The One who comes from above is above all.This phrase emphasizes the divine origin and supreme authority of Jesus Christ. "Above" signifies His heavenly origin, contrasting with earthly origins. This aligns with
John 1:1-14, where Jesus is described as the Word who was with God and was God, highlighting His preexistence and divinity. The phrase "above all" underscores His sovereignty over all creation, as seen in
Colossians 1:16-17, where all things are created through Him and for Him. This also fulfills Old Testament prophecies, such as
Isaiah 9:6, which speaks of a divine ruler.
The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth.
This refers to human limitations and the natural, finite perspective of earthly beings. In contrast to Jesus, who is from above, those from the earth have a limited understanding and authority. This can be seen in the context of John the Baptist, who, despite being a great prophet, acknowledges his earthly origin and limitations inJohn 3:30. The phrase highlights the distinction between divine revelation and human wisdom, as echoed in1 Corinthians 2:14, where the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God.
The One who comes from heaven is above all.
Reiterating the supremacy of Jesus, this phrase confirms His heavenly origin and ultimate authority. It reflects the consistent theme in John's Gospel of Jesus as the sent one from the Father, as seen inJohn 6:38, where Jesus states He came down from heaven to do the will of the Father. This also connects toDaniel 7:13-14, where the Son of Man is given dominion and glory, indicating His divine kingship. The repetition of "above all" emphasizes His unmatched authority and the fulfillment of His role as the mediator between God and humanity.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
Jesus ChristReferred to as "The One who comes from above," emphasizing His divine origin and authority.
2.
John the BaptistThe speaker in this context, contrasting his earthly ministry with the heavenly origin of Jesus.
3.
HeavenThe place from which Jesus originates, signifying His divine nature and authority.
4.
EarthRepresents the human realm, limited in understanding and authority compared to the divine.
5.
JudeaThe region where John the Baptist was ministering and where this discourse takes place.
Teaching Points
Divine Authority of ChristRecognize and submit to the authority of Jesus, who is above all earthly powers and wisdom.
Heavenly PerspectiveSeek to align your thoughts and actions with the perspective of Christ, who comes from above, rather than being limited by earthly views.
Humility in MinistryLike John the Baptist, acknowledge our earthly limitations and point others to the supremacy of Christ.
Eternal vs. TemporalFocus on eternal truths and values that come from above, rather than being consumed by temporary, earthly concerns.
Witnessing with ConfidenceShare the gospel with confidence, knowing that the message of Christ carries divine authority and power.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of John 3:31?
2.How does John 3:31 emphasize Jesus' divine authority and heavenly origin?
3.What does "above all" in John 3:31 imply about Jesus' supremacy?
4.How can we apply Jesus' heavenly perspective to our daily decision-making?
5.Connect John 3:31 with Colossians 3:2 about setting minds on heavenly things.
6.How should Jesus' authority in John 3:31 influence our obedience to His teachings?
7.How does John 3:31 emphasize the divinity of Jesus compared to earthly beings?
8.What does "He who comes from above is above all" imply about Jesus' authority?
9.How does John 3:31 challenge the belief in human wisdom over divine revelation?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from John 3?
11.Why should we believe Jesus was God?
12.Is sin contrary to God's will?
13.What is the origin of sin?
14.In the Gospel of John, what did Jesus say about bearing his own witness in John 5:31 and John 8:14?What Does John 3:31 Mean
The One who comes from above is above all“ ‘The One who comes from above is above all’ ” (John 3:31a)
• Jesus is plainly identified as “from above,” the eternal Word who “was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1–3).
• Because He is “from above,” His authority is unlimited and unrivaled.Colossians 1:16–17 says, “all things were created through Him and for Him… in Him all things hold together.”
•Hebrews 1:3 reinforces this supremacy: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory… sustaining all things by His powerful word.”
• Practically, His heavenly origin means His teachings carry the very authority of God, not merely the insights of a human teacher (Matthew 7:28–29).
The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth“ ‘The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from the earth’ ” (John 3:31b)
• “From the earth” points to humanity’s natural origin—“The LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7).
• Earth-born teachers, even the best of prophets like John the Baptist, have limited perspective:
–1 Corinthians 2:14 notes the natural man “cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God.”
–Isaiah 55:8–9 reminds us that God’s thoughts are higher than ours.
• What earthly teachers say is necessarily shaped by finite understanding and fallenness (Romans 3:23).
• This contrast magnifies grace: heaven’s message reaches us through Christ, not through human speculation.
The One who comes from heaven is above all“ ‘The One who comes from heaven is above all’ ” (John 3:31c)
• John repeats the truth for emphasis: the heavenly Christ reigns supreme.Revelation 19:16 calls Him “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
• His heavenly descent ensures an unbroken link between God’s throne and our world (John 6:38).
• Because He is “above all,” He alone can give the Spirit “without measure” (John 3:34) and grant eternal life to those who believe (John 3:36).
•Philippians 2:9–11 declares that every knee will bow to Him—a reality that flows directly from His heavenly authority.
summaryJohn 3:31 draws a sharp line between the earthly and the heavenly. Jesus, coming “from above,” stands unmatched in authority, insight, and saving power. Human voices, even faithful ones, are limited by earthly origin, but the voice from heaven is definitive. Trusting and obeying the One “above all” anchors our faith in divine certainty rather than human opinion.
(31)
He that cometh from above.--Comp. Note on
John 3:13, and
John 8:23. It is expressed in another form in the last clause of the verse.
Is above all--i.e., above all persons, and, as the context limits the sense, specially above all teachers.
He that is of the earth is earthly.--This is the right sense, but the force of the words is lessened by not preserving the three-fold "of the earth" which is in the Greek. "He who is of the earth, of the earth he is, and of the earth he speaketh." The first marks out the Baptist's origin, as opposed to Him that cometh from above; the second asserts that the nature is, in accord with this origin, human and limited in faculty, as opposed to that of Him who is above all; the third declares that his teaching is from the standpoint of human nature and limited faculty, embracing indeed divine subjects and receiving divine revelation (John 1:33), but having this treasure in earthen vessels, imperfectly realising it, and imperfectly teaching it (John 3:33). Then the contrast carries him away from this thought of self, in all its weakness, to dwell on the fulness of the teaching of the perfect Teacher, and he emphatically repeats, with the change of words suggested by "of the earth," what he has before said of it, "He that cometh from heaven is above all."
This repetition is the answer to the jealousy of his disciples, who wished to place him in a position of rivalry with Jesus. It is the answer to all self-assertion on the part of human teachers. . . .
Verses 31-36. - A large number of commentators of all schools hold that the remaining verses of this chapter give us the reflections of the evangelist rather than a continuous discourse of the Baptist. Strauss, Weisse, Reuss, and Bretschneider, who make the supposed proof of this Johannine appendix to the Baptist's words an evidence of inhistoricity throughout the Gospel, and the school of Baur, which finds in the entire representation simply an artistic endeavour on the part of a second century
falsarius to show that John's disciples were absorbed into the Catholic Church, are joined here by Bengel, De Wette, Westcott, Moulton, and Edersheim, who see no difficulty in the introduction of these sentiments, which correspond with those of the Epistles of John, as an appendix of the evangelist, and not a reminiscence of the teaching of the Baptist. The reasons in favour of this view are that the ideas and phraseology are said to be far in advance of John the Baptist's theological position, and certainly reflect the later teaching of the Master. We will consider some of these
seriatim, but cannot accept the argument as final. Hengstenberg, Meyer, Godet, Alford, Lange, even Renan, do not yield to the positions thus assumed, nor will they admit any word of the Baptist here uttered to be inconsistent with the known doctrine of the forerunner; whereas they urge that the simple communication to John of the substance of our Lord's discourse to Nicodemus is adequate explanation of the similarities between the two. It may be admitted that some subjective colouring from the apostle's own mind may have been transfused by him into his report of both discourses, which we cannot doubt (whatever may be said about the Galilaean ministry) were conducted in the Aramaic tongue. Weiss makes the pertinent suggestion that we cannot think that John the son of Zebedee beard the final testimony of the Baptist. It may easily have been communicated to the circle around Jesus by Andrew and some other disciple of the two masters. This may account for the appearance throughout the discourse of more Johannine language than usual. If we cannot, or may not, make these simple hypotheses, then we too should be disposed to think that the subjective element had so predominated as almost to hide the historic quality of the whole of this swanlike song of the Old Testament dispensation. But the hypotheses seem to be highly probable and extremely natural, and the coherence of the passage with what has gone before to be obvious and complete. The discourse contrasts the entire prophetic ministry with that of the Son of God (vers. 31, 32), which then sets forth the menus of appropriating the Divine gift of the Son of God (vers. 33-35), and predicts the awful issues of rejecting the supreme claims of the Divine Lord (ver. 36). The teaching is in accord with Old Testament doctrine, illumined, as we learn that John's was, by special visions, and by communications to him of the significance of the Lord's uttered words. It is quite irrelevant, if not absurd, to say that such a testimony of the forerunner makes the cotinuance or spread of John's teaching and baptism impossible; for
(1) the words were obviously addressed to a small group only of the many thousands who heard John preach, and
(2) it does not follow that all those who heard these memorable words should have deserted their first master, even in deference to his own advice. The words that follow, whether a simple record of John's discourse or one deeply coloured by the subjectivity of the evangelist, are as follows: -Verse 31. -He that is coming from above is above all. Now, it is obvious that Jesus had spoken of the Son of man as having come down from heaven (ver. 13), and of his own power to speak of heavenly things (i.e. of causes and measures of Divine operations); and he contrasts these with the "earthly things" of which he too had spoken - "earthly" they were because they dealt with experiences felt and witnessed and realized on earth. Now, John is represented, on the occasion of the baptism of our Lord, as being convinced that Jesus was "the Son of God," and that his existence was prior to his own, and that his rank in the universe was one utterly transcending his own. These statements have been already put into the lips of John by the fourth evangelist, and are scarcely exceeded, if at all, by the utterance before us. We find a bold contrast between the Logos himself and the witness to the manifested Logos.He who cometh from above, being before John, and being, therefore, in his essential dignity, superior to him,is above all, and therefore above him.He that is, in his origin and the entire self-realization of his life,from the earth, and not incarnate Logos,isofthe earth in quality,and speaketh of the earth (observe, notκόσμος, butγῆ is here used). The experiences to which he refers are enacted on the earth, and he has no power to go back and heavenwards for the full explanation of them. Higher than heaven are the thoughts and revelations of the Son of God. He can unveil the heart of the eternal Father. Christ can link his own work with the ministry of the mightiest of the Heaven-sent messengers; but John starts from the consciousness, the perils, the self-deceptions and contrition of man.Hethat cometh out of heaven is above all. This great utterance is repeated, and it involves little more than what John had implied to the Sanhedrin (John 1:30-34).
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
The [One who]Ὁ(Ho)Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.comesἐρχόμενος(erchomenos)Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2064:To come, go.from aboveἄνωθεν(anōthen)Adverb
Strong's 509:From ano; from above; by analogy, from the first; by implication, anew.isἐστίν(estin)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510:I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.aboveἐπάνω(epanō)Preposition
Strong's 1883:From epi and ano; up above, i.e. Over or on.all.πάντων(pantōn)Adjective - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 3956:All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.The [one who]ὁ(ho)Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.isὢν(ōn)Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1510:I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.fromἐκ(ek)Preposition
Strong's 1537:From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.theτῆς(tēs)Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.earthγῆς(gēs)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1093:Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe.belongsἐστιν(estin)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510:I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.toἐκ(ek)Preposition
Strong's 1537:From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.theτῆς(tēs)Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.earthγῆς(gēs)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1093:Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe.andκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.speaks [as one]λαλεῖ(lalei)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2980:A prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. Utter words.fromἐκ(ek)Preposition
Strong's 1537:From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.theτῆς(tēs)Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.earth.γῆς(gēs)Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 1093:Contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe.The [One who]ὁ(ho)Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588:The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.comesἐρχόμενος(erchomenos)Verb - Present Participle Middle or Passive - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2064:To come, go.fromἐκ(ek)Preposition
Strong's 1537:From out, out from among, from, suggesting from the interior outwards. A primary preposition denoting origin, from, out.heavenοὐρανοῦ(ouranou)Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 3772:Perhaps from the same as oros; the sky; by extension, heaven; by implication, happiness, power, eternity; specially, the Gospel.isἐστίν(estin)Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1510:I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.aboveἐπάνω(epanō)Preposition
Strong's 1883:From epi and ano; up above, i.e. Over or on.all.πάντων(pantōn)Adjective - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 3956:All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.
Links
John 3:31 NIVJohn 3:31 NLTJohn 3:31 ESVJohn 3:31 NASBJohn 3:31 KJV
John 3:31 BibleApps.comJohn 3:31 Biblia ParalelaJohn 3:31 Chinese BibleJohn 3:31 French BibleJohn 3:31 Catholic Bible
NT Gospels: John 3:31 He who comes from above is above (Jhn Jo Jn) 
