The Life of Christ

LESSON 4

SECTION 37

Jn. 3:22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing.

Jn. 4:2 mentions that Jesus didn’t baptize anybody. This may have been true for four different reasons:

1. It could have brought divisions, just as Paul’s baptizing did the same (1 Cor. 1:14-15). I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name (1 Cor. 1:14-15).

2. It would have upstaged John’s ministry of baptizing people.

3. Mt. 3:11 said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit.

4. True Christian baptism couldn’t occur until Jesus had died and was risen from the dead.

Jn. 3:26-27 And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him.” 27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.”

John's statement and perfect attitude eliminates the threat of competition in the kingdom of God.

• John knew his place and time; it was short but highly significant.

• John sets the example to avoid comparing ourselves with others.

Jn. 3:33 “He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true.”

According to the rabbis, the seal of God was “Truth” (Hebrew: Ae Me TH).

• These three letters also happen to be the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. 12

Jn. 3:34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.”

Jesus had an unlimited anointing upon Him.

It resembled a well that never ran dry.

•

• At the same time, what maintained that constant flow was Jesus’ holiness, long periods of prayer, the 40-day fast, the perfect deposit of truth, and of course the call. SECTION 38

Jn. 4:1-4

12 Alfred Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Second Book (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971), 29.

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