He who has the bride is the bridegroom

After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison. Then there arose a dispute between some of the John's disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!" John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

- John 3:22-36

In yesterday's reading, Jesus spoke with Nicodemus, who was one of the important rulers in the Council, the leadership of the Jewish people. He came to Jesus at night. He said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said, "How can these things be?" Jesus told him, We speak what We know and testify to what We have seen, and You do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized. Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison. It is early days yet in Jesus' ministry, and this passage shows us the cooperation between John's ministry and that of Jesus. As we know, many of Jesus' early disciples had been John's disciples first, and it was John the Baptist who pointed the way to Jesus as Christ.

Then there arose a dispute between some of the John's disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!" John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." Here we have the great display of what is called the greatest of the virtues in John the Baptist, and that is his humility. In that humility, he is open to truth at all levels. He witnesses to the status of Jesus, who is the Christ, the Messiah. First John places all things in the hands of God ("A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven"). This is the key to humility and right-relatedness. Jesus is the bridegroom, because the people of God flock to Him; that is, the bride. In the Old Testament the bride is Israel, God's people; in the New, Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church. And in this John's joy is fulfilled. In "He must increase, but I must decrease," John's words indicate that what is happening, though difficult for himself, is fitting. My study bible says, "The Forerunner [the Baptist] expresses profound humility and acceptance of his role in the service of God. He renounces all earthly glory and reputation and glories only in Christ. John's aspirations of hope and joy as a minister and servant of God have now been fulfilled."

"He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Here, John the Baptist's testimony comes to the divine status of Christ as Son, and in some ways these words reflect Jesus' words to Nicodemus in yesterday's reading. The One who comes from heaven knows of heavenly things and is "above all" -- He testifies to what He has truly seen and heard which others have not. My study bible says, "John the Baptist gives his final witness to Jesus as the One who is greater. Jesus has the Spirit in fullness, He He possesses all the authority of the Father, and He grants eternal life to those who believe." In John's words here, it notes, "is a summary of the teaching of the Gospel about the origin, dignity, and saving work of Christ." Again, we have words and teachings echoed from yesterday's reading, in which those who loved the light received, but others refused the light, preferring darkness. Here the Judgment of this time inaugurated by Jesus is reiterated, brought back to our awareness yet again. To see, know and recognize the Son, the One who is sent, is to encounter and embrace truth, the reality given by God, in grace. To refuse is a kind of inner refusal of grace, of this Gift, a living truth and its offer of encounter in us.

To refuse grace is a kind of encounter in which a great Gift is spurned. Here, the gift is far greater than what we can imagine, because it is an offer of life -- not just as we know and understand it, but life as an offer of abundance and eternal living, something unlimited. It is an encounter with Christ which God desires for each of us. What we must remember is that this is not about just what happened 2,000 years ago in a particular time and place, but that this very life is a Gift in itself to all of us, each of us. It is something that lives, and is brought to us as an offer of participation in it. So when we read John's words here about Judgment, we must come again to its real meaning and impact: it's an offer, a Gift, of eternal life, life in abundance, and an encounter with the Person who is truth. To live and dwell in that light, in that encounter, is to find it, and to participate in it. We allow His light to work within us, and to make us also sons of God, to encounter our Bridegroom and find union and what that makes of us in our own lives. A refusal of this Gift is a refusal of an abundance of life on offer, a welcoming into an eternal Kingdom. To spurn it is to encounter a condition of exile, hardness and difficulty, the things we know in our world as that which is without God. In this is "wrath" and difficulty, what it is to be outside of that abundance of love in the refusal of a Gift. Let us remember that the Gift's eternal presence means that it's always on offer. What will you decide? The encounter is there for us, always there.