Joh 3:31 "He who
comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of
the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 "And what He has seen
and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony
Have you noticed some of
the things that John has been talking about here are just echoes of what Jesus
was speaking to Nicodemus?
In verse 27 he said, “A
man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” Jesus told Nicodemus in verse 5, “unless one
is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (being
born again is a gift from heaven!)
In verse 31 John says: "He
who comes from above is above all.´ Jesus told Nicodemus in verse 13, “"No
one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son
of Man who is in heaven.” (Jesus has come from above!)
In verse 31b John says: “he
who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from
heaven is above all.” Jesus told
Nicodemus in verse 12, "If I have told you earthly things and you do
not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”(Jesus is
above all!)
In verse 32 John says,
“"And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives
His testimony.” Jesus told Nicodemus in verse 11, “We speak what We know
and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.”(Jesus’
testimony is from the Father!)
Uncanny isn’t it? How
could John know the very things that Jesus had spoken to Nicodemus? How could
he pass along these same teachings to his disciples? The answer of course is
that John was being led by the same Holy
Spirit. This repetition (as with all repetition in Scripture) puts extra wallop
in his words as we see the convicting and confirming work of the Spirit in
action.
This is the sound
biblical principle of scripture interpreting scripture, and a reminder to us
all that when things are repeated in scripture, they are important and worthy
of extra attention.
In this case, it is
vital that we understand that Jesus “came from above and is above all!” It is
vital that we note that He testifies of the things He has “seen and heard from
the Father.”
Jesus is above all! Bow
to Him! Believe that He has a message for you directly from the Father. Hear
it! Receive it! Obey it!
No comments :
Post a Comment