We looked yesterday at John the Baptist’s reaction to Jesus having more followers, a section which ended with:

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3.30, ESV)

Then a remarkable set of declarations about Jesus. I don’t know why ESV (and others) close John the Baptist’s quote at verse 30. Why wouldn’t he say the rest of chapter 3, verses 31 – 36? MSG has it as John the Baptist speaking. NIV closes John the Baptist’s quote at verse 30 with a note that “some interpreters end the quotation at verse 36.”

Maybe the declarations of that paragraph go beyond what John the Baptist knew, and therefore, interpreters see it as the Apostle John filling in. But John the Baptist clearly knew who Jesus was. At any rate, it’s good stuff whether said by John the Baptist or John the Apostle:

• He who comes from above is above all.
• He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way.
• He who comes from heaven is above all.
• He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.
• Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.
• The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
• Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life;
• whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3.31 – 36, ESV, bulleted for clarity)

The last two bullet points are John 3.36, which I learned in the King James as:

He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Notice that KJV has “believeth…believeth not.” While ESV contrasts “believes” with “does not obey.” But the Greek is “disbelieve.” NAS has “not obey” also with a footnote to “not believe.” Amplified uses “disobey.”

And he who believes in (has faith in, clings to, relies on) the Son has (now possesses) eternal life. But whoever disobeys (is unbelieving toward, refuses to trust in, disregards, is not subject to) the Son will never see (experience) life, but [instead] the wrath of God abides on him. [God’s displeasure remains on him; His indignation hangs over him continually.]

So “believe” is stronger than we think, and its opposite is “not obey.” Which leads us to the alleged death-bed conversion of cartoonist Scott Adams, brilliant creator of Dilbert. Stay tuned.

I’ve been camped out in John 3.22 – 36 the past few days… As a friend would say, “dense text.” Let’s start with John the Baptist’s well-known reaction to the fact that more people were now following Jesus than John. Here’s how it sets up:

After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized (for John had not yet been put in prison). Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” (John 3.22 – 26, ESV)

We’ve already observed from John 4.2 that Jesus himself wasn’t baptizing – I don’t know why that’s important. And it’s amusing that “a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification.” Apparently there have been “discussions” about baptism/purification for centuries!

But John’s response is classic:

John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3.27 – 30, ESV)

• “My ministry” isn’t mine.
• “I’m not the Christ.” (Just a Voice – Mark 1.1 – 8)
• “He must increase, but I must decrease.” – Not a bad attitude for any of us! End of story on the alleged importance of John the Baptist.

There’s more, and I don’t want to rush through… Stay tuned.

We never know what we’re going to get with Isaiah! Judgments on the nations from chapters 13 – 23. Judgment on the whole cursed world in chapter 24. And then…(BOOM!)…Isaiah 25, a message of hope.

O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. (Isaiah 25.1, ESV)

…

For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat… (Isaiah 25.4, ESV)

…

On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 25.6 – 8, ESV)

Compare Revelation 21:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”(Revelation 21.4, ESV)

And this praise:

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” (Isaiah 25.9, ESV)

It’s really nice in The Message:

Also at that time, people will say, “Look at what’s happened! This is our God! We waited for him and he showed up and saved us! This GOD, the one we waited for! Let’s celebrate, sing the joys of his salvation. (Isaiah 25.9, MSG)

Amen.

We’re moving through a section of Isaiah that pronounces judgment on various nations (Isaiah 13 – 23). In chapter 24, Isaiah pronounces a curse upon the whole earth:

The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse devours the earth, and its inhabitants suffer for their guilt; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are scorched, and few men are left. (Isaiah 24.5, 6, ESV)

Is this reminiscent of Romans 8?

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8.19 – 22, ESV)

Somehow we think that the natural order of things ought to be peace and joy. And for most of us in the US, it is, most of the time. Then violence breaks out in Minnesota, for example. Oh my! But for some people, maybe most people in the world, that’s ops normal. We’re coming up on the 4th anniversary of Russian’s invasion of Ukraine, for example.

Sometimes we need to be reminded that we’re not yet on the New Earth:

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21.1 – 4, NIV)

We’ll have death, mourning, crying and pain UNTIL the former things have passed away.

I was continuing my parallel reading in John’s gospel while also following our Prophets Reading Plan. I started to read the last half of John 3 about Jesus and his disciples baptizing people in the Judean countryside along with John the Baptist. But I wanted to find the verse that said that Jesus didn’t baptize. It’s in John 4:

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples)… (John 4.1, 2, ESV)

But it’s verse 1 that grabbed me: “Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John.”

Years ago, Randy Pope, a Presbyterian pastor in Atlanta, told us at a Navigator staff conference that he disagreed with our use of the word “disciple.” We were living by a progression. I was taught:

• Decision (as at a Billy Graham Crusade or responding to someone sharing the gospel one on one)
• Convert (Someone that sticks. When I was on staff of a large church, we would send out teams to the apartments behind the church to share the gospel. From time to time, someone would burst into my office: “Bob, we were sharing the gospel and someone made a decision for Christ! Now what do we do?” I had a plan for following them up, but… we never saw any of those people again. The “decisions” didn’t turn into a “converts.”)
• Disciple: the convert is followed up and begins to grow.
• Disciple-maker: the disciple matures and begins to reproduce the process.

This is widely accepted terminology. I just saw this in an email from The Forum of Christian Leaders:

Why is it that so many women are believers but not disciples? How can we faithfully call women to true discipleship? In this talk, we discuss the current landscape of women’s discipleship, are reminded of why discipleship is so important, and gain practical resources in paving the way forward for women to make disciples who make disciples.

“Believers” -> “Disciples” -> “Disciple-makers”

This is not a bad rubric, but Randy said it wasn’t consistent with scripture. And here’s the verse: “…making and baptizing disciples.” Randy said, “We make a disciple, then we train a disciple.” Combine John 4.1 with Matthew 28.18 – 20, and we have:

• Make disciples
• Baptize disciples
• Train disciples

Disciple just means follower. It doesn’t connote any level of proficiency. The baptism marks the beginning of the journey. After baptism, they have to be trained.

As an analogy, an Army recruit becomes a soldier immediately upon signing the paper. He’s given a uniform (baptism?). Then he’s trained. Before long he’s training others. But he’s a soldier from the beginning.

The Marines do it a bit differently. They earn the title “Marine” by completing boot camp.

Does it matter what we call the stages of the process? Probably not, as long as we remember there is a process, a process that sometimes isn’t completed:

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. (John 6.66, ESV)

Moving along, we’re in Isaiah 22 which opens with a warning of impending judgment on Judah. Then this observation: God took away Judah’s protection, and Judah tried to fend for itself rather than look to God.

He has taken away the covering of Judah. In that day you looked to the weapons of the House of the Forest, and you saw that the breaches of the city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, and you counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall. You made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool.

But you did not look to him who did it, or see him who planned it long ago. (Isaiah 22.8 – 11, ESV)

“…the weapons of the House of the Forest…” refers to Solomon:

King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of gold went into each shield. And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. (1 Kings 10.16, 17, ESV)

Then this condemnation I’ve not noticed before: God called for repentance, and the people threw a party:

In that day the Lord GOD of hosts called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and wearing sackcloth; and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

The LORD of hosts has revealed himself in my ears: “Surely this iniquity will not be atoned for you until you die,” says the Lord GOD of hosts. (Isaiah 22.12 – 14, ESV)

King Belshazzar in Babylon while Daniel was there did the same thing…

King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. (Daniel 5.1 – 4, ESV)

…and was judged in the same way:

But you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored …MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians…That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. (Daniel 5.23 – 30, ESV)

We’re going through the prophets this year in our Reading Plan, and some chapters are harder than others. Isaiah 21 is such a chapter. I’m sure we could glean something out of it if we spent enough time researching the geography. It does contain the famous line:

Fallen, fallen is Babylon. (Isaiah 21.9, ESV)

Reminds me of:

After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was made bright with his glory. And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. (Revelation 18.1, 2, ESV)

But that’s all for me…let’s go back to John’s gospel for a different kind of sobering word:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3.17, ESV)

This is Jesus talking. He came to save the world even though he knew the world would reject him then…and now:

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3.19, 20, ESV)

It’s not just “Babylon” that will be judged.

I saw something striking in John 2 after Jesus cleanses the temple (John 2.13 – 16). He is challenged by the Jews and offers an enigmatic reply.

So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he was speaking about the temple of his body. (John 2.18 – 21, ESV)

But the next sentence is the kicker. This is John’s gospel. John, who walked with Jesus for three years. What does John say about himself and his fellow followers?

When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. (John 2.22, ESV)

After the resurrection, the disciples believed. Think about that.

Rest assured, the greatest evidence of the resurrection of Jesus is that we have what we call the New Testament telling us about it. Without the resurrection, there wouldn’t have been anyone to write the New Testament!