In the history of interpreting John, scholars like Bultmann and Kyser, among others, have rejected the notion that John was concerned with the ordinance (or sacrament) of baptism, especially in Jesus’ instruction to Nicodemus to be “born of water and the Spirit” in John 3:3-5. However, in addition to considering the context of John’s audience, a few verses after Jesus mentioned baptism, the longer reading in John 3:13 presents Jesus as “the one being in heaven” (3:13), reflecting a post-resurrection view of Christ. Does this longer reading suggest that early interpreters approached the Fourth Gospel with the perspective that Christ had already been glorified? This paper argues that John not only reported what Jesus said but also invited his readers to consider the value of baptism in their context by means of his references to baptism in John 3 (as presented by Cullman, Brown, and Beasley-Murray) and their connection to the elevated Christology supported by the longer reading in John 3:13.