TEXT: JOHN 3:1-21 SERMON: “More or Less”
In today's passage, John tells his first century readers that Jesus must become "greater" and John the Baptist "less" because of:
1. Who John the Baptist was
2. Who Jesus is
This morning we’ll be looking at what John says about Jesus becoming greater and John the Baptist becoming less by focusing on the differences between these two men, starting with looking at "Who John the Baptist was."
I. John the Baptist was a man who
A. Received only what he was given from heaven. 27
B. Testified he was not the Christ 28
C. Said he was like the bridegroom's friend 29
Explanation:
Argument develops about everyone going to Jesus..
John3:27-29
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.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend 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.
v 27 - true of everyone including John and Jesus
v 28 I said = John 1:20, 23
20 He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
23 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
v 29
the bridegroom - most important man at the wedding = Jesus
best friend helps the bridegroom = role of John the Baptist
joy is mine - bridegroom present, hearing of his success
Matthew 9:15
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
Illustration:
Joseph Genesis 37:5-11
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Application:
How might the Apostle John be speaking to us this morning through his words?
What is he telling us today?
Most certainly in our ministry, like that of John the Baptist, Jesus is the One to be seen not us.
Jesus is the One to shine through us - the One people should be seeing in what we say and do.
If in our ministry we are the one who is shining, we are the one who stands out, we are making ourselves the greater and relegating Jesus to the lesser role.
In our ministry we can never allow our self or others to put us up on a pedestal because we don't belong there.
The only one who belongs in an exalted position is Jesus Christ and these verses show us how well John the Baptist knew this and left us his example for ministry.
Might the Apostle John also be telling us something else this morning through these words he wrote over 2000 years ago?
Maybe in our life, like in John the Baptist's, there is someone we are being asked to prepare the way for.
Maybe in our life there is someone like Joseph, a dreamer, and we need to choose between either being jealous of them or helping them achieve their dreams.
Maybe in our life we need to look at whether we have people around us who we have been given the role to help them shine even at our own expense or sacrifice.
As we know John the Baptist sacrificed his life at the hands of Herod.
Do we have any Herod's in our life?
How great a sacrifice are we willing to make for someone else?
Transition: Let’s move on in looking at the contrast John is making in this passage between who John the Baptist was and who Jesus is to look at what he has to say about,
II. Jesus (is) the One who
A. Was from heaven above 31
B. As Christ was above all 31
D. As the Bridegroom testified to what he had seen & heard 32
1. Speaks the Spirit empowered words of God 33
2. Given all authority by the Father who Loves him 35
3. Brings eternal life to all who believe in him 36
Explanation:
John 3:31-36
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[a] gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
v 31
- the One who comes from above - Jesus heavenly origin
v 13
13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.
8:23
23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
1 John 4:5
5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
- vs the one who comes from earth - anyone, but here John the Baptist
v 32 "the divine experience"
32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.
v 8:23
see above
v 15:15
15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
v 11
11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
v 33
33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.
"certified" - accepting Christ's testimony = accepting truth that Jesus came from heaven and that God was acting in him for the world's salvation... this certifies that God is truthful!
v 34
34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[a] gives the Spirit without limit.
Jesus getting the Spirit without limit from God
vs
believers getting the Spirit without limit from Jesus
v 17
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
- Isa 42:1
1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.
- Mt 12:18
18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
- Lk 4:18
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
- Ac 10:38
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
v 35
35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
Mt. 28:18
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
v 36
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
"has" - eternal life is a present possession
"God's wrath" - God is opposed to everything evil
"remains" - God's wrath is total and permanent - it remains!
v 15
15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
5:24
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
6:47
47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
Illustration:
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
Paul’s Vision and His Thorn
1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul met the risen Christ on the Damascus Road and experienced the third heaven or paradise in his preparation to be an Apostle.
third heaven = paradise - designates a place beyond the immediate heaven of the earth's atmosphere and beyond the further heaven of outer space and its constellations into the presence of God himself
inexpressible things = unknown to use because Paul was not permitted to tell, an experience that gave incalculable strength to his apostleship which involved constant and extreme suffering
this experience was not self-induced and therefore left no room for self-glorification
What an impact it had on him!
Inexpressible things gave him incalculable strength
He was able to acknowledge when he was weak then he was strong
And his strength came from the RISEN LORD!
It was through his belief in the RISEN LORD beginning on the Damascus Road but solidified without doubt in the third heavens where he came face to face with God that he knew that in his weaknesses the power of the Cross rested on him - this is where he experienced it on earth!
This is where he experienced the present of God in his life outside the third heavens in the thorn in his flesh, in his sufferings, in the Cross of the Risen Christ, in his grace, in his forgiveness.
Having that was so powerful it overcame everything else, it allowed him to endure anything else that he faced in life-all sufferings even his terrible thorn in the flesh.
Application:
What is thorn do we have in our flesh?
What are we suffering from?
Is it medical illness, mental illness, substance abuse?
Is it deep emotional pain from the past?
Is it the deep scars of trauma in our life?
Or is it our suffering alongside someone else who is suffering this morning?
We need to remember that the One sent from Above is Above All, He is Christ the Messiah
and that He was given All Authority of Heaven and Earth by the Father
and was given the Spirit without limit
and that everything was placed into His Hands.
This "everything" that was placed into His Hands includes your suffering which like the Apostle Paul's thorn he has provided the ultimate answer for in His Death on the Cross and in His Resurrection from the Grave!
And, Your sufferings, your weaknesses, like those of the Apostle Paul are where the strength and power of the Risen Lord shows through in your life,
It is in your sufferings, your weaknesses that you experience the Risen Lord on earth and where others see him as well.
Without belief in the Rise Lord there is no hope only meaningless suffering.
With belief in the Risen Lord, with certifying that God is truthful in what He says about why he sent his son into the world (John 3:16), there is grace and forgiveness for all, there is libration, there is salvation, there is eternal life.
And with this assurance, like Paul we can live life with knowledge of the third heaven, with knowledge of paradise, and with its power to overcome any and all sufferings we face in this world.
With assurance of God's grace through his Son we too have entered Paul's third heaven with him and have access to inexpressible things that are the greatest source of encouragement there could ever be - the Risen Lord
Transition:
In this passage John paints a picture that distinguishes between two men John the Baptist and Jesus telling his first century readers that Jesus must become "greater" and John the Baptist "less" because of:
I. Who John the Baptist was
II. Who Jesus was
Conclusion:
In this passage John paints a picture for us today distinguishing between two men John the Baptist and Jesus telling us that Jesus had to become "greater" and John the Baptist "less" because of:
I. Who John the Baptist was
II. Who Jesus was
- John the Baptist was a man who
A. Received only what he was given from heaven.
B. Testified he was not the Christ
C. Said he was the bridegroom's friend
- Jesus (is) the One who
A. Was from heaven above 31
B. As Christ was above all 31
D. As the Bridegroom testified to what he had seen & heard 32
1. Speaks the Spirit empowered words of God 33
2. Given all authority by the Father who Loves him 35
3. Brings eternal life to all who believe in him
- Jesus is the One who is sufficient in all our sufferings and
- The One when we are weak who makes us strong!
In the name of the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Amen.
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