"NOT UP FOR DEBATE" (An Article by Christian Henry) ~ 9/4/25

“The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:35-36)

At this point in the Gospel of John, Chapter 3, Jesus and the disciples were in the land of Judea, where He was spending time with them as well as baptizing believers. Because John the Baptist hadn’t been thrown into prison yet, he was also there performing baptisms across the way. At that time, many people professed their faith and were baptized. Sounds like a pretty joyous occasion, right? Wrong, because a disagreement quickly arose between John’s disciples with a local Jewish man regarding purification. While we don’t know the exact nature of this question, we can speculate based on the discourse that follows. It probably had to do with the efficacy of John’s baptism as compared with Christ’s, or as compared with the ordinary ceremonial washings, for purifying from sin. There is no clue as to who this Jewish individual was, but his question prompted the disciples of John to immediately seek their master's opinion about Jesus and His success. Regardless of the facts of this argument, it importantly serves as an incidental introduction to the remarkable words of the Baptist that follow.

They immediately ran to their “Rabbi” (Vs. 26) and told him that the man to whom he had previously testified (John 1:29) was baptizing, and many were coming to Him. I imagine this was said with a lot of spite and jealousy, like, “You’re the baptism guy! The people shouldn’t be flocking to another.” However, John calmly reminded them that he had told them he was not the Christ but had been sent ahead of Him. Instead of jealousy, he rejoices greatly because his joy has been made whole.

Christ is from Heaven and is above all, while John was of the earth and could only speak of the planet. Jesus was sent by God the Father and thus speaks the words of God. John makes clear that the Father loves and has entrusted all things to the Son. He clarifies that the only avenue for gaining eternal life is belief in the Son, while the one who will not obey the Son will only achieve the judgment of God.

John was delighted with the place and work assigned to him, but Jesus came on a more critical mission. He also knew that Jesus would increase in honor and influence, with no end in sight, while he himself would become less followed over time. John knew that Jesus was the eternal Son of God, while he was but a mere mortal and could only speak about the more plain subjects of religion. Jesus had the Spirit, not by measure (as the prophets did), but in all fullness. Everlasting life could only be had by faith in Him, while the faithless couldn’t partake of salvation.

“There’s no need for jealousy!” says John with a smile on his face. This whole argument is ridiculous and subtly undermines John the Baptist’s entire role while on earth. Many are the souls damned to Hell, fueled by jealousy and futile disputes over God’s message.