There was therefore a reasoning of the disciples of John with a Jew about purification.
John's followers are baptizing in one place, and Jesus' disciples in another. A dispute over purification breaks out, and the text never says how it ended — or where real purification is found.
The dispute did not come out of nowhere.
The gathering to Him, which had begun east of the Jordan, was now going on to the west. The Lord had left Jerusalem and was in the land of Judea. His disciples, as 4:2 tells us, were baptizing, apparently copying John's practice. The common report spread that the Lord Himself baptized. Two parties were then at work: John on one side, and the disciples of Christ on the other. They were in different places far apart, and clearly not in step with each other. A question might easily arise: Which should people follow? Had the Baptist's star begun to set?
The word points to Israel's system of ritual washing.
During the Lord Jesus' ministry on earth, the question of the day was about purification. It was raised between the disciples of John and a Jew. The Jews wanted their ceremonial purification, so that they could treat someone of another nation as "common or unclean." … John's ministry struck straight at ceremonial purification. Though John was born into the family of Aaron, he found his place of ministry not in the temple but in the wilderness. He "came in the way of righteousness." Being descended from Abraham, or keeping rules, did not meet what his ministry demanded. Repentance was an inward moral purification. It stood far above the Jewish ceremonial order. Yet it still stood far below the new order of purification that John's ministry only introduced.
Notice what the passage does not do. It never rules on the dispute. The subject changes to Jesus. (Manuscripts differ here: some read "a Jew," as the ESV does, and others "the Jews.")
It is interesting that nobody directly answers the question about purifying raised in verse 25 between John's disciples and the Jews. No doubt the Jews linked baptism with purifying, for baptism does imply cleansing. But this outward cleansing is only a symbol of the deeper, spiritual cleansing that people need. There is no doubt that John knew this. But they do not raise it with him directly. Instead they tell him that the Lord Jesus had been baptizing, and that many were coming to Him. No doubt John's answer does take care of the purifying question too. It points to the One who alone could bring real, living purification to people's souls.
So where is purification really found? One writer points to the cross.
Yet only baptism to Christ — that is, to His death — answered the question of purity and the need of it. … "After making purification for sins [that is, in His atoning death on the cross], He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1). We see now where purification is found. The believer who enters into the meaning and value of that death before God can accept the exhortation, "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." Here, and here alone, this question about purification is fully answered.
The argument itself left John's disciples unshaken. What unsettled them was the crowd moving elsewhere.
A Jew's reasoning did not ruffle them. In their souls they could not help feeling how much higher John's call and his baptism stood — a baptism to repentance in the faith of the coming Messiah. But the nearness of Jesus disturbed them. So did His power to draw people, veiled as that power then might be.
The report they carried to John looks like loyalty, and reads like bait.
We are not told how it was settled. But it gave the others an occasion to come to John and say, "He who was with you across the Jordan … is baptizing, and all are going to Him." Their aim was clearly to stir up a spirit of jealousy in him. They told him, in effect, that the tide of his popularity was running toward his Master, and that people were deserting him.
John does not argue the case. He answers with a principle that dissolves it.
What strikes me is John's way of settling all questions, right or wrong. He finds a perfect solution for all of them in the presence of his Lord. "John answered: A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven." … What a perfect cure for strife, envy, jealousy and rivalry! … Not one atom of good on earth except what comes from heaven. Not an atom of good in man except what comes from God. Why then should anyone boast, or be jealous, or envious?
- Occasion. Two groups were baptizing at once, and the crowds had to choose. That is fertile ground for a dispute about washing.
- Subject. "Purifying" meant Israel's ceremonial washing. John's call to repentance had already cut across that system.
- Silence. The argument is never settled on its own terms. The text moves straight past it to Christ.
- Answer. Real purification is not in water but in His death, entered by faith.
- Test. The question exposed hearts. John's disciples felt eclipsed. John traced every gift to heaven and refused to compete.
And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, he who was with thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, he baptises, and all come to him.
Word reaches John that the crowds are now going to Jesus instead. The way his visitors report that news tells us as much about them as it does about Jesus.
The report grows out of an argument in the previous verse about ceremonial washing. Watch what happens to that first question.
It is interesting that no one directly answers the question raised in verse 25 between John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. No doubt the Jews connected baptism with purifying, for baptism does imply cleansing. But this outward cleansing is only a symbol. It points to the need for a deeper, spiritual cleansing. There is no doubt that John knew this. But instead of speaking to him directly about this, they inform him that the Lord Jesus had been baptizing, with many coming to Him. No doubt John's answer does take care of the purifying question too, for it points to the One who alone could truly accomplish purification for people's souls.
They greet John with a title of respect — one that belonged to Jesus as well.
A title of respect among the Jews, meaning 'master, teacher'... It was applied to the Lord, though often translated 'master'... According to the Jews the levels of honour rose from Rab to Rabbi, and from there to Rabban or Rabboni.
Their headline — that Jesus was baptizing — was not exact. The Gospel corrects it later. What matters more is where John looked for his answer.
Now this was a mistake, for "Jesus Himself did not baptize, but only His disciples." But this is not the point here. What strikes me is John's way of settling all questions, right or wrong. He finds a perfect solution for all in the presence of his Lord.
An argument with a Jewish opponent had not shaken these men. Something else did. Commentators differ on who brought the news. Some say John's own disciples. Others say Jews who saw a chance to stir him up.
A Jew's reasoning did not ruffle them. Their souls could not help feeling the moral superiority of John's call and his baptism of repentance, in the faith of the coming Messiah. But the nearness of Jesus disconcerted them, and so did the fact of His attractive power, veiled as it then may have been. Their appeal to their master took the form of zeal for one who had been quick to acknowledge the dignity of Jesus when He came to John for baptism.
Notice how they describe Jesus: not by who He is, but by His link to John — the one who was with you, the one you testified about. That turns the true order of value upside down.
They make John the important man, and Christ the secondary person. "See," they say to John, "how He treats you." John reminds his disciples of his own testimony about Christ.
The sting is in the last phrase: all are going to Him.
Their object was clearly to stir up a spirit of jealousy in him. They told him, in effect, that the tide of his popularity was running toward his Master, and that he himself was being deserted.
That instinct has an older source, and it is aimed here at the two people it could least fit.
Here they try to set up that horrid, awful spirit of rivalry between the forerunner and the Master, and the devil is the prime mover in it.
John had already called himself only a voice. Now the news put that claim to the test.
Here was something designed to test the heart of the Baptist. Could he bear to lose all his disciples? Was he prepared for desertion? Was he really up to the height of his own words? Was he merely a voice, a nothing and a nobody? These were fair questions, for we all know it is one thing to talk humbly and another thing to be humble.
- Occasion — A dispute about ceremonial washing turns into a report about Jesus baptizing. John's reply points to the One who can truly cleanse.
- Distortion — The messengers define Christ by His link to John. That makes John the important man and Christ the secondary one.
- Bait — "All are going to Him" aims to stir jealousy. It tells John the crowd has drained away to his Master.
- Test — John had said he was nothing but a voice; losing his followers now measures whether he meant it.
- Answer — John settles every question, right or wrong, in the presence of his Lord.