John 3:26Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

What then do they say? "He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness." That is, He who was among your disciples, who had nothing more in Himself than we have, has separated from you and is baptizing.

They thought to stir John not only by this, but also by saying that their glory was now being overshadowed. "All," they say, "are going to Him."

From this it is clear that they had not overcome even the Jew with whom they had disputed. They spoke in this way because they were still imperfect and not yet cleansed of vainglory.

How far John was from sharing these thoughts with them is shown by his words, Jn 3:27-30: "It is not in a man's power," he said, "to appropriate to himself more than has been given him from above.

That is, just as it is not in my power to become higher than the place God Himself has assigned me, and I cannot pass beyond the boundary appointed for me, so Christ could not draw the hearts of all to Himself if God did not lead them to Him.

Nor could He do so if God did not reveal to people in Him what I cannot impart. But you yourselves must bear me witness that this success of Jesus is wholly consistent with what I have always told you.

I never presented myself as the Messiah, but only as the messenger before Him, who must prepare His way. My purpose has been attained. The height of my joy has been fulfilled.

I have brought the bride, the Church, to her Bridegroom, the Messiah. She belongs to Him, and in Him alone will she find complete rest. He must increase, but I must decrease."

In these last words one sees a presentiment that the end of his earthly course is not far away. Indeed, when he crossed to the other side of the Jordan, into Perea, where Herod Antipas reigned, he was seized there as a reprover of his lawlessness.

Thus, although this incident did nothing harmful to Jesus, the continual growth of His company did not cease to torment the hostile observers who watched Him.

But the Baptist had not succeeded in developing their understanding to grasp this truth: his teaching was, in the proper sense, a preliminary and preparatory school for them.

Looking upon their teacher with boundless respect, they considered it some injury to his honor when they saw the people increasingly hastening for instruction to Jesus, to whom John had borne witness. They expressed this openly before their teacher.

Both Aenon and Salim are places not precisely determined. On the basis of ancient ecclesiastical writers, they should have been in Samaria. In that case, Jesus Christ's activity during this time was near the Jordan, within the limits of the tribe of Judah.

But in Josh 15:32, among the cities in the tribe of Judah in southern Palestine, Shelehim or Selhim and Ain are indicated. These are plainly consonant with Salim and Aenon.

If these are the same cities, then Jesus Christ's activity during this time was in southern Palestine.

What first draws attention in their words is that they do not even wish to call the Lord by name. They simply say, "He who was with you. Behold, He is baptizing, and all are going to Him."

To John's disciples the conduct of Jesus Christ seemed in general an unforgivable rivalry with their teacher, an anticipation of his work, and a humiliation of him.

Blessed Theophylact beautifully unfolds this thought: "Those who disputed about purification, that is, about baptism, come to their teacher and begin to incite him.

They say, Teacher, He who was with you, who had the rank of a disciple, has separated and is baptizing. He to whom you bore witness, that is, whom you baptized and made distinguished, dares to do the same as you.

Moreover, some do not heed you, but all heed Him, for all are going to Him and leaving you."

To this explanation one may add only that John's disciples yielded to the suggestion of the treacherous Pharisees, cf. Mt 9:14.

By their appeal to their teacher, they might have accomplished what the Jews were actually seeking: to stir up open disagreement between the Baptist and Christ. Then they would have a plausible pretext to treat them both with their usual contempt.

But what do they hear in answer from their teacher? Did he renounce his former testimonies concerning Christ? Did he acknowledge his own baptism as having greater significance than the baptism of Jesus?

John, as we shall see further, gave the answer that one ought certainly to expect from the Forerunner of the Messiah. He did not give the answer expected by his disciples, who had been incited by treacherous Jews.

But this answer was already his final testimony concerning Christ. From that moment, John the Forerunner completely disappears from view.

Probably he was soon afterward shut up by Herod in prison, where he later ended his life as a martyr.

According to the Evangelist, they entered into dispute with John's disciples about purification, that is, about the purification performed by the baptism of John and of Jesus.

In the eyes of the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus and John were only prophets. Both, though Jesus through His disciples, baptized. Both had disciples.

Could they not set at odds, if not the prophets themselves, at least their disciples, and thus undermine their influence among the people? Those whom the Evangelist John calls Jews undoubtedly reasoned in this way.

The Evangelist does not say how the dispute about purification ended. Yet from the question of the disciples to their teacher, which he records, it is clear that the Jews succeeded in turning them against Jesus so much that they do not even call Him by name.

They say, "He who was with you beyond the Jordan."

As though defending John's primacy, his disciples, with undisguised envy, draw their teacher's attention to this. The One to whom he bore witness, who therefore needed such testimony and so was lower than their teacher, Himself baptizes, and all go to Him.

They fear that the growing glory of Jesus will overshadow the glory of their teacher.

Then they imply that the Lord stands in dependence on John, as one baptized by him. Therefore, in their opinion, He is lower than the one from whom He received baptism.

"To whom you have borne witness." Not having understood the force of the Baptist's testimony concerning Jesus, and being excessively attached to their teacher, they suppose that the witness is above the one to whom he bears witness.

They think that the latter receives his significance from the former, and therefore is lower than he, cf. Chrysostom.

"He is baptizing," through His disciples, Jn 4:2. The disciples seem to complain to John about Christ, because He is doing the same thing as their teacher.

The implied question is this: By what right does He do this? Does He have such a right? How should one regard the baptism performed by Him, or by His disciples?

"And all are going to Him." Even in this exaggeration, the same feeling is disclosed. John also was baptizing, yet they tell him that all are going to another.

They are jealous and envious because the number baptized by the Lord's disciples is increasing, while their own is diminishing. John introduced baptism, and now another anticipates this work and draws more people to Himself than their teacher, the founder of this act.

All this awakens in them jealousy, envy, and perplexity, joined with some irritation. Using this occasion, John, with wondrous calm, humility, and depth of spirit, reveals the whole greatness of Christ compared with himself, and His ministry compared with his own.

It began to be performed only after Christ's redeeming death and Resurrection, and after the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, Acts 2:38; 8:15-17.

This was in fulfillment of the words of the risen Savior: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," Mt 28:19.

At the same time as Christ's disciples, John the Baptist also continued to perform baptism. More people were going to Christ. This is how it had to be.

But John's devoted disciples were saddened by the weakening of the people's attention to their teacher. The Pharisees took advantage of this touching attachment of the disciples to John, which reached extreme blindness.

They stirred up in them envy and ill will toward Jesus Christ and His disciples. Equally malicious toward Christ and His Forerunner, the Pharisees wanted to sow discord between the disciples of both.

By this they hoped to reduce their influence on the people to nothing. Stirred up by the Pharisees, the disciples of John the Baptist turned to him with an expression of their dissatisfaction.

"Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold, He is baptizing, and all are going to Him," v. 26.

It is also suggested by verse 26 of this chapter. There one clearly sees the cunning desire to set one teacher against the other, and in this way, if possible, create enmity between them.

The Pharisees thought this enmity might lead to the destruction of both teachers' influence.

We insist that precisely the Pharisees played this treacherous role, as is clear from verse 28. John says, "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him."

But this testimony of the Baptist, according to Jn 1:19-20, was spoken to priests and Levites sent from the Jews in Jerusalem. In Jn 1 it is said, "Those who had been sent were from the Pharisees."

Let us note that those who now question John intentionally do not say, "whom you baptized." They do this so as not to recall John's testimony that He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

They also avoid reminding the people of the voice from heaven and of the sign of the Holy Spirit's descent. They speak in indefinite words: "to whom you have borne witness."

They do this in order to put forward the circumstance that the Lord was, as the Pharisees thought or intentionally said, a disciple of John who had become greater than his teacher.