Reading for July 2: John 3:22-24

22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. 24 For John had not yet been thrown into prison
John 3:22-24 (NKJV)

Comments:

This week we are going to read John the Baptist's last testimony concerning Jesus. We will see how John the Baptist fading into the background and Jesus coming to the forefront also signifies the passing from the old covenant to the new covenant. The old covenant displayed God's holiness and man's sinfulness through the law. The new covenant ushered in by Jesus provides the salvation that is proven to be needed by the old covenant. The transition between those two occurs as the last prophet under the old covenant, John the Baptist, steps aside for the One that he had came to prepare the way for, Jesus Christ.

These first three verses give us the setting for the coming events. "After these things," indicates that the coming events happened some unspecified amount of time after Jesus' ministry during the Passover in Jerusalem (cleansing the Temple, doing miraculous sign, and teaching). It says that from Jerusalem they went in the land of Judea. Jesus and His disciples went there for two reasons. First it says, "He remained with them." The NASB translates that as "He was spending time with them." This was probably a time of considerable teaching and training. The disciples were learning how to be disciples. The other thing they were doing in the land of Judea was baptizing. Remember that this is a baptism of repentance only (just like John the Baptist was doing) not the Christian Baptism that we know because the Christian Baptism could only be performed after the death and resurrection of Christ.

Next we see the where and what of John the Baptist. He was also baptizing at a place called Aenon (name means "springs"). He continued in his ministry of preparing people for the messiah through repentance. And it says that people were still coming to be baptized by John.

At this point people could not tell much difference in Jesus and John, but John in this passage is going to clarify how vastly different they are. It is very important for Christians to understand the difference, not only in John and Jesus' ministries but more importantly the differences between the old and the new covenants.