Anchor My Faith

This Is According to God’s Sovereign Will

Scripture: John 3:27-28

In the previous lesson we went from Jerusalem to the Judean countryside and encountered a problem stemming from making a comparison. Some of John’s disciples were upset because the disciples of Jesus were baptizing more people than John was. Jesus knew that this comparison would be made and would raise questions, so why did he come and allow his disciples to compete with John?

How did John respond to his disciple’s statement? “John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven”’ (John 3:27 ESV). To the person that was concerned that Jesus was becoming more popular than John, because of a greater number of baptisms, John explains that what was happening was under God’s control. How does the answer given by John relate to the people going to Jesus to be baptized?

On the surface it appears that Jesus has more to offer than John. For example, changing water into wine, but there is more in the answer John gives than that. The implication is that the Father gives those of his choosing to Jesus and those he gives will come to Jesus and he will give to them eternal life. You and I “cannot receive even one thing unless it is given [to us] from heaven.” We will see this later when we study John 6:37: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out” (NASB). These people are turning away from John and going to Jesus as an illustration that God is doing this and giving them to Jesus, his Son. Coming to Jesus and into the light is only possible with the power of God. John is trying to help us understand that spiritually, people lost in their sin are unable to come to Jesus and into the light without the Father’s intervention.

John continues by saying, “You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’” (John 3:28 ESV). Again John makes it clear that he was simply a forerunner to Jesus. He is not the Christ but simply one that was sent to prepare the way. It was God’s plan for John to come and gather a people around him and then give them up to Jesus. This is our calling also. We are to reach out to people with God’s love and establish a connection with them to gain a hearing and as we do it is our responsibility to share the whole gospel, not just that part they might be comfortable with. We must make it clear to them that Jesus is the center of the gospel even if this might cause some to turn away or even to result in our or their persecution. This is not about our popularity or our safety and comfort, but about bringing people to Jesus Christ for salvation.

This brings us to a key verse of this section, which is about the bridegroom and the joy that results in being related to him. This is such a rich verse, that we will start the next lesson with.

Prayer

Father, as I worked on this lesson I am reminded of the importance of making connections with people to start conversations about their need for a savior and as they become interested through our growing friendship it is our responsibility to help them establish a relationship with Jesus that will exceed their relationship with us. I pray that the Holy Spirit will help us gather people that we can pass on to Jesus.