Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John — the notice of the Pharisees' attention signals rising opposition, the same force that will eventually drive the narrative toward crucifixion. John's Gospel presents Jesus' ministry as involving baptism (unlike the Synoptics), but Jesus will soon withdraw from public baptizing activity. The evangelist's aside that Jesus himself did not baptize (though his disciples did) is theologically significant: baptism is not the source of regeneration but the sacramental response to belief in Jesus.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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