Looking Closer

As I look more at this passage in John 3 the more I find compelling parallels with Jesus' words to Nicodemus earlier in the chapter. Here is what I am finding:

He who comes from above is above all, ...He who comes from heaven is above all. (verse 31)	No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. (verse 13)
he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. (verse 31)	If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? (verse 12)
What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. (verse 32)	Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. (verse 11)
He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. (verse 33)	Whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged.... (verse 15-18) He who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. (verse 21)
He whom God has sent speaks the words of God. (verse 34)	[Nicodemus] came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." (verse 2) For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. (verse 17) The Light has come into the world.... (verse 19)
He gives the Spirit without measure. (verse 34)	The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. (verse 8)
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. (verse 35)	For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. (verse 16-17)
He who believes in the Son has eternal life... (verse 36)	...Whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. ...Whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (verse 15-16)
He who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. (verse 36)	...He who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. (verse 18-19)

I don't believe that these connections are just incidental. In my view it seems that the writer John is recapping the main points that he wants to get across that were introduced earlier. The first time they were brought out it was in the context of Jesus dialogging with Nicodemus and the second time it is John commenting on the attitude of John the Baptist in relation to his disciples and Jesus.

There Was No One

What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. (John 3:32)

At first I thought that this verse was an overstatement, a dramatization of the resistance of people to accept God's truth as revealed in the life of Jesus. But the more I look at it and research the original words behind the translation and pray about it the more I think differently.

Another verse from the Old Testament comes to my mind in relation to this.

And He saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness upheld Him. (Isaiah 59:16)

This whole section of verses in John 3 is closely parallel to verses 11-13 earlier in this chapter. The more I look at this the more I am coming to believe that indeed not one single person on earth other than Jesus has ever truly received the testimony of God. That is reflected in the verse from Isaiah which also affirms that there was no man, even to the point of astonishing God Himself.

It was because of this very situation that Jesus was sent to become a human, to take on the situation of this earth blinded and held hostage by sin and to become THE witness for the truth about God. Jesus became a human to reveal explicitly and emphatically that God is indeed true. This is the core issue of the whole battle between right and wrong, between sin and righteousness, between Christ and Satan. No one else really believes thoroughly that God is true even though many may profess it and believe it to some degree.

He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. (John 3:33)

So evidently from the context here Jesus is the only one who has really received His testimony. He received it from His Father and is bringing it into humanity through the means of His own living out of that testimony as well as His words about God. It is only the life and death of Jesus that perfectly confirms and testifies that God really is true and that He can and will do everything that He says is true. Jesus came to reverse the lies of Satan that God cannot be trusted to speak the truth. He insinuated to Eve and Adam that God did not have their best in mind when He instructed them not to imbibe of the forbidden fruit. Humanity has lived under the spell of those lies ever since and Jesus came to bring fresh light, life and truth about God into the minds and hearts and the very soul of humanity at its core.

From this perspective it becomes more clear to me that by becoming a real Christian through the new birth experience we may not really be becoming new witnesses for God, separate witnesses from Jesus, but in fact we are simply becoming reflectors and extensions of His witness and giving voice to His testimony. That is part of what it means to live “in Christ”. Thus everything is totally dependent on Christ and His righteousness alone. Nothing, not even our testimony as witnesses and certainly not any righteousness found in us is originated with us or even becomes ours to claim ownership over. Everything in the plan of salvation for us is dependent on the life and testimony of Jesus our Messiah.

And a great voice in heaven came to my ears, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: because he who says evil against our brothers before our God day and night is forced down. And they overcame him through the blood of the Lamb and the word of their witness; and loving not their lives they freely gave themselves up to death. (Revelation 12:10-11 BBE)

Who is Speaking What?

He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. (John 3:31-34)

He who comes from above / He who comes from heaven	he who is of the earth
is above all	is from the earth
What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies	speaks of the earth
no one receives His testimony
? He who has received His testimony	? He who has received His testimony
? has set his seal to this	? has set his seal to this
? that God is true	? that God is true
He whom God has sent
speaks the words of God
He gives the Spirit without measure

This passage is raising a lot of questions for me. Some of it seems clear enough but other parts seem rather vague as to whom it is talking about. Who is it here that has received his testimony? Is it Jesus receiving the testimony of His Father or is it others receiving the testimony of Jesus?

And what about this seal? What kind of seal is this and what implications are involved? How is this testimony related to God being true?

And lastly but not least, what does it really mean that He gives the Spirit without measure? The margin in my Bible renders this somewhat differently. It says because He does not give the Spirit by measure. That puts a different light on this but how much and in what way?

As I look through various translations of this passage it raises even more questions. The NIV strongly implies that the he whom God has sent might be a person other than Jesus if I read it correctly. That would imply that any of us can become a person whom God has sent and who is to speak the words of God. This would then mesh more clearly with the last part about the Spirit being given without limit.

And maybe it is not so important that these pronouns be determined as to who they are or who they are not in the end necessarily. Jesus came to live life as an example for us to follow so what applies to Him will apply to us in very many respects. So in this case much of this will apply to both Him and us if we accept the Spirit that He wants to give us without limitations. And any limitations that are there are clearly not from His side but would be limitations that we put on God's desire to fill us with His Spirit.

There is one more thing that I feel about this passage and that I disagree with the translators. I believe from the context and the type of language used here that at this point in the chapter John the writer is no longer quoting John the Baptist but is picking up the narrative at this point. It fits much closer with things in previous parts of the passage before John the Baptist was talked about than with the words the Baptist was speaking to his own disciples.

Stand and Hear in Joy

...The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. (John 3:29)

What voice is John talking about here? Is it the audible voice that he heard whenever Jesus showed up one day and asked John to baptize Him? Or is it something much deeper than this, a voice that resonates with something deep within the soul and that has the ring of familiarity that cannot be described very well with words?

John had grown up filled with the Holy Spirit from the day he had been conceived. He had spent most of his younger life after leaving home in the desert communing with God and having his character and spirit formed and shaped by the presence of God and the Scriptures. John had a long history of listening with his heart to the voice of the right Spirit and so when Jesus, the Son of God showed up in person John instantly recognized the perfect match in what he sensed about Jesus with what he had himself been familiar with for so many years. He knew deep in his soul that had been trained in the school of heaven that this man had the same kind of spirit that he himself had been trained under.

Later on in His ministry Jesus said something that helps us to understand this better. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27) John knew more than anyone else on earth what the voice of God sounded like. And all those who allow their heart to listen to the inner voice of the Spirit of God drawing them will learn more and more to recognize that voice no matter through whom or where it comes from. And when it comes from the presence of the physical human that is also the very God who is the source of that voice to start with it will be unmistakable to those who have trained their hearts to listen to it ahead of time.

John's whole reason for existence, his sole purpose in life from before the day he was even conceived was to prepare the world for the appearance of the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. In order to be able to do this John had remained outside the influences of the world and of confused religion as much as possible. Even though the Jewish religion was the closest to the truth that there was on earth and the Jews were God's chosen people, they had become so infiltrated with false ideas about God and cluttered with added human traditions that John needed to be free of all that baggage in order to have as clear a picture as possible in his heart and mind of the real truth, the authentic spirituality needed in order to present to all his hearers the message from heaven given to him.

John knew from a very early age what his job description was. He knew that there was Someone coming after him who was to be the greatest One ever to show up on this earth and that was to bring salvation to light in a dramatically greater way than ever seen before. He also had a sense of the greatness and beauty and perfection that would be seen in this coming Messiah because he had learned nearly everything he knew about this Messiah directly from the Scriptures unfiltered and untainted by the philosophies and opinions of the religious leaders and teachers of the law. Because of this advantage John's message was much clearer and contained far more of the real power of God to convict and convince souls and hearts than anyone else had done for many years.

But I also believe that John longed to experience a personal encounter with the One for whom he was sent to prepare the way. John intuitively knew that this Messiah was going to be radically different than everyone's expectations and assumptions about Him. John had been taught by the Holy Spirit the real truths about God and about His character and holiness and he longed to see in person what was going to take place when this Messiah would show up. He also looked forward to the day when he could meet in person the Man who was the embodiment of the divine presence that he had already been familiar with all of his life. He very likely eagerly looked forward to the day when he could match a physical face with the Spirit that was already so familiar to him in his heart.

Long before John ever met Jesus in person he had been trained by God to be His best friend. John's heart and affections had for years been growing closer and closer to God. So when God showed up in human form John was eager to experience His presence in a more open and obvious dimension. I believe that is why John was ready to say the words that he is quoted as saying in these verses in John 3. He has finally met in person the One for whom his whole life and destiny had been devoted to and now it was time to step back and allow the real Bridegroom to engage personally in the work of drawing all those to Himself and His heart who were willing to respond to Him like a potential bride.

John's joy was to encounter the presence of the Bridegroom up close and personal and watch how He would work to draw the affections of His bride to Himself. John was finally seeing materialize everything that he had been sent to prophecy about and to prepare the world to experience. John was at last able to see for Himself just how the greatest Lover of the universe would treat those who were unfamiliar and suspicious of Him. John had done all he could to induce as many as possible to lay aside their mistrust of God formed by false ideas from religion and the world. He had done everything he knew how to reshape people's opinions about what God was like and to awaken them to their dangerous condition that sin had caused in their lives. Now it was time for Jesus to take over and continue the work of wooing His bride closer and closer into trusting and responding to His love.

And as John watched and sensed how Jesus masterfully and quietly dealt with people with amazing compassion, attracting them toward God in far more effective ways than John had ever been able to do, his own heart leaped for joy and even deeper love for this Messiah just as he had first done while still inside his own mother's womb when he had heard the voice of Jesus' mother. John's heart was always open to the heart of God and John was ready and eager to be the foremost in responding to the love that Jesus came to reveal to us.

When John said that the friend is one who stands and hears the Bridegroom, he was describing something deep within his own soul that was nearly impossible to explain with words. John had been preaching himself for some time and had attracted a great deal of attention, both positive and negative. But getting attention was not his primary desire for himself. He longed for the day when the real deal was going to show up, the One with the real message that would be far greater exponentially than anything the world had ever encountered before. So when Jesus finally showed up as foretold by John, John was eager to step back and turn all of the attention toward the One who could reveal the truth about God much better than anyone else could ever begin to do. John was ready to stand back and listen and allow the real Bridegroom to begin to speak and to show the world what joy was really all about.

John is an unsung hero of understanding joy better. I am starting to see that there is much more in John's life and example than I have ever thought about before. I would like to have much more of the spirit of John the Baptist myself, to have that same deep, burning desire to encounter the presence of Jesus much more fully, to rejoice spontaneously whenever I hear His voice and to do everything possible to attract others into an intimate relationship with Jesus for themselves. God, give me that spirit that leaps for joy whenever I hear Your voice.