John 3:22-36 (Sermon Outline)
Sermon Outline
John 3:22-36
I. Opening Illustration
a. I once read that Leonard Bernstein, director of the Philharmonic Orchestra for many years, was asked what was the hardest instrument in the orchestra to play. The famous orchestra leader said, “Second fiddle!” As any musician knows, every instrument is vital to the harmony of the orchestra. The finest musician in each section of the orchestra … always occupies first chair. However, there can be no triumphant harmony without those playing 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th chair.
b. Second fiddle was the role that God called John the Baptist to fulfill. His role was to prepare for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and pointing all who would listen to Jesus. The role of 2nd fiddle is not an insignificant role but rather a substantial one.
II. Introduction:
a. This morning we will be looking at John 3:22-36, which informs us of events that take place in the Judean countryside, after Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem. The main idea in this passage is that John the Baptist is telling everyone that his ministry and his life is all about pointing others to Jesus. Behind the scenes of this passage of Scripture is also an official and permanent transition that is taking place, where John the Baptist, and the old era that he was a part of are fading out into the past, while Jesus and the new era have officially and permanently begun.
b. It is important to note that this section of scripture is the 4th consecutive section that point out ways in which Jesus fulfills and vastly surpasses the purification rituals that contemporary Judaism had been participating in up to that point. In fact, John has carefully positioned Jesus against the practices of contemporary Judaism in order to show that He is far superior.
i. In John 2, he demonstrated that the water that was turned into wine, demonstrated how the empty stone jars used for purification, were not obsolete, and that Jesus was providing New Wine for God’s people (John 2:1-11).
ii. In John 2:12-25, Jesus displaces the temple in order to demonstrate that the temple (which was full of compromise) is best seen as a signpost, pointing us to Jesus (John 2:19), the true Mediator between God and man.
iii. In 3:1-21, Jesus fulfills prophecies of “water and Spirit” rebirth foretold of by Ezekiel, and explains how His future death of being lifted up on the cross (and then resurrecting from the dead) is the ultimate fulfillment and cure for the poisonous and deadly bite of sin.
iv. And this morning in John 3:22-36, the Bible will clearly demonstrate how Jesus surpasses John the Baptist, as well as any baptism or rite of purification he may represent.
III. Message: The main idea of this passage is that John the Baptist is telling everyone that his ministry and his life is all about pointing others to Jesus. That is what John is devoted to in life. And it is this idea that has inspired the Big Question that we will be answering together this morning, which is “How do we point others to Jesus?” If you would please stand in honor of reading God’s Word, we are going to seek the answer to that question together.
a. How do we point others to Jesus? We PRACTICE what we preach (3:22-24)
i. READ: John 3:22-24
ii. In this opening passage we read in (v.22), “After these things”, speaking of the things that took place in Jerusalem, where Jesus cleared the Temple, and then spoke with Nicodemus. The Bible tells us that Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. According to John 4:2, Jesus Himself, actually did not perform baptisms, but His disciples did.
iii. And so we see that Jesus and John were both baptizing with their disciples, but as I mentioned earlier, this is a monumental moment as John the Baptist and the Old era he represents is fading out, while Jesus and the New era He represents is coming forth.
iv. But the main idea I want to point out here in this opening passage is the fact that John the Baptist is a man who pointed others to Jesus, and the way he pointed others to Jesus is that he practiced what he preached. How did John practice what he preached? Well, he not only prepared the way for Jesus by pointing others to Him before Jesus arrived, but we see in this mornings passage, that John continued pointing others to Jesus after Jesus arrived. And the reason this is important, is because like so many of us, it could have been very difficult for John to let go of the ministry God entrusted to him for so long, now that Jesus had come. John was popular, and he was powerful for God, and because of it, he had a lot of people who were faithful to him. John could’ve turned inward and ugly and been a stumbling block to others once Jesus came onto the scene and everyone started following Him. That’s human nature. But John didn’t. John practiced what he preached, which was that Jesus is above all, and because Jesus is above all, you have to follow Jesus and not me.
v. It is this idea that has inspired the first answer to this mornings’ big question. How do we point others to Jesus? We PRACTICE what we preach (3:22-24)
vi. Just as John pointed others to Jesus by practicing what he preached, and we will clearly see that as we continue on in this passage, we too, must be the kind of followers that never stumble others because of our own pride and selfish ambition, but we too, like John must continue to point people to Jesus.
vii. As we move onto the next passage in (vv.25-29), we are going to see that the way John was able to continue practicing what he preached, was because he was able to maintain a clear perspective of who he was, and who Jesus is. In fact, that is the 2nd answer to the Big Question this morning, and what we will be unpacking together next.
b. How do we point others to Jesus? We maintain a clear PERSPECTIVE of who Jesus is (3:25-29)
i. READ: John 3:25-29
ii. And so here we see something that has unfortunately been common throughout the history of the church. The moment there is an “apparent” competition in ministry disputes arise out of jealousy and selfish ambition.
i. In (vv.25-26) we read that because Jesus was now baptizing people also, John’s disciple’s got upset and began “disputing” with others. In their minds everyone was leaving John in order to join Jesus. This is an injustice they thought. And so they come to John and basically say:
1. YOU were here first!
2. YOU baptized him!
3. He was with YOU (by implication – He was YOUR disciple)
4. The crowds were coming to YOU!
5. God called YOU to baptize the people!
6. This is not fair, YOU need to do something!
ii. This is often the case in life when others appear to be doing better than we are in life. It can give birth to jealousy and envy. My neighbor has a better job than I do. My high school buddy makes more money that I do. That person has a bigger house than me, that other person has a better car than me. That person has a better education than me. On and on the comparisons come, but it is toxic, and a sure sign that you are focused on the wrong things in life. You are not pointing anyone closer to Jesus. The only thing you are doing with that mindset, is pointing yourself away from Jesus because your heart is in the wrong place, causing your focus in life to be on the wrong things.
iii. It is vital for you and me to stay out of that trap. The comparison game trap, because it will pollute your heart and mind.
iv. And so we see, that John once again practices what he preaches, by pointing them away from him and to Jesus. John corrects them by saying, “Guys, it’s not about me!”
v. John makes 3 powerful statements to remind them of this:
1. In (v.28) John reminds them that they are witnesses to the fact that he said, “I am not the Christ,” but “I have been sent before Him.”
2. John is not the bridegroom, but the “friend”: In (v.29) John compares Jesus to a bridegroom and himself to the groom’s friend, the best man. His role was to prepare the wedding festivities and to make sure the wedding went smoothly. The best man’s job was to make sure the bride was there and the wedding could begin. Once the groom showed up, his job was complete. He did what was asked of him. What best man after fulfilling his responsibility is going to get angry because the groom showed up and married the bride? John’s point to his disciples is that Jesus is the groom, and he has come to marry his bride. John doesn’t matter anymore. John doesn’t want people to ignore the groom and focus on him. His joy comes from watching the bride and groom come together. This idea of Jesus being the Bridegroom and His followers being the bride is a theme found throughout the New Testament. The apostle Paul uses this imagery in writing to the Corinthians when he says, “I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). The church is the bride, and Jesus is the groom. In the book of Revelation, we read that the apostle John was given a glimpse of the wedding, which will take place at the end of time; “Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself” (Rev. 19:7). John tells his followers that much like the best man rejoices over his friend getting married, John is rejoicing over Jesus. And it is the Bridegroom that gets the bride!
3. The third thing John does to point them to Jesus is he states, “He (Jesus) must increase, but I (John) must decrease.”
iii. As we move onto the final passage in (vv.30-36), we are going to see that because John maintained a clear perspective of who Jesus was, he was able to fulfill God’s purpose for his life. That is the final answer to this morning’s big question that we will be unpacking together.
b. How do we point others to Jesus? We know our PURPOSE as believers (3:30-36)
i. READ: John 3:30-36
ii. John’s purpose was not to achieve fame or recognition. His purpose was to bring glory to Jesus Christ. He lived so the popularity of Jesus would increase. John wanted to make Jesus popular, not himself!
iii. John is a powerful reminder to us of knowing God’s purpose for our life and then giving God our very best in trying to fulfill that purpose.
iv. But the moment we stop focusing on Jesus and start focusing upon ourselves is when we start running into trouble in our life.
v. READ: Matthew 5:16
vi. The purpose God has given to us in life is to let our light shine before men so that they may see our good works, and then glorify our Father who is in heaven. Jesus is the star of the show, not us. We are to shine as stars, for the purpose of doing what John the Baptist did, which is point others to Jesus.
vii. My family and I have been blessed to go up to Hume Lake a handful of times since we have been at BFC, and one of the things I really love about Hume Lake is when the nighttime comes and stars begin to come out. There are no city lights for them to compete with up there, no haze or smog, just the cool, clear mountain air. As night deepens, the intensity of the stars and the moon grows. It is so amazing to see how bright the stars get at night when the sky gets darkest. Any yet, every morning the sun would come up, and the stars, as bright as they were, would start to fade. When the sun appeared, the stars were unnecessary. John the Baptist was a star, but when the Son of God came, the star faded away.
IV. Life Application:
a. The Big Question we have been answering this morning is, “How do we point others to Jesus?”
i. We PRACTICE what we preach (3:22-24)
ii. We have a clear PERSPECTIVE of who Jesus is (3:25-30)
iii. We know our PURPOSE as believers (3:30-36)
