2. not Jesus himself. This
is clearly an attempt to modify 3:22, where it is said that Jesus did baptize,
and serves as almost indisputable evidence of the presence of several hands in
the composition of John. Perhaps the final redactor was afraid that the
sectarians of John the Baptist would use Jesus’ baptizing as an argument that
he was only an imitator of John the Baptist. The unusual word for “however” (kaitoi ge) may be another indication of
a different hand. (Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John (I–XII): Introduction, Translation, and
Notes [AYB 29; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008], 164)
■ 2
Critics have attacked this verse particularly sharply. Yet this verse retracts
the baptismal activity of Jesus just mentioned. Moreover, the word “although” (καίτοιγε), which is otherwise unknown to John,
appears here. According to Bultmann, this verse is a redactional gloss. In that
case, it is difficult to see why the redactor did not make his correction
earlier in 3:22. But an internal difficulty presents itself: it is precisely
the emphasis on the exceptional success of Jesus in baptizing that creates
difficulties. Baptism by the earthly Jesus is meaningless for the Evangelist:
before the risen Lord breathes the Spirit into the disciples (20:22), his
baptism and the baptism of his disciples would be merely a baptism with water,
like that of John. The correction is therefore made at 4:2, where a special
emphasis is placed on baptismal activity: Jesus himself did not baptize, only
his disciples. A reflective reader could more readily accept the baptism of the
disciples as a forerunner of later church practice. (Ernest
Haenchen, John: A Commentary on the Gospel of John [trans. Robert Walter
Funk; Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible;
Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984], 218)
Here again the Gospel refers to Jesus’ practice of baptizing (see
3:22–24) but adds the correction that Jesus himself did not baptize; only his
disciples did so. This comment may attempt to deal with any awkwardness about
Jesus’ baptizing, or to prevent anyone from claiming some sort of superior
status if they had actually been baptized by Jesus (cf. 1 Cor 1:12–17). In his
treatise Baptism (11), Tertullian
refers to some Christians who, on the basis of John 4:2, denied the need for
the rite of baptism on the ground that the text explicitly says that Jesus did
not baptize, but his disciples did. Tertullian responds that Jesus authorized
but did not participate in the act of baptizing; and that is surely the intent
of the note in John 4:2. As Augustine observes, “Jesus still baptizes; and as
long as we must be baptized, Jesus baptizes” (Tract. Ev. Jo. 15). (Marianne Meye Thompson, John: A Commentary [The New Testament
Library; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015], 97)
