John 3:31 - Exposition

He that is coming from above is above all. Now, it is obvious that Jesus had spoken of the Son of man as having come down from heaven ( John 3:13 ), and of his own power to speak of heavenly things ( i.e. of causes and measures of Divine operations); and he contrasts these with the "earthly things" of which he too had spoken—"earthly" they were because they dealt with experiences felt and witnessed and realized on earth. Now, John is represented, on the occasion of the baptism of our Lord, as being convinced that Jesus was "the Son of God," and that his existence was prior to his own, and that his rank in the universe was one utterly transcending his own. These statements have been already put into the lips of John by the fourth evangelist, and are scarcely exceeded, if at all, by the utterance before us. We find a bold contrast between the Logos himself and the witness to the manifested Logos. He who cometh from above, being before John, and being, therefore, in his essential dignity, superior to him, is above all, and therefore above him. He that is, in his origin and the entire self-realization of his life, from the earth , and not incarnate Logos, is of the earth in quality, and speaketh of the earth (observe, not κόσμος , but γῆ is here used). The experiences to which he refers are enacted on the earth, and he has no power to go back and heavenwards for the full explanation of them. Higher than heaven are the thoughts and revelations of the Son of God. He can unveil the heart of the eternal Father. Christ can link his own work with the ministry of the mightiest of the Heaven-sent messengers; but John starts from the consciousness, the perils, the self-deceptions and contrition of man. He that cometh out of heaven is above all. £ This great utterance is repeated, and it involves little more than what John had implied to the Sanhedrin ( John 1:30-34 ).