John 3: 22-4:3  John the Baptist continued to baptize even as Jesus and His disciples began to baptize also.  The Pharisees questioned John about this.  John bore witness once again.. that he was not the Christ, that he supported Jesus, and that he was filled with joy.. knowing that the Messiah had come.

John makes his witness clear:

Jesus came from above and was "above all". (v31)
John, himself was from earth and spoke only from that perspective.
Jesus came from heaven and was far above him.
The Word and witness of Jesus came from His higher perspective.
Jesus was sent from God and spoke the Words of God. (v34)
Jesus has the Spirit "without measure".
"The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand." v35
To believe in the Son is to gain eternal life; to disobey the Son is to continue in the wrath of God. v36

Jesus chose to leave Judah when He heard that the Pharisees were comparing Him and John.

Verse 25 " There arose a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification."  This verse seems to interrupt the flow of the narrative. Let's think about this...

Purification -ceremonial washing; cleansing.  This was an obsession for the Pharisees.  They had many traditions that they held to above everything else, when it came to ceremonial washing.

Mark 7:1-5  The Pharisees saw the disciples eating their bread without doing the ritual hand -washing. They ( the Pharisees)  "do not eat unless they cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots." 

Luke 11:38-40  Here a Pharisee saw that Jesus, Himself, did not do the ceremonial washing before a meal. Jesus answered him with this, " Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the platter; but inside of you, you are full of robbery and wickedness. You foolish ones, did not He who made the outside make the inside also?" 

When you go back into the Old Testament to find what the Law has to say about purification.. there is nothing about the ceremonial hand-washing that the Pharisees had adopted.  There were rules about purification for the priests and Levites; for those who had specific circumstances that needed cleansing; and those who had returned from war... but most of those laws involved the blood of sacrifices.  The Pharisees were insistent on traditional rituals, but failed to understand the need for true purity of their hearts..( which could only come from believing on Jesus. )

I suppose that we could say the same things about ourselves.  Do we place more value on outward actions than inward realities of the heart?   It is easy to do that - going to church, giving our tithes, praying before meals - all important things - if done from the heart that loves and worships God through these things.  But, it is very easy to slip into the habit of worship.. without the heart of a worshipper.

Examine our hearts O Lord.. search us and know us and cleanse us.. truly cleanse our hearts by the power of the blood of Jesus! Let our lives be true.. bearing witness of the truth of Jesus Christ.  May we actively seek to worship and not fall into meaningless rituals.  Help us to love and serve You more in all we do, for we our Yours through Jesus Christ our Savior. In His name we pray. amen.