John 3:22

After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them and baptized.

THE FINAL WITNESS OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

Into the land of Judaea ... is somewhat of an indefinite location of Jesus' activity at this point; but Hendriksen suggestion the location was "not far from Jericho, near the fords of the Jordan."[20]

This Gospel gives the Judean ministry of Christ, almost totally omitted by the synoptics. The Spirit of God directed the apostles in the choice of the material they included. Jesus had definitely stressed the fact that the Gospel should first be offered to the Jews and then to the Gentiles (Luke 24:27; Acts 1:8); and "to the Jew first" became a slogan of the missionary work of Paul, and presumably of all the apostles. How fitting, therefore, that the Lord himself should have carried his great message first to the Jews as revealed in this Gospel, and as we should not have known if only the synoptics existed. Furthermore, this Judean ministry explains a number of statements in the synoptics which, in the light of this Gospel, are clear references to the Judean ministry. Thus, Jesus said in Matthew that he had "often" attempted to gather the citizens of Jerusalem unto himself (Matthew 23:37). See Matthew 26:6; Mark 14:3if, and Luke 13:34,35, all of which are trace references to the great Judean ministry of Jesus which occurred before John the Baptist was cast into prison, a fact John stressed, thus making it very early in the Lord's ministry. This Judean part of it lasted from May until December.

His disciples ... probably refers to the six already mentioned in this Gospel: Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, and Nathaniel. It is not certain if more had been added at this time or not.

He tarried with them and baptized ... It must be assumed that Jesus took up the work of carrying forward God's work already being evident in the labors of John the Baptist, and that the baptism administered by Jesus (through his disciples) was God's baptism exactly like that of the great herald. It must not be thought that Jesus, in any sense, was here working under the administration of John the Baptist. John was a servant carrying out God's orders; and Jesus was a Son doing the same thing; but in order not to mislead anyone, Jesus refrained from administering God's baptism personally, doing so only through his disciples.

This taking a hand in the preaching of baptism, on the part of Jesus, was probably the result of our Lord's having seen the urgent need in his interview with Nicodemus. With the blindness of the religious leaders in their rejection of John the Baptist's preaching, it was clear that John needed all the help he could get; therefore, Jesus encouraged his disciples to take a hand in the baptizing. The connection of John's baptism (so-called) with the kingdom of heaven lies in the fact of its being the only baptism submitted to by the Lord's disciples prior to Pentecost; for all such, it was not necessary for them to be baptized again, but only to receive the Holy Spirit, thus completing in them the new birth. After Pentecost, the old baptism was no longer valid, but was replaced by the baptism of the great commission.

Nothing may be made of the fact that Jesus did not baptize, but his disciples baptized. See under John 4:2. What one does through his agents he is lawfully said to do; therefore Jesus baptized. Why did he refrain from doing so personally? It might have given rise to jealousies and strife, later on, through some claiming greater privilege in having been baptized personally by the Lord. Perhaps, as noted above, it was to avoid any mistaken notion that Jesus was one of John's subordinates. Furthermore, although Jesus had submitted to God's baptism as preached by John, and for a time administered by himself through his disciples, he was nevertheless above John's baptism in the sense that baptism in his own blessed name was designed to succeed it. For more on the baptism of Christ, see my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 3:13.