Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 2 Study # 1
December 3, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: Jesus went into "The Judean Earth" to deliberately force the issue of "purification".
Introduction: We have come in our studies to a new paragraph of Author-John's record this morning (
3:22-36). It is quite long and will require a significant amount of care on our part if we wish to understand what Author-John wanted his readers to understand. Because it is the beginning of the Christmas/New Year period in our calendar and culture, our studies in this unit of thought may be a bit disjointed, but for our purposes this morning, we are going to begin to look into it. There are several indicators in John's way of moving into the content of this material that will help us to find out what he was driving at when he wrote it.
- I. The First Indicator: "Meta Tauta".
- A. The meaning.
- 1. It is legitimately translated, "After these things".
- 2. It signals a change of direction in Author-John's record, but calls upon us to remember what "things" he had already recorded.
- B. The significance of this phrase in the light of John's use of it in this Gospel record.
- 1. The first use of this phrase is found in 2:12 where Author-John shifts from his record of 2:11 and its statement that "This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed into Him".
- a. In this text/context, the "after these things" statement refers to the material from 1:37 (where we are told of Jesus' initial accumulation of "disciples") to 2:11 which has its focus upon the wedding feast in Cana where Jesus turned a very large amount of water into wine.
- b. In this text/context, there is a very brief note that the alteration of the water into wine occurred when the water was in water pots that were on hand because of "the Jewish custom of purification" (2:6).
- 1) As it turns out, the issue of "purification" is also involved in this new paragraph to which we have turned this morning.
- 2) This issue, "a discussion on the part of [Witness] John's disciples with a Jew about purification" (3:25) is also indicated by Author-John to be, perhaps, the reason for Jesus' move into "the Judean earth" (4:1-2).
- 2. Our current text, beginning with 3:22, is John's second use of this phrase and it refers to the "things" recorded about Jesus' rather violent purging of the Temple and a subsequent conversation with Nicodemus, "The Teacher of Israel".
- II. The Second Indicator: "The Judean Earth".
- A. The translators opted for "the land of Judea" even though this specific phrase is only used by Author-John in the entire New Testament and only in this one place.
- B. The word translated "land" is the same word that is used in this same paragraph in 3:31 where its use indicates that there is a significant flaw in all things "earthly".
- C. Author-John puts this word in Witness-John's mouth as he seeks to correct his very "earthly" and misguided disciples, beginning with their attitude toward the Temple that had been turned into a place of merchandise by thieves and robbers.
- D. Thus, I conclude that Jesus' move into "The Judean Earth" is a deliberate move to force the issue of the problem of the concept of Jewish purification.
- III. The Third Indicator: "Jesus Spent Time With His Disciples And Engaged In Baptizing".
- A. This activity was primarily associated with Witness-John's water-baptizing ministry regarding "forgiveness on the basis of repentance".
- B. This "baptizing" was one of the major concepts of "Jewish purification".
- IV. The Fourth Indicator: "A Discussion On The Part Of John's Disciples With A Jew About Purification".
- A. The "Jew" involved was an integral part of "The Judean Earth" delusions.
- B. It is apparent that both this "Jew" and "the disciples of John" thought that there was a discrepancy between Witness-John's message and ministry of baptizing and that of Jesus and His disciples.
- 1. This "discussion" created a conflict in the minds of John's disciples about Jesus that this "Jew" also, apparently, considered: they accused Jesus to Witness-John as though there was something wrong about Him.
- 2. This raises this issue: what is it about "the Judean Earth" that Jesus sought to highlight?
- a. There is only one probability: the issue of "purification" (which was highlighted by the "impurity" of "The Jewish Earth" and its focus upon the Temple).
- b. The disciples of John and this "Jew" had associated "the washing with water" with "purification", but Jesus' teaching was that one's sins were washed away by "faith into Him", not by a totally ineffectual cleansing of the "earthy" by water.
- 3. The bottom line: God does not operate on the basis of external behavior issues but, rather, on the basis of genuine internal attitudes toward Himself and His Son (highlighted by the "these things" of The Purging of the Temple followed immediately by the long discussion with Nicodemus regarding "faith into the Son").
