Chapter 3:22-36 Last Testimony of John the Baptist

3:22 After these things came Jesus and His disciples into the land of Judaea; and there He tarried with them, and baptized.

John began to baptize in the land of Judea therefore Christ began there, for John had said, There comes one after me.

3:23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.

In Aenon - This place was eight miles southward from Scythopolis, between Salim and Jordan.

3:24 For John was not yet cast into prison.

For John was not yet cast into prison - As he afterwards was by Herod, for the sake of Herodias, because he reproved Herod for taking her to be his wife, when she was wife to his brother Philip.

3:25 Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.

Then there arose a question - A dispute, or controversy, occasioned by the baptism, of John and Christ:
Q: Who were the disputants: 

A: Some of John's disciples, and the Jews who had not submitted to his baptism of repentance. 

--Penitents and impenitents divide this sinful world.-- 

In this contest, it should seem, John's disciples were the aggressors, and gave the challenge; and it is a sign that they were novices, who had more zeal than discretion. 

The truths of God have often suffered by the rashness of those that have undertaken to defend them before they were able to do it. 

Q: What was the matter in dispute: 

A: About purifying, about religious washing. 

--We may suppose that John's disciples cried up his baptism, his purifying, as instar omnium - superior to all others, and gave the preference to that as perfecting and superseding all the purifications of the Jews, and they were in the right; No doubt the Jews with as much assurance applauded the purifyings that were in use among them, both those that were instituted by the law of Moses and those that were imposed by the tradition of the elders; 

-*-Now it is very likely that the Jews in this dispute, when they could not deny the excellent nature and design of John's baptism, raised an objection against it from Christ's baptism, which gave occasion for the complaint that follows.

3:26 And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to Him.
and said unto him, Rabbi; or "master"; or, "our master"; which was a title of great respect, and reverence, and much in use in those times; behold the same baptizeth; takes upon Him to administer the ordinance of baptism; at least gives orders to administer it; which John's disciples thought was the proper, and peculiar business of their master; and therefore speak of this as an intrusion into his office, and an entering into his province; and an assuming that which only belonged to him: and what gave still more uneasiness, and increased the complaint, was.

3:27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
except it be given him from heaven; from God who dwells there;

who is the author and donor of every gift, temporal, spiritual, and eternal.

3:28 Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him.
John appeals to the testimony he had formerly given concerning Christ.

3:29 He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
He that hath the bride - By whom particular persons seem here to be meant, who were called, converted, and brought to Christ the bridegroom; The friend who heareth him - Talk with the bride; rejoiceth greatly - So far from envying or resenting it.

3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.

He must increase, but I must decrease - So they who are now, like John, burning and shining lights, must like him gradually decrease.

3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
He that cometh from above - Meaning Christ; Is above all; above John, before whom he was preferred, for he was before him; above the prophets of the Old Testament, and even above Moses, the chief of them; yea, above all the angels in heaven, being God over all. He that is of the earth; as John was, and all mankind are, 

being descended from Adam, 

who was, made of the dust of the earth; 

and who dwell in houses of clay, 

and in earthly tabernacles, 

which are at last resolved into their original dust:

is earthly; of an earthly nature, frame, temper, and disposition;

3:32 And what He hath seen and heard, that He testifieth; and no man receiveth His testimony.
What He hath seen and heard, that He testifieth. 

See here, 

1. Christ's divine knowledge; He testified nothing but what He had seen and heard, what he was perfectly apprized of and thoroughly acquainted with.....what He revealed of the mind of God was what He had heard immediately from Him, and not at second hand.

2. His divine grace and goodness: that which He had seen and heard He was pleased to make known to us.

3:33 He that hath received His testimony hath set to His seal that God is true.
hath set to His seal that God is true; faithful in fulfilling the promises He has made concerning the Messiah, and His coming: He firmly believes that God is true to every word of His, and will make good every promise; and this He seals, ratifies, and confirms by His embracing the testimony of Christ; whereas, on the contrary, he that believes not makes God a liar, than which, nothing can be more reproachful to him, 1 John 5:10.

3:34 For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him.

For He whom God hath sent - Still meaning Christ, who was sent 

--in human nature, 

--in the likeness of sinful flesh, 

--in the fulness of time; 

to be the Savior of the world, of that which was lost, of the chief of sinners; and to preach the glad tidings of the Gospel,

For God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him, as He did to the prophets of the Old Testament, and to the apostles of the New; and to the ordinary ministers of the word, who have gifts differing one from another.

3:35 The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand.
and hath given all things into His hand; or "by His hand"; as the doctrines of the Gospel, the gifts of the Spirit, grace, and glory: or rather, "into His hand"; with which he, being the Son of God, a divine person.

3:36 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.

He that believes on the Son hath everlasting life. 

Note, It is the character of every true Christian that he believes on the Son of God; He is the object of that faith which is made the great condition of eternal happiness, and herein he has the pre-eminence above all others: He that believeth on the Son, hath life.