John Calvin Commentary John 3:34

"For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for he giveth not the Spirit by measure." — John 3:34 (ASV)

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. He confirms the preceding statement, for he shows that we actually have to do with God when we receive the doctrine of Christ, because Christ proceeded from none other than the Heavenly Father. It is, therefore, God alone who speaks to us by him; and indeed, we do not assign to the doctrine of Christ all that it deserves unless we acknowledge it to be divine.

For God giveth not the Spirit by measure. This passage is explained in two ways. Some extend it to the ordinary dispensation as follows: God, who is the inexhaustible fountain of all benefits, does not in the least degree diminish his resources when he largely and plentifully bestows his gifts on men. Those who draw from any vessel what they give to others eventually reach the bottom; but there is no danger that anything of this sort can happen with God, nor will the abundance of his gifts ever be so large that he cannot go beyond it, whenever he pleases to make a new exercise of liberality. This exposition appears to have some plausibility, for the sentence is indefinite; that is, it does not expressly point out any person.

But I am more disposed to follow Augustine, who explains that it was said concerning Christ. Nor is there any force in the objection that no express mention is made of Christ in this clause, since all ambiguity is removed by the next clause, in which what might seem to have been said indiscriminately about many is limited to Christ. For these words were unquestionably added for explanation, that the Father hath given all things into the hand of his Son, because he loveth him, and should therefore be read as placed in immediate connection.

The verb in the present tense — giveth — denotes, as it were, a continued act. For though Christ was at once endowed with the Spirit in the highest perfection, yet, as he continually flows, as it were, from a source and is widely diffused, it is not improper to say that Christ now receives him from the Father. But if anyone chooses to interpret it more simply, it is not unusual for there to be a change of tenses in such verbs, and for giveth to be put for hath given.

The meaning is now plain, that the Spirit was not given to Christ by measure, as if the power of grace which he possesses were in any way limited. As Paul teaches that to every one is given according to the measure of the gift, (Ephesians 4:7), so that there is no one who alone has full abundance.

For while this is the mutual bond of brotherly fellowship among us, that no one, considered separately, has everything he needs, but all require help from one another, Christ differs from us in this respect: the Father has poured out upon him an unlimited abundance of his Spirit.

And certainly, it is proper that the Spirit should dwell without measure in him, that we may all draw out of his fullness, as we have seen in the first chapter. To this also relates what immediately follows: that the Father hath given all things into his hand.

For by these words, John the Baptist not only declares the excellence of Christ but also points out the end and use of the riches with which he is endowed. Namely, Christ, having been appointed by the Father as the administrator, distributes to everyone as he chooses and as he finds necessary, as Paul explains more fully in the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, which I recently quoted.

Although God enriches his own people in a variety of ways, this is peculiar to Christ alone: that he has all things in his hand.