John 3:22-25 22After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing. 23But John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and they were coming out and being baptized, 24for John had not yet been thrown in prison.
The scene changes with these verses. The amount of time between Jesus’ discussion with Nicodemus and the events of these verses is unclear. It is clear now that Jesus had gathered disciples, though John has not told us their names or how many there were. The Judean countryside would have been the land of Judea around the Jordan River where there was plenty of water for baptism. John’s Gospel is the only one that records Jesus baptizing people. In the Synoptics, John the Baptist baptizes as part of his preparation for the Messiah. Jesus’ baptism here most likely refers to water baptism and not the baptism with the Spirit, which came after Jesus’ resurrection.
The purpose of these verses seems to be a comparison betwen Jesus’ ministry and John’s ministry. John continued his ministry of baptizing even after he pointed out Jesus as the Lamb of God. His area was around Aenon near Salim. The location of this is uncertain. Aenon means “springs,” so there would have been plenty of water to do the baptisms. People were still going out to him and listening to his message. He continued his ministry until Herod threw him into prison. John had a lot of influence, which verses 23-24 indicate. John, the author, points this out to set up the sharp contrast between the greatness of John the Baptist as compared to the even greater Son of God.
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