejudice between Jews
and Samaritans, Jesus did not live by such restrictions. The route through
Samaria was shorter, and that was the route he took.
4:5-7 Jacob’s well was on the property originally owned by Jacob
(Genesis 33:18-19). It was not a s pring-fed well but a well into which
water would seep from rain and dew, collecting at the bottom. Wells
were almost always located outside the city along the main road. Twice
each day, morning and evening, women would come to draw water. This
woman came at noon, however, probably to avoid meeting people who
knew her reputation. Jesus gave this woman an extraordinary message
about fresh and pure water that would quench her spiritual thirst forever
(John 4:13-14).
4:7-9 This woman was (1) a Samaritan, a member of the hated mixed
race; (2) known to be living with a man but not married; and (3) in a public
place. No respectable Jewish man would talk to a woman under such
circumstances. But Jesus did. The gospel is for every person, regardless