John’s Famous Response
This will be long, but I want to share this with you for I can’t withhold this from you. Share in my joy! :D
“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30
This is a famous response that has been often quoted, heard and often reworded. (“Less of me, more of Him.) But often times what happens is the context of the quote is never addressed and people nod at the significance of the quote itself. This verse comes from a response from John. Now picture this situation with me.
If you start at verse 22 of the same chapter, you can John and Jesus are doing ministry at the same time and coincidentally (or not) they were doing their ministry at the same place at the same time. Of course some of the followers started to discuss, as the Bible so eloquently put it, “between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification.” I like to imagine it’s a situation of gossip, but let’s take the Bible at it’s face value. After discussing amongst themselves, they went up to John and said something to this effect in verse 26:
Hey look, that guy you bore witness to is baptizing now and everybody’s going to Him instead of you.
It’s a matter of pride here. “Hey look, we’re your followers, but everyone’s going to that Jesus of Nazareth guy.” And then came John’s response:
“A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.” - Verses 25-29
Let’s translate the full meaning of that before we go onto the famous response. John says in the first verse that EVERYTHING comes from God and that none of his talents or anything he’s used was from John in the first place. After that he says, didn’t I tell you that I am not the Christ? He is greater than me!
Now here’s the kicker, John uses the reference of a wedding which Jesus does many times. He recognizes that the bride, us that are to be saved, is Christ and Christ’s alone. In John’s work he recognizes that he is only the friend of the bridegroom gladly sharing in the joy of the wedding between Christ and his people. It’s a celebration, and he is only an attendee.
“Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.”
I love weddings. It gives me great joy when I see two people in love coming together in a commitment to love each other for all eternity. That is what John is seeing in his work. He finally reaps joy from seeing the bridegroom coming for the bride. And so he says the famous response:
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
It’s not a response of obedience to God’s law, nor is it a response of sacrifice for the sake of righteousness as it is often times quoted for. It is a response of joy. I must decrease because it gives me great joy to see Christ taking the throne of my life and to see others doing the same, and I’ll be honest, sometimes it doesn’t. That’s when prayer is needed.
Don’t try to change. Be joyful God is changing you!
