So, What’s So Wrong with Ritual Religion (Pt. 3) John 3:22-36

The primary purpose of John’s Gospel is to present Jesus to its readers as the Christ, the Son of God who came into the world to reveal his Father to us, and to reconcile us to him. A secondary purpose of John’s Gospel seems to be to steer its readers away from ritual religion and into a real relationship with God the Father, through the Son, by means of the Holy Spirit.

John is relentless, drilling deeply into our hearts and minds, pounding away so as to drive these two piles deep into our soul: (1) Jesus is not just a gifted teacher; he’s the Christ, the Son of God; and (2) Jesus has come to set us free from ritual religion and to lead us into a real relationship with the living God!

• Jesus Clearing the Temple During the Passover Feast – John 2:12-25 • Jesus Conversing with a Prominent Jewish Teacher Named Nicodemus – John 3:1-21 • John the Baptist Correcting His Disciples about His Relationship with Jesus – John 3:22-36

What’s so wrong with ritual religion?

Each of these three incidents reveals to us an important earmark of ritual religion—something which Jesus wants his followers to avoid at all costs!

Real Relationship vs. Ritual Religion in John 2:12-25 – An Implied Critique of Religious Hypocrisy

Real Relationship vs. Ritual Religion in John 3:1-21– An Implied Critique of the Demand for Spiritual Certainty

Real Relationship vs. Ritual Religion in John 3:22-36 – An Implied Critique of Religious Sectarianism

John 3:22-36 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized….

… {23} Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. {24} (This was before John was put in prison.)…

John Jesus

… {25} An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing….

John 2:6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

Do you also remember my referring four weeks ago to the practice of “framing” or “bookending”; how the biblical authors sometimes used this literary technique to indicate to their readers that several stories (or speeches) that might seem unrelated actually need to be viewed in relationship to each other rather than individually?

… {25} An argument developed between some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing….

What kind of “ceremonial washing” were these guys discussing, and what was the point of contention at the center of their argument?

… {26} They [John’s disciples] came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him." …

Evidently, the debate with this “certain Jew” had made John’s disciples aware that Jesus was now baptizing as well, and they, apparently concerned about this development, went to John to make him aware of it!

This “certain Jew” was, like Nicodemus, a Pharisaical teacher/leader who was debating with John’s disciples about the propriety of John (who was not a formally trained or recognized rabbi) administering a sacred Jewish ritual that was normally practiced within the confines of a synagogue.

It’s possible that this section of John’s Gospel is indicating that some Jewish rabbi/teacher, like Nicodemus, had been arguing with John’s disciples about the propriety of John, not only baptizing people in the Jordan river, but also contending that pious religious leaders, like him, needed to be baptized too!

John 4:1-2 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, {2} although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples.

Regardless of what the debate was about, it certainly appears that it resulted in John’s disciples becoming anxious over the fact that Jesus was now baptizing as well, and that more people were going to him than to John.

They [John’s disciples] came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him."

This type of attitude has a name: it’s called religious sectarianism.

Religious sectarianism is the conviction that your religious sect (or denomination) is superior to all the other sects, even within your own religion, and that only your particular sect/denomination can help people experience salvation before God.

Therefore, religious sectarianism can produce a very, very strong sense of competition between adherents of the same religion! This seems to be what was going on in the hearts and minds of John’s disciples!

In John 3:27-36, we find John the Baptist addressing the religious sectarianism at work among his disciples in four impactful ways:

First, we hear John clarifying for his disciples what his role is with respect to the coming of God’s kingdom (3:27-28).

… {27} To this John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. {28} You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.'…

Second, we hear John communicating to his disciples how genuinely happy he is about Jesus’ growing popularity (3:29-30).

… {29} The bride belongs to the bridegroom … {29} The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. {30} He must become greater; I must become less….

Third, John carefully (and humbly) explains to his disciples why Jesus is so much more important than he to the plan of salvation (3:31-35).

…{31} "The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. {32} He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony….

…{33} The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful …{33} The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. {34} For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives [or has given him] the Spirit without limit. {35} The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands….

Fourth, John concludes this corrective conversation, exhorting his disciples to recognize just how important a personal commitment to Jesus is for each and every one of them (3:36).

… {36} Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."

In addition to yet another bold presentation of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, we find in John 3:22-36 a fairly stern, straightforward warning for Christians to steer clear of religious sectarianism—especially the kind prompted by the notions that: (a) the ritual of water baptism guarantees salvation, and (b) our baptism is superior to everyone else’s!

An earmark of religious sectarianism is a tendency to want to promote our group rather than the gospel as the remedy for people’s deepest spiritual needs.

If we’re not careful, we can become guilty of suggesting to people that their greatest need is to join our group and do the Christian life our way (obeying our rules and observing our rituals), rather than to receive the gift of a real, personal (though never private) relationship with God, through his Son Jesus, by means of the Holy Spirit.

The Isenheim Altarpiece Matthias Grünewald

The world famous theologian Karl Barth had a copy of this painting hanging in his study.

How many Christian theologians ever made the cover of Time Magazine!

Indeed, throughout Barth’s writings are indications that, for him, the finger of John the Baptist pointing toward the crucified Christ is the paradigm for Christian witness and the theology which aims to promote it.

Mark 9:38-40 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." {39} "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, {40} for whoever is not against us is for us.

Are we as excited as John the Baptist and John the Evangelist were about pointing people away from religion to a real relationship with Jesus?

Do we fully understand how eager the Holy Spirit is to help us do this, if we’ll simply obey his occasional promptings for us to speak and/or act into this or that person’s life with both grace and truth?

In order to be used by the Holy Spirit to help some fiercely post-Christian friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers come to Christ, all we have to do is: listen, love, pray and point.

So, What’s So Wrong with Ritual Religion (Pt. 3) John 3:22-36