What is the meaning of John 3:23? Now John was also baptizing John’s ministry has not ended; it runs alongside Jesus’ early work (John 3:22, 24). By recording that John “was also baptizing,” the Spirit shows: • John stays faithful to the task God gave him (John 1:33). • The overlap allows a living illustration of John’s words, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). • The scene honors John’s continued call to repentance, echoing Matthew 3:1–6, even while directing eyes toward Christ (John 1:29). at Aenon near Salim The verse pinpoints an actual location, grounding the narrative in real geography. Just as John earlier baptized “at Bethany beyond the Jordan” (John 1:28), he now serves in a new spot. Scripture’s specificity reminds us that God works in ordinary places—streams, deserts, villages—wherever His servants are sent (Acts 8:26 ff.). The move northward toward Samaria also widens the reach of John’s message, foreshadowing the Savior’s border-crossing grace (John 4:4–6). because the water was plentiful there Abundant water matters because baptism by immersion requires it—an outward picture of cleansing and new life (Matthew 3:16; Romans 6:4). The detail also underscores God’s practical provision: He places His messenger where the resources match the mission. Similar language appears when the Ethiopian eunuch exclaims, “Look, here is water!” (Acts 8:36). In every age, God supplies what obedience needs. and people kept coming Crowds stream to John, hungry for truth (Luke 3:7; Matthew 11:7–10). Their steady arrival highlights: • The Spirit’s convicting work awakening repentance (Luke 7:29–30). • The credibility of John’s witness—“John performed no sign, yet everything he said about this man was true” (John 10:41). • A foreshadowing of the greater gathering to Christ Himself (John 6:37). to be baptized They come not for spectacle but for a decisive act of repentance. John’s baptism “was a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus” (Acts 19:4). It marks: • Confession of sin (Mark 1:4–5). • Commitment to turn from self-rule to God’s rule (Luke 3:8–14). • Preparation for receiving the Lamb who “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Though symbolic, the rite bears real spiritual weight because it responds to God’s revealed word. summary John 3:23 shows a faithful servant carrying on his God-given mission in a God-chosen place with God-supplied resources, drawing God-prepared hearts to a baptism of repentance that readies them for the coming Savior. |
    |