³⁴ For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

God sent the Baptizer but, in a greater way, He sent a much superior communicator. Jesus could speak for God because (1) God sent Him and (2) God gave Him the Spirit without measure.

³⁴ For He [Jesus] whom God has sent

Jesus is He whom God sent. The gospel of John affirms 39 times that the Father sent the Son to earth. The sending concept is an affirmation of Christ’s deity: His origin was from eternity (1 Jn 4:9-10, 14).

speaks the words of God,

Since the Father sent Christ to earth, Jesus spoke revelation from the eternal state, the “words of God.” To receive Jesus’ testimony is the same thing as receiving the words of God. The Father Himself spoke in Jesus. Jesus’ words are more than human; they are divine. Receiving Jesus’ words is the same as receiving the words of God.

for God does not give the Spirit by measure.

To support the idea that Jesus spoke the words of God, the apostle made the statement that God gave Jesus the Spirit without measure. By this they know that God truly said something.

Jesus had the full endorsement of the Holy Spirit in what He said. God not giving the Spirit by “measure” means that there is a sharp distinction between Christ’s teaching and that of any other teacher. Jesus was fully and absolutely endowed with truth from God. The Father did not withhold any measure of the Spirit from Christ in the revelation of truth. There was perfect communication between the Father and Son. All other teachers mix truth and error.

Jewish rabbis thought that certain prophets had received the Spirit in measure. The measure meant that they were sinful people who did not communicate without flaw. Jesus, however, was not limited by the Spirit’s influence on Him. All the fullness of deity dwelt in Him in bodily form (Co 2:9).

Since God spoke in the words of His envoy, this makes the words of His envoy inspired. God put no limit to the Spirit’s revelation in His envoy to earth. There was a perfect communication between the Father and Son in the process of revelation. Jesus’ endowment of the Spirit without measure guaranteed the truth that He gave.

PRINCIPLE:

Whoever believes the testimony of Christ acknowledges that God is true.

APPLICATION:

The ray that comes from the sun is not separate from the sun. It is part of the sun itself. Christ sent from the Father is not separate from God. He was what theologians call “consubstantial” with the Father. The Son came from heaven to manifest Himself in Jesus (1 Jn 4:9-10, 14).

Jesus was the Father’s spokesman and mediator of what God wanted to reveal to man. He spoke this with full authority as the Father’s envoy. Even as a man He remained intimately interfaced with the Father. The Father spoke Himself in Jesus. For this reason, man cannot disregard the Father’s testimony. The testimony of Jesus is the testimony of God. To receive one is receive the other.

Jesus is the climatic gift of God from heaven. The coming of Jesus into the world closed an era where only partial revelation occurred. In His coming under the influence of the Holy Spirit, there was no limit to the “measure” of revelation from God. The reason for this is the unique relationship between the Father and the Son.