John 3:31 Study Bible: He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

◄ John 3:31 ►

The One who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth. The One who comes from heaven is above all.

Study Bible

He who comes from above
This phrase refers to Jesus Christ, emphasizing His divine origin and authority. The Greek word for "above" is "anōthen," which can mean "from above" or "again." In this context, it underscores Jesus' heavenly origin, contrasting with earthly origins. This highlights the unique nature of Christ's mission and His authority to speak on spiritual matters, as He is not merely a prophet or teacher but the Son of God who descended from heaven.

is above all
This phrase asserts the supremacy and preeminence of Christ over all creation. The Greek word "epanō" means "above" or "over," indicating not just a physical position but a rank of authority and power. In a historical context, this would resonate with early Christians who faced various earthly authorities, reminding them that Christ's authority surpasses all human and spiritual powers.

He who is of the earth
This phrase refers to those who are born of earthly origin, contrasting with Christ's heavenly origin. The Greek word "ek" means "from" or "out of," indicating a source or origin. This highlights the limitations of human understanding and authority compared to the divine wisdom and authority of Christ. It serves as a reminder of the fallen nature of humanity and the need for divine intervention.

belongs to the earth
This phrase emphasizes the earthly nature and limitations of human beings. The Greek word "ek" is again used here, reinforcing the idea of origin and belonging. It suggests that those who are of the earth are bound by earthly limitations and perspectives, unable to fully comprehend or convey heavenly truths without divine revelation.

and speaks as one from the earth
This phrase indicates that those of earthly origin can only speak from an earthly perspective. The Greek word "laleō" means "to speak," and it implies that human speech is limited to human understanding. This serves as a contrast to the divine wisdom and authority of Christ, who speaks with the authority of heaven.

He who comes from heaven
This phrase reiterates the divine origin of Christ, emphasizing His heavenly authority and mission. The Greek word "ouranos" means "heaven," and it signifies the dwelling place of God. This reinforces the idea that Jesus is not just a messenger but the incarnate Word of God, bringing divine truth and salvation to humanity.

is above all
This repetition of the earlier phrase serves to reinforce the supremacy of Christ. It is a powerful reminder of His ultimate authority over all creation, both earthly and spiritual. In a scriptural context, it echoes the themes of Christ's lordship found throughout the New Testament, encouraging believers to trust in His sovereign power and divine wisdom.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Jesus Christ
Referred to as "The One who comes from above," emphasizing His divine origin and authority.

2. John the Baptist
The speaker in this context, contrasting his earthly ministry with the heavenly origin of Jesus.

3. Heaven
The place from which Jesus originates, signifying His divine nature and authority.

4. Earth
Represents the human realm, limited in understanding and authority compared to the divine.

5. Judea
The region where John the Baptist was ministering and where this discourse takes place.

Teaching Points

Divine Authority of Christ
Recognize and submit to the authority of Jesus, who is above all earthly powers and wisdom.

Heavenly Perspective
Seek to align your thoughts and actions with the perspective of Christ, who comes from above, rather than being limited by earthly views.

Humility in Ministry
Like John the Baptist, acknowledge our earthly limitations and point others to the supremacy of Christ.

Eternal vs. Temporal
Focus on eternal truths and values that come from above, rather than being consumed by temporary, earthly concerns.

Witnessing with Confidence
Share the gospel with confidence, knowing that the message of Christ carries divine authority and power.

Bible Study Questions

1. How does understanding Jesus' divine origin and authority impact your daily life and decision-making?

2. In what ways can you cultivate a heavenly perspective in your thoughts and actions?

3. How can you, like John the Baptist, point others to the supremacy of Christ in your interactions?

4. What are some practical ways to focus on eternal truths rather than being consumed by earthly concerns?

5. How does the authority of Christ give you confidence in sharing the gospel with others?

Connections to Other Scriptures

John 1:1-14
Establishes the divine nature of Jesus, affirming that He is the Word made flesh, who came from heaven.

Colossians 1:15-20
Describes Jesus as the image of the invisible God, preeminent over all creation, reinforcing His authority "above all."

Philippians 2:5-11
Highlights Jesus' humility and exaltation, showing His divine origin and ultimate authority.

Hebrews 1:1-4
Speaks of Jesus as the radiance of God's glory, superior to all, aligning with the theme of His heavenly origin.

1 Corinthians 15:47
Contrasts the first man, Adam, from the earth, with the second man, Jesus, from heaven.

Sermons

Aenon Near to Salim	C. Geikie, D. D.	John 3:22-36
All Men May Come to Christ	W. Bridge.	John 3:22-36
Christ Attracts Sinners	T. Watson.	John 3:22-36
Christ Sufficient for All	Bowden.	John 3:22-36
Jesus and John and Their Disciples	Bp. Ryle.	John 3:22-36
John and Jesus	G. J. Brown, M. A.	John 3:22-36
John First, Then Jesus	C. S. Robinson, D. D.	John 3:22-36
John's Joy Fulfilled	W. Bridge.	John 3:22-36
The Attractive Power of Christ	Biblical Treasury	John 3:22-36
The Controversy About Purifying	A. Beith, D. D.	John 3:22-36
The Masters and the Disciples	A. B. Grosart, D. D.	John 3:22-36
The Ministry of John	Bp. Wordsworth.	John 3:22-36
An Earthly Mind	J. Trapp.	John 3:31-36
Christ Above All as a Teacher	D. Thomas, D. D.	John 3:31-36
Christ is Above All	J. Donne.	John 3:31-36
Christ is God as Well as Man	J. Hamilton, D. D.	John 3:31-36
Christ Often Refused	R. Brewin.	John 3:31-36
Christ the Divine Teacher	H. Bushnell, D. D.	John 3:31-36
Christ's Testimony Receive	James Stratten.	John 3:31-36
Christ's Testimony to be Received	A. Beith, D. D.	John 3:31-36
Earthly Mindedness		John 3:31-36
Experience the Teacher's Best Helper	C. H. Spurgeon.	John 3:31-36
Few Hearers Saved	Train.	John 3:31-36
John's Last Testimony to Christ	A. B. Grosart, D. D.	John 3:31-36
Many Men are Deaf to the Charms of the Gospel		John 3:31-36
Seal	Recovery of Jerusalem.	John 3:31-36
Sealed unto Christ	G. H. Smith.	John 3:31-36
Sealing the Truth		John 3:31-36
Set to His Seal	James Stratten.	John 3:31-36
The Best Evidence of the Truth of Christianity	J. Parker, D. D.	John 3:31-36
The Purpose of Sealing	A. Beith, D. D.	John 3:31-36
The Sealed Testimony	W. G. Lewis.	John 3:31-36
The Sureness of Christ's Testimony and its Rejection	G. Hutcheson., Doddridge.	John 3:31-36
The Testimony and the Seal		John 3:31-36
The Testimony of Human Experience to the Divinity of Christ	H. W. Beecher.	John 3:31-36
Why Men Refuse Christ	Archdeacon Hare.	John 3:31-36

People

Jesus, John, Nicodemus

Places

Aenon, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Judea, Salim

Topics

Belongs, Earthly, Greater, Heaven, Origin, Speaketh, Speaks, Teaching

Dictionary of Bible Themes

John 3:31

2018 Christ, divinity
2030 Christ, holiness

John 3:30-31

2069 Christ, pre-eminence

John 3:31-34

8496 witnessing, importance

Library

Notes on the Third Century
Page 161. Line 1. He must be born again, &c. This is a compound citation from John iii. 3, and Mark x. 15, in the order named. Page 182. Line 17. For all things should work together, &c. See Romans viii. 28. Page 184. Lines 10-11. Being Satan is able, &c. 2 Corinthians xi. 14. Page 184. Last line. Like a sparrow, &c. Psalm cii. Page 187. Line 1. Mechanisms. This word is, in the original MS., mechanicismes.' Page 187. Line 7. Like the King's daughter, &c. Psalm xlv. 14. Page 188. Med. 39. The best …
Thomas Traherne—Centuries of Meditations

September 14 Evening
Ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son.--I COR. 1:9. He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.--Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Be ye . . . followers of God, as dear children.--If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. The brightness of his glory, and the express image of his …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

February 28 Morning
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.--JOHN 3:16. God . . . hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

March 31 Evening
What communion hath light with darkness?--II COR. 6:14. Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.--Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Darkness hath blinded his eyes.--Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. The dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.--Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 26 Evening
The Lord Jesus Christ . . . shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.--PHI. 3:20,21. Upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. This was the appearance of the …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 8 Evening
They shall see his face.--REV. 22:4. I beseech thee shew me thy glory. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.--No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.--I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh. I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 29 Evening
That blessed hope, . . . the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.--TIT. 2:13. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil: whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus.--Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things.--When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

November 18 Evening
I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half was not told me.--I KGS. 10:7. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.--We beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. My speech and my preaching was . . . in demonstration of the …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 2 Morning
If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only.--I SAM. 7:3. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.--Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.--Ye cannot serve God and Mammon. Thou shalt worship no other …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

May 3 Evening
Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.--II COR. 7:1. Dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.--Teaching us that denying ungodliness and wordly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.--Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.--Not as though …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 11 Evening
Behold, I make all things new.--REV. 21:5. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.--If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.--Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump.--The new man, which after God is created in righteousness …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 19 Morning
Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.--HEB. 12:14. Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.--There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth.--There is no spot in thee. Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.--As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 16 Morning
It pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell.--COL. 1:19. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.--God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.--Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

September 3 Morning
Neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.--EXO. 13:7. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.--Abhor that which is evil.--Abstain from all appearance of evil.--Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

December 14 Evening
By nature the children of wrath, even as others.--EPH. 2:3. We ourselves also were sometime foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.--Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Job answered the Lord, and said, Behold, I am vile: what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.--The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

January 14 Evening
[The woman's seed] shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.--GEN. 3:15. His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men.--He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. This is your hour, and the power of darkness.--Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. The Son of God was manifested, that he might …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

July 3 Morning
If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.--ROM. 8:17. If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.--Thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.--Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Father, I will that …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

April 20 Morning
There shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand.--DEUT. 13:17. Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing.--Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.--Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Beloved, now are we the sons of God . . . And it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

June 21 Evening
I sought him, but I could not find him: I called him, but he gave me no answer.--SONG 5:6. O Lord, what shall I say, when Israel turneth their backs before their enemies! and the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, for they have even taken of the accursed thing . . . and they have put it even among their own stuff. Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The Brazen Serpent
'Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.'--JOHN iii. 14. This is the second of the instances in this Gospel in which our Lord lays His hand upon an institution or incident of the Old Testament, as shadowing forth some aspect of His work. In the first of these instances, under the image of the ladder that Jacob saw, our Lord presented Himself as the sole medium of communication between heaven and earth; here He goes a step further into the heart of His work, and under the image, very eloquent …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Musts
'... Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.'--JOHN iii. 14. I have chosen this text for the sake of one word in it, that solemn 'must' which was so often on our Lord's lips. I have no purpose of dealing with the remainder of this clause, nor indeed with it at all, except as one instance of His use of the expression. But I have felt it might he interesting, and might set old truths in a brighter light, if we gather together the instances in which Christ speaks of the great necessity which dominated …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Lake and the River
God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'--JOHN iii. 16. I venture to say that my text shows us a lake, a river, a pitcher, and a draught. 'God so loved the world'--that is the lake. A lake makes a river for itself--'God so loved the world that He gave His... Son.' But the river does not quench any one's thirst unless he has something to lift the water with: 'God so loved the world that He gave His... …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Teacher or Saviour?
'The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto Him, Rabbi, we know that Thou art a Teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him.'--JOHN iii. 2. The connection in which the Evangelist introduces the story of Nicodemus throws great light on the aspect under which we are to regard it. He has just been saying that upon our Lord's first visit to Jerusalem at the Passover there was a considerable amount of interest excited, and a kind of imperfect faith …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Wind and Spirit
'The wind bloweth where it listeth, and them hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.'--JOHN iii. 8. Perhaps a gust of night wind swept round the chamber where Nicodemus sat listening to Jesus, and gave occasion for this condensed parable. But there is occasion sufficient for it in the word 'Spirit,' which, both in the language in which our Lord addressed the ruler of the Sanhedrim, and in that which John employed …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Links

John 3:31 NIV
John 3:31 NLT
John 3:31 ESV
John 3:31 NASB
John 3:31 KJV

John 3:31 Commentaries

Bible Hub