When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus makes and baptises more disciples than John
The chapter opens with a report, not a miracle: the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was gaining more followers than John the Baptist. Why did the Son of God answer their jealousy by leaving Judaea, and why does John say that Jesus Himself did not baptize?
The verse names Him in two different ways. One writer notes who uses each name, and how the Lord came to know the report:
Notice "the Lord" used by the writer of the Gospel, and "Jesus" used by the Pharisees. For "the Lord," compare John 6:23, John 11:2, John 20:20. "Knew" — that is, supernaturally.
The same writer points out who actually did the baptizing, and what the Lord already knew was coming:
His disciples had little idea of the depth of the glory in Him, or of the blessing for man that came with it. They baptized eagerly, and so exposed their Master to the spite of those who could hardly bear His increase and honour. Notice that it was not He, but His disciples, who baptized. He knew the end from the beginning. They might baptize people to Him as Messiah. But He, the Son of God, knew from the first that He must suffer and die as the Son of Man. So the baptism He instituted came afterwards, and pointed to His death and resurrection. The Son of God knew what was in man, even when man wanted to honour Him for the signs He did. He knew just as well how His disciples' activity would affect the religious men of that day.
The word order in the verse settles a practical question about baptism:
Do I need to quote John 4:1 to prove how foolish it is to think that baptizing is the means of making disciples? "Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John." Baptizing, then, is the outward mark of someone who is already a disciple... We never hear of Peter, or anyone else, going first to baptize; they went to preach, and then those who received the word were baptized.
One writer names the group behind the report and the reasons for their hostility:
Very early, as we have seen, opposition arose (2:18). Now we learn of a group more bitterly opposed to Him than any other: the Pharisees. His teaching condemned their hypocritical practices. And it seems that the spread of the new movement stirred up their jealousy, since people saw Him as its head.
His answer to the whispering was to leave. One writer sees in that a kindness aimed at John as much as at Himself:
John gladly took the place of decreasing so that his Master might increase. The Master withdrew to Galilee so that no one might set up a rivalry, which would have hurt His servant so much. Such was His thoughtful care for John. What is more, treating Him that way would have belittled the Lord Himself. It would have placed Him alongside John as a kind of party leader.
Their jealousy did more than move Him a few miles. It emptied the land of the one thing that made it privileged:
It was the jealousy of the Pharisees that really drove the Lord out of Judaea. What was that land any longer? What was it without Him, above all, when it rejected Him and He abandoned it? They might boast of the law, but they had not kept it. They might claim the promises, but He — the promised One who fulfils them all — had been there, and they did not know Him or love Him. What use was the first covenant to them now? It could only secure their condemnation; it could bring no deliverance.
What closed in Judaea opened elsewhere, and the move was toward freedom, not retreat:
He had left the religious centre of men, so that nothing could hinder His display of grace... In the freedom of His own grace, He goes to the place where He can meet the most wretched heart on earth. He goes there to fill it by revealing Himself.
- Knew — He knew the report supernaturally, just as He knew from the first that He must die. Nothing caught Him off guard.
- Made — the word received makes a disciple; baptism then marks him out. The washing never manufactures one.
- Envied — the Pharisees resented the growing crowd, and His teaching condemned their hypocrisy.
- Withdrew — He refused the role of a rival party leader, sparing John and guarding His own honour.
- Overflowed — jealousy emptied Judaea of its Messiah and carried His grace out to the neediest heart He could find.
(however, Jesus himself did not baptise, but his disciples),
The Pharisees heard that Jesus was baptizing more disciples than John. The writer of the Gospel breaks in to correct them: the baptizing was real, but the hands were His disciples' hands, not His own.
Before asking why He held back, it helps to see what His followers were doing, and what their baptizing meant:
Here at the start we find Jesus with His disciples in Judea, and baptizing. Yet we are told at once that the Lord did not baptize Himself — only His disciples did (John 4:2)... In the New Testament, baptism is always to death. Christian baptism is to Christ's death (Rom. 6:3). To take your place in death is to profess repentance... Yet through His disciples He could confirm this truth, while taking care to keep His own place apart.
The reason lies in what He knew about His own mission:
Jesus did not Himself baptise, for He knew the whole extent of the counsels of God in grace, the true object of His coming. He could not bind souls by baptism to a living Christ. The disciples were right in so doing. They had so to receive Christ. It was faith on their part.
Another writer explains what that rite could reach, and what it could not:
Christ had before Him the counsels of God, to bring sinners into heavenly blessings. So He could not carry out a rite that only linked them with Himself on earth, even though it did separate souls from the guilty nation. For the disciples, at the moment it was right to baptize; for in the faith of their souls they knew Christ only on earth.
The disciples worked with zeal, but their view of Him was smaller than the truth:
The disciples had little idea of the depth of the glory in Him, or of the blessing that would follow for man. They baptized with zeal, and so exposed their Master to the spite of men who could barely stand His increase and honour. Notice that it was not He, but His disciples, who baptized. He knew the end from the beginning... They might baptize to Him as Messiah; but He, the Son of God, knew from the first that He must suffer and die as the Son of Man... So the baptism He set up came after His death and resurrection, and pointed to them.
One writer draws out what the disciples could do, and what only He could do:
The Lord now leaves Judea. He knew what the Pharisees were thinking about His baptizing more disciples than John. The Lord Himself did not do the baptizing. He left that to His disciples. They could bury the dead, but He is the giver of life.
The gift of the Spirit is itself called a baptism. One writer takes the Lord's own conduct here as the proof that the two baptisms must never be mixed:
Baptism with the Holy Spirit is a true initiation into a spiritual state. It must never be confused with any baptism of water. The Lord's own conduct draws that line: "Jesus Himself did not baptize, but only His disciples" (John 4:2).
The same pattern appears later with Peter and Paul, and it settles a question about who may baptize:
Notice in passing that baptizing is in no way a task only a minister may do. It can be quite right and fitting for someone preaching the gospel to baptize. But a case might well arise where the preacher would avoid doing it himself. Paul thanked God that this was so with himself at Corinth. Peter here did not baptize either. He simply "commanded them to be baptized." God is always wise.
- Correction. The rumour said Jesus was baptizing. The writer breaks in: the hands were His disciples'. He kept His own place apart, and through them confirmed the truth.
- Knowledge. He held back because He knew the whole plan of God. No rite could bind souls to a living Christ whose death and resurrection were still ahead.
- Timing. For the disciples it was right at that moment, because they knew Him only on earth. The baptism He set up came after His death, and pointed to it.
- Distinction. He did not baptize with water, and that draws a line no one should erase. Water baptism is one thing. Baptism with the Spirit is another.
- Delegation. What He left to others, others may do. Baptizing needs no special office. Giving life He kept to Himself.