John 3:22-30

After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent some time with them baptizing. John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized, for John had not yet been imprisoned. Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew about ceremonial washings. So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone is coming to him.” John answered and said, “No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said [that] I am not the Messiah, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens to him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He must increase; I must decrease.”

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant me true humility to recognize your saving grace in my life. 

Encountering Christ:

1. Humility Sees Truth: John’s disciples are worried about competition between their charismatic leader and Jesus. But John’s heart is pure, and his intentions are noble. He does not seek personal gain or fame. He desires to be what God called him to be, a voice crying out in the desert to prepare the way for the Lord. John is humble. John knows who he is before God and, consequently, he can recognize Jesus–the one he has been preparing for his whole life. John’s virtue didn’t manifest overnight. He fasted and sought to listen to God’s voice throughout his life. His fasting was not merely from food, but from the pride and vanity that tempt man to set up one’s self as a Messianic figure. His heart was ready to meet Jesus because his whole life was already oriented to respond to God’s heart from the moment he leapt in Elizabeth’s womb. His martyrdom would be a continuation of the dying to self that had taken place in his total living for God. 

2. Joy, Not Jealousy: John gently prods his disciples to not be jealous, but rather to rejoice, for the bridegroom is in their presence. John admits that even the power to baptize is not his own. “No one can receive anything except what has been given him from heaven.”  He does not claim to be the Messiah. He does not claim to possess the prize of the bride, that union with God as Jesus possesses it. He merely claims the right to listen, take in the Word, and rejoice. Receiving God’s Word made flesh is the greatest joy any of us can receive. With John, we proclaim, “So this joy of mine has been made complete.”

3. A Righteous Response: After expressing his joy at the presence of Jesus, John defines the key to fully living the Christian life, “He must increase; I must decrease.” Jesus, the only truly and fully righteous one in whom there is no sin, is the way by which we become righteous again. We are “set right” by baptism, that entry into the life of Christ. And so, the righteous response for us all is, as John the Baptist proclaims, “He must increase; I must decrease.” Christ’s life must reign more fully in me until “it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, by your gracious design, you invite me into divine life through your life in me. Help me to see the truth of myself, recognizing any obstacles that prevent you from living within me more fully. 

Resolution: Lord, today, by your grace, I will ask for the gift of true humility and spend five to ten minutes speaking to you about removing any obstacles to humility in my soul.