John 3:23

John 3:23 says, And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.  John the Baptist was baptizing in Aenon, near Salim, because there was much water there.  He needed a lot of water, because he was immersing people, and not sprinkling them, and he still had a lot of people coming to hear him who believed his preaching.  Verse twenty-four adds, For John was not yet cast into prison.  John was not yet thrown into prison.  As he was writing this, John the Apostle knew what happened to John the Baptist, and that he had been faithful even to his death.  We today need to remember that baptism is a depiction of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection as we are dipped under the water and raised back up out of the water.  Verse twenty-five continues, Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying.  We also need to have the faith to be obedient, even to death.  John's disciples and the Jews began to have a dispute about purification. John's disciples believed in purification by the baptism of repentance, and the Jews who had not accepted John's ministry believed in purification by the Jewish laws.  Then, there was Jesus.  He, through His disciples, was now baptizing, as John's disciples pointed out.  The Jewish leaders may have feared that more and more people would start baptizing and they would lose their position.  Verse twenty-six states, And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.  John's disciples saw the fact that Jesus' disciples were baptizing as disrespect to John.  After all, John had baptized Jesus.  In the world, Jesus is always the dividing point.  We either believe in Him as our Savior at the exclusion of all else or we attempt to ignore or discredit Him.  We cannot hold on to past beliefs or positions in the world to bring us salvation.  There is Jesus, and He is the only way. John's disciples were concerned that more people were coming to Jesus than to John, but that was what John was preparing them for.  He was calling on them to make ready for the coming of Christ the Messiah.  We today do not call on people to follow us or even to join the church, but to make ready for and receive Christ as their Savior.  Once they do, He will lead them to what He wants them to do with their life.