John 3:22-36

Then Jesus and his disciples left for a length of time into the Judean countryside where they baptized the people. At this time John was still baptizing people at Aenon, near Salim, where there was plenty of water, and the people kept coming for John to baptize them. (This was before John was thrown into prison.) An argument started between John’s disciples and a particular Jewish man about baptism. So they went to John and asked him, “Teacher, are you aware that the One you told us about at the crossing place—he’s now baptizing crowds larger than yours. People are flocking to him!” John answered them, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless God bestows it. You’ve heard me tell you that I am not the Messiah, but certainly I am the messenger sent ahead of him. He is the Bridegroom, and the bride belongs to him. I am the friend of the Bridegroom who stands nearby and listens with great joy to the Bridegroom’s voice. Because of his words, my joy is complete and overflows! It is necessary for him to increase and for me to decrease. “For the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks from the natural realm. But the One who comes from above is above everything and speaks of the highest realm of all! His message is about what he has seen and experienced, even though people don’t accept it. Yet those who embrace his message know in their hearts that it’s the truth. “The One whom God has sent to represent him will speak the words of God, because God has poured out upon him the fullness of the Holy Spirit without limitation. The Father loves his Son so much that he has given all things into his hands. Those who trust in the Son possess eternal life; those who don’t obey the Son will not see life, and God’s anger will rise up against them.”

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