The Increase Of Christ
THE INCREASE OF CHRIST
When I was young, many things in the Bible bothered me, one of which is in John chap ter three. Although this chapter is so elevated, speaking about the rebirth (vv. 3-21), it seemed to me that suddenly, beginning at verse 22, it be came rather low. Verse 22 says, "After these things, Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea; and there He stayed with them and bap tized." When I read this verse as a young man, I thought that there was no need for it. It seemed to me that such a record was unnecessary. I felt the same about verse 23, which says that John was baptizing in Aenon near Salim because there was much water there. I was also bothered by verse 24, which says that John had not yet been thrown into prison. I asked, "What is all this about? After the mention of heavenly and spiritual things, why are things such as imprisonment mentioned?" The reason for this appears in verse 26. "And they came to John and said to him, Rabbi, He Who was with you across the Jordan, of Whom you testi fied, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him." Why did John include all of these verses?