not believe in the Son. Human destiny has only these two ends. Such dualism is used in John to urge human beings to choose life (cf. Deut 30:18–19).
God giving his only Son is parallel to God sending his Son into the world. God did not send his Son to condemn the world, but to save the world through the Son (3:17). The phrase “not to perish” (3:16) is interpreted as “not to condemn,” and the phrase “to have eternal life” (3:16) is interpreted as “to save.” The term “everyone” is read in 3:17 as a collective term “the world,” meaning the sphere of human life. The word “sending” has a missional thrust. The purpose of Jesus’ mission in the world is to save all people from eternal destruction and to give heavenly life to those who allow him to direct their lives. “The one who does not believe is condemned already” (3:18) implies that anyone who does not accept God’s provision for human salvation is already judged as guilty and hence is given up to death. Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to save it from the power of darkness (12:47). But the reason for eternal condemnation is the refusal to believe in the name of the only Son (cf. 1:12). Unbelief is the root of all evil deeds (cf. 16:9).
John refers to the descent of the Son of Man to the world (3:13–15), and then he speaks of the sending/giving of the Son to the world (3:16–18), and in 3:19–21 he speaks of the coming of the Light into the world (cf. 1:9–11)—all denoting the coming of Jesus into the world. In 3:19–21, John describes the Logos incarnate, Jesus, as the Light who came into the world (cf. 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36, 46). Since human works are naturally evil, all people love to live in darkness rather than in light. Therefore they themselves fall under God’s judgment (3:19), an eschatological event that is in operation at present (3:18; 5:24). The Light not only shines and illumines (1:5, 9), but also exposes the evil deeds of humankind and therefore the world hates the Light and does not come to it (3:20).
In contrast, those who do the truth are recognized as those who love the Light and live in it (3:21). They exhibit their faithfulness to the covenant relationship of God by obeying his commandments. Doing good deeds is the same as doing the truth by living in the Light and in fellowship with God (cf. Matt 5:16). The coming of Jesus thus divides human beings into those who love darkness and perform evil and those who come to the Light and perform good deeds (cf. 1QS 3.1—4.26). Nevertheless, the division was caused not by the coming of Jesus into the world but by the response of the people to his coming.
The Baptist’s testimony to Jesus (3:22–30)
The phrase “after these” (3:22) links the mission of the Baptist with the mission of the Son of God (3:16–21). After Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean land, where he was staying with them and baptizing. Since Jesus was already in Judea, his move into the land of Judea seems irrelevant. Therefore some scholars suggest that 3:22–30 should be read after 2:12 and that 3:1–21 should be followed by verses 31–36. However, the word “land of Judea” can also mean “Judean countryside” (NRSV and ESV).7 Jesus and his disciples might have moved from Jerusalem into the countryside, where water was available for baptism. Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were (4:2).
Why should Jesus’ disciples baptize people, when the Baptist was already giving baptism at Aenon near Salim where there was much water (3:23)?8 Probably the crowd, which followed Jesus in larger number than that which followed the Baptist (3:26; 4:1), asked for baptism similar to that given by the Baptist. The disciples gave baptism with Jesus’ approval and in his name. The narrator comments that John the Baptist had not yet been put in prison (3:24). This comment means that Jesus’ ministry in Judea began before the arrest of the Baptist, whereas his ministry in Galilee began after his imprisonment (Mark 1:14).
There arose a controversy over the rite of purification between the Baptist’s disciples and a Jew, who might have been one of “the Jews” (3:25). Since baptism was treated as a rite of purification in Judaism, the Jew might have questioned the credibility of the Baptist’s baptism compared to the baptism given by Jesus’ disciples, which attracted more people. Because the Baptist’s disciples, at least some of them, were provoked to jealousy, they came to their master and complained that many were going to Jesus to be baptized.9 Without rightly understanding Jesus in spite of the Baptist’s earlier witness (1:29–34), they refer to Jesus in the third person, “He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified” (3:26a). They considered Jesus as a rival to the Baptist, whom they mistook as the Christ. This setting gives an occasion for the Baptist to intensify his witness to Jesus.
The Baptist speaks first proverbially by saying that no human can receive even one thing unless it is given from heaven (3:27), that is, “from God who dwells above in heaven” (cf. 3:3; 8:23; 19:11). Jesus was involved in God’s mission with the authority that comes from God. Then the Baptist speaks factually by reminding them of his witness that he was not the Christ, although he was sent chronologically before Jesus (3:28; cf. 1:20, 23, 30). The phrase “you yourself bear me witness” shows that when the Baptist was being probed by the “Jews” on his identity, his disciples had heard his testimony (cf. 1:19–28). The Baptist confirms the greatness of Jesus by speaking metaphorically that Jesus is a bridegroom and he himself is the “friend” or the “best man,” whose function is to stand and hear the bridegroom’s voice on the joyful occasion of the wedding (3:29). The bridegroom is naturally more significant than the best man. In the OT the word “bridegroom” refers to God who rejoices over his “bride,” the people of Israel, by covenant relationship (Isa 62:5b; Jer 2:2; Ezek 16:8–14; Hos 2:16, 19–20). So also, those who go to Jesus are his bride (cf. Matt 25:1; Mark 2:19; 2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:23–27, 31–32; Rev 21:2; 22:17).
When the bridegroom takes the bride by speaking to her and making his vow, the best man rejoices,10 or when the friend hears the shout of exultation by the bridegroom when he discovers the bride a virgin in the bridal chamber, he rejoices by hearing the joyful voice of the bridegroom. The work of the best man is then complete.11 Now the Baptist hears that more people are following Jesus and are baptized. This marks the voice of bridegroom’s joy. He, who is subordinate to Jesus, fully rejoices that his mission of testifying to Jesus as the Christ is complete. For the Baptist, Jesus must increase but he must decrease (3:30), implying that Jesus should be projected as the Christ, the Son of God, whereas he himself must become less significant. Thus, the Baptist takes away the rival spirit of his disciples against Jesus.
Summary statements (3:31–36)
3:31–36 seems to be the continuation of the Baptist’s witness to Jesus. Some find a good transition from 3:30 to 3:31. Others argue that 3:31–36 contain the sayings of Jesus and therefore that it should be placed after 3:21. However, 3:31 does not give a relevant sequence to 3:21. Dodd regards 3:22–36 as an explanatory appendix to 3:1–21.12 Since 3:31–36 recapitulates the words of Jesus and those of the Baptist (3:1–30), we may treat 3:31–36 as a summary placed by the Evangelist or an editor13 fittingly at the end of the first phase of Jesus’ ministry in Judea.
The greatness of Jesus is underlined again in 3:31–36. The close relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in terms of their corporate function is also visible. The phrase “he who comes from above” indicates not only the heavenly origin of Jesus (3:31c; cf. 3:2), but also contrasts him with anyone who belongs to the earth. A dualism is presented between the nature of the one who is from above and of the one who is of earth (cf. 3:6; 8:23). Humans, who came out of dust, belong to this earth and therefore they speak and work seeking for earthly things. In contrast, Jesus, who comes from heaven, bears witness to heavenly things, which he has seen
