“After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. This was before John was put in prison.”
— John 3: 22-24
It’s a short passage with only three verses, but like every other passage, it was put here for a reason.
There are three lessons in these three short, seemingly insignificant verses.
It begins when Jesus walks away from the hustle and bustle of the city and into the quiet countryside. Sometimes you simply need to “get away from it all.”
John the Baptist was preaching and baptizing not far from where Jesus and his disciples were standing. We’ve just talked about “the grace of the Master, Jesus Christ” and this is the reality of what we’ve been talking about.
John Wesley called it the “way of salvation” and I’m writing a paper on it, due in September.
Prevenient grace awakens us, justifying grace forgives us, and sanctifying grace transforms us as we become more and more aware of “the extravagant love of God the Father.”
The first lesson is that Jesus spends time with his friends.
Verse 22 says Jesus “spent some time” with His disciples and that’s a beautiful phrase.
Jesus wasn’t only interested in preaching to the crowds. He also walked with his disciples in the countryside, listening to them, talking to them, teaching them, shaping them, simply being with them, spending time with them — liking them!
We Methodists have always believed our Christian faith isn’t only a Sunday morning experience. It’s a Monday through Saturday, dayto- day walk with Jesus.
We grow in our faith as we read the Bible, spend time in prayer, attend worship, share in the Lord’s Supper, and enjoy Christian fellowship around the table.
Wesley called them the “means of grace,” the things that draw us closer to God, and the things that transform and shape our faith and our lives.
We think spiritual growth happened in big moments, in Sunday school, in worship, and in revivals. But most spiritual growth happens in those day-today walks with Jesus.
Charles “Buddy” Whatley is a retired United Methodist pastor serving Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville, Ga. With wife, Mary Ella, they are missionaries to the Navajo Reservation.
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