Charles Ellicott Commentary John 3:31

"He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is of the earth, and of the earth he speaketh: he that cometh from heaven is above all." — John 3:31 (ASV)

He that cometh from above.—Compare 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—that is, above all persons, and, as the context limits the sense, especially 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 threefold “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 “of the earth” marks out the Baptist’s origin, as opposed to Him who comes from above. The second asserts that his 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 realizing 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 fullness of the teaching of the perfect Teacher. He emphatically repeats, with the change of words suggested by “of the earth,” what he has said before about 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.