Where did Jesus and His disciples go from Jerusalem then?
What were they doing there?
Where were John and his disciples?
Why were they there?
Who were John’s disciples arguing with? What were they discussing?
Given the context, who are “they” that came to John? What concern did they raise with John?
What was John’s response?
What illustration did John use to compare his relationship to Jesus?
He must –, but I must —
Which verse or verses in the same chapter above does John reflect in his statement in verse 31-32?
How can we affirm (“set to [our] seal”) that God is true?
Who speaks the words of God?
Is there a limit to how much of His Spirit was given to Jesus?
Who has eternal life?

Thought Questions

What themes in the second half of this chapter reflect the first half of the chapter?
Do you think the Jew (or Jews) were seeking a sincere, open discussion with John’s disciples or do you think they were trying to pick at a specific point?
Considering the context, do you think there was a connection between the jealousy of John’s disciples and their recent debate with the Jew?
How do you respond when your religious “enemies” try to debate you on a possibly insignificant point? Do you respond defensively and love to argue to win, or are you seeking to draw them closer to Christ?
What are we in danger of happening if we allow ourselves to get pulled into a debate with people, not for the reason of sharing Christ’s loving character but just for the sake of arguing?
Although they were related and met a few times, John hadn’t really spent that much time with Jesus and didn’t really know Him all that well. How do you think John was able to answer with such similarity to how Jesus had just answered Nicodemus? Was it a coincidence?
Is there anyone in your life that you are willing to say about, “He must increase, but I must decrease?” How about Christ? If so, how are you showing that in your choices?

My prayer is:

that my words and actions will not serve to draw attention to myself, but to Christ;

that I will engage in discussions with others for the sake of pointing them to Christ’s love, not to try to prove myself “right” on a certain point;

that He must increase and I must decrease.