Patrick Comerford
Our Easter celebrations continue in the Church Calendar, and this week began with the Second Sunday of Easter (Easter II) or, in the calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church, with Easter Day. The Calendar of the Church of England in Common Worship today remembers Isabella Gilmore (1842-1923), Deaconess; she was also a sister of the poet, artist and designer William Morris.
Before today begins I am taking some quiet time early this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, reading today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
John 3: 31-36 (NRSVA):
31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true. 34 He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.
Today’s Reflections:
Today’s Gospel reading (John 3: 31-36) is a problematic text, with inherent problems in the text itself and problems with the interpretations of the passage.
Traditionally, this passage has been taken as the continued testimony of John the Baptist, which began in John 3: 27. Many recent scholars have seen verses 31-36 as the comments of the author of the Fourth Gospel. But some translations have quotation marks, others do not, and there are no quotation marks in the original text to indicate who is speaking, or who is commenting or making observations.
Typically, the passage is interpreted as a contrast between Jesus, the one coming from above, and John, the one from the earth. It is traditionally understood that this speaks of the ontology of these two figures, Christ being divine in nature, having come from heaven to earth, and John being of human nature, having his origin on earth. Some commentators have expanded the contrast with Christ to include all the Hebrew prophets before John.
But is this interpretation consistent with the flow of thought of the immediate context?
In verses 27-30, John testifies that Jesus has the greater role to play and that he must become greater while he himself must become less. Then verse 31, in this view, contrasts Christ and John, or perhaps John and all the prophets, asserting Christ’s superiority to John.
Verses 32-34 then tell why Christ’s testimony is superior to John’s and the remainder speaks of Christ’s position in God’s plan. But this interpretation is not without its problems.
These passages follow the conversation Jesus has been having with Nicodemus, which we have been reading over the past three days, from Monday to Wednesday.
Who is talking here, and who is speaking?
Is the speaker Jesus, who has been speaking to Nicodemus (John 3: 1-21)?
Is the speaker John the Baptist, who has been answering questions put to him (see John 3: 22-24)?
Or is the speaker the author of Saint John’s Gospel?
Since there is no punctuation in the original Greek, no quotation marks, no commas, no semicolons, no full stops, no question marks, it is a judgment call whether this is John the Baptist, John the Gospel writer, or even a summary of Jesus words to Nicodemus earlier in this Gospel. Certainly, the Greek text can be interpreted in any of these ways way precisely because quotation marks and punctuation marks are not there.
In the traditional interpretation, John 3: 31-36 is a continuation of John’s testimony about Jesus that began at verse 27. Another interpretation sees verses 31-36 as commentary by the Gospel writer. In this view, John’s testimony ends at verse 30 and verses 31-36 are the comments of the author on John and John’s testimony about Christ, as compared to that of the religious leaders.
The speech in this smaller section at the end of Chapter 3 appears to be a repetition of Christ’s address to Nicodemus earlier in the chapter, according to Raymond Brown, who points out that almost every one of the six verses here have a counterpart there.
I suppose, therefore, we should understand these verses in the light of the problem of Nicodemus. They represent the revelation of Jesus even if they appear, because of the context, to be the words of John the Baptist.
But some commentators see this passage as an explanation by John the Baptist for the reasons he must decrease while Christ must increase, and of the ways in which he is different from Jesus.
It is interesting that the words for testify and testimony in verses 33-34 are derived from the word μαρτυρία (martyria), which not only means witness, testimony or judicial evidence but also gives us the word martyr.
I am interested too in the Trinitarian interpretation that we may read into verses 34-35. We are witnesses not only to the mission, life and work of Jesus but witnesses to, martyrs for, the God who is revealed and who acts as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Χριστὸς ἀνέστη!
Christ is Risen!
Today’s Prayers (Thursday 16 April 2026):
‘Stocked with Hope’ provides the theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), pp 46-47. This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by Mayank Thomas, Programme Manager, the Synodical Board of Social Services, Church of North India.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Thursday 16 April 2026) invites us to pray:
Lord, bless Christians in North India. Inspire them through informal interactions, prayers, and community events to find acceptance in the God who sees them.
The Collect:
Almighty Father,
you have given your only Son to die for our sins
and to rise again for our justification:
grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness
that we may always serve you
in pureness of living and truth;
through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
Lord God our Father,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ
you have assured your children of eternal life
and in baptism have made us one with him:
deliver us from the death of sin
and raise us to new life in your love, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Additional Collect:
Risen Christ,
for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred:
open the doors of our hearts,
that we may seek the good of others
and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace,
to the praise of God the Father.
Yesterday’s Reflections
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
