John 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. ³²He testifies to what He has seen and heard, but no one accepts His testimony. ³³The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴For the One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ³⁵The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in His hands.

John the Gospel Writer’s Commentary or John the Baptist’s Continued Speech?

Some suggest that John now offers his comments on the whole of chapter three. If so, he ties John the Baptist’s humble testimony into Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus by magnifying Jesus. Jesus is the One from above – and He is above all. John the Baptist was a great man (Mathew 11:11; Luke 7:28), but the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater. He is merely an earthling – and he speaks as one from the earth. Praise God for him, but fall on your knees at the feet of Jesus. If it is John still speaking, then he is glorifying Christ as Emmanuel – God with us. He is stepping down from his office of “Preparer of the Way” and pointing all comers to the King of Kings – Jesus Christ. Either way, we get a beautiful picture of Christ and His authority.

Notice the end of v32: “No one accepts his testimony.” Which ever John is speaking here, the point is that John the Baptist’s testimony to Christ was not widely accepted. Certainly more than “no one” accepted his testimony, as a couple of his own disciples left him to follow Christ. “No one” here means few when compared to the vast number of unbelievers. And that’s why v33 tells us that the one who accepts his testimony has made God out to be truthful – even though we who believe are few in number. If we believe what John says about Jesus, then we show that God is true. If we disbelieve John’s testimony, then we make God out to be a liar (1 John 5:10).

Much has been made of v34, when John says, “[God] gives the Spirit without limit.” Commentators are divided over this verse, but it seems pretty clear to me, at least from the context. Some take this verse out of context to say that God gives the Spirit to all men everywhere without limits, and it is then up to them to decide whether to accept it or reject it. That interpretation is just not an option here. But whoever is speaking is clearly testifying to the greatness of Jesus. Jesus is clearly portrayed as One on whom the Spirit of God has come to rest. So it is to Christ that the Spirit is given without limit. If anyone ever had the fullness of the Spirit, it was Jesus Christ. As jars of clay, we are leaky – Jesus didn’t leak. And we, amazingly, by union to Him through faith, are constantly being renewed and refilled with the Spirit. Finally, v35 not only confirms what we’ve just said about v34, but also displays the Father’s love for the Son and the authority that the Father has given the Son. Everything is in His hands – your house, your car, your job, your wife, your children, your hair, your clothes, your food, your breath, your mind, your heart, your life. When we sing, “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” we think of the Father, but here we see that the Father has given it all to the Son.