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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 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 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
Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught Nicodemus, "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. Again, we see the very early importance of holy baptism to the ministry of Christ, right from the beginning. We note that it was Jesus' disciples who baptized (John 4:2).
Then there arose a dispute between some of 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!" We see in this "dispute" an exchange, a kind of hand-off, between the old and the new covenants. It's not surprising that the dispute would be about purification. John's baptism is not the same as Jesus' baptism. Later in John's Gospel, the Pharisees will make a similar observation, but with an entirely different response and point of view (John 12:19). As a prophet, John recognizes what is happening.
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 the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled." By tradition, John is called the friend (or "best man"), and Christ is the bridegroom. The bridge is the Church, or rather the "people of God." My study bible says, "John confesses his role in the coming of the Messiah -- that he is witness to the wedding of Christ and His people, and thus he rejoices in that celebration." As prophet, John fully realizes his place in the unfolding of the spiritual history of Israel (as the "people of God"), as friend of the bridegroom, and rejoices in its fulfillment.
"He must increase, but I must decrease." John's humility serves forever as an example to all of us. We note that in his humility he is completely accepting of God's plan of salvation, and his particular role in it. As my study bible says, "He renounces all earthly glory and reputation for the sake of Christ. By allowing Christ to increase in him, John himself finds true glory." It is also a statement of the "decrease" of the old covenant, and the arrival of the new. My study bible says, "As the law vanishes, the grace of Jesus Christ abounds." In the liturgical calendar, East and West, the days commemorating the nativity of Christ and John the Baptist reflect this transition. John's commemoration is on June 24th, when the sun begins its decrease. Christmas is celebrated at the time the sun begins to increase.
"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's words here reflect Jesus' teaching in yesterday's reading, above, as Jesus spoke of God's love and the gift of grace -- and what it is to refuse it.
John the Baptist accepts his place in the scheme of things. As a prophet, his humility is exemplary, but it's not that different from goals we can set for ourselves. What does it mean to accept God's will, or to know the word of God? We understand John's life as a prophet as one devoted to God. He practiced a kind of radical poverty in his humility, dressed in the skins of animals, and eating food from nature (see Matthew 3:4). But this form of self-emptying isn't what made him a holy person; it is what enabled him to "hear the voice of God," so to speak. John's humility is about taking away what is extraneous and focusing on mission, on his devotion to God. This is the true role of a prophet. In the Old Testament, many false prophets are named. They are those who would prophesy for kings for money and favor, for a high social position. The true prophets, by contrast, were often outcasts -- out of favor for the ways in which they would speak up against the policies of the powers that be. With a person of great power, that often means against a "personality." Jesus, of course, is a towering example of the kind of humility we have to understand from Scripture. The authority with which Christ speaks is His own, that of the Son -- but everything is conferred by the Father. In today's reading, the Baptist teaches us all that "He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure." Everything comes back to the one thing necessary, that which makes every sacrifice worthy, God. Humility, then, is all about a life so devoted to God that everything that gets in the way of understanding the role we're asked to play is considered extraneous. That is not going to be a "one size fits all" proposition. Jesus contrasts His life and that of His disciples with John the Baptist and his disciples in Luke chapter 7: "For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’" Jesus finishes with this conclusion: "But wisdom is justified by all her children.” Saints will come and have come in all kinds of forms and appearances, with many tools for teaching, and myriad stories of their lives. Each one is unique, but this is the design of God. All share one thing: a radical humility before God, stripping away the concerns of life that hinder this complete devotion, whatever they may be. John and Jesus are perceived as widely different types of persons by their own society and in their own time, yet each serves God in the ways that they are asked, within the roles they are meant to play in the identity that comes from God. It is in this that John says his joy is fulfilled. Jesus is Son, the Christ, while John is the last and greatest of the Old Testament type prophets. And so it has to be with each one of us. Our "mission" is to find that place we're asked to be in, and to let go of the things that get in the way of that fulfillment. In this sense, each one of us is called to the exemplary humility of the Baptist. We might not all look the same or do the same things, but we can each find our place in the salvation scheme of things. And while each may not be perfect, our own journey of repentance and transformation remains "our journey" -- the way. From the examples we find in Scripture, we can't expect that everyone will understand, nor that whatever way we're led in our own lives will reflect everybody else's road. But one thing remains steady: the need for humility, considered the greatest virtue. John's Gospel also teaches us about joy. At the Last Supper, Jesus will teach the disciples, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full" (John 15:10-11). He will say also, "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (16:24). It is through humility that our asking is proper, and that our joy is full -- when we find the commands for ourselves of which Jesus speaks, and thereby "abide in His love." Right from the beginning, we have the example of the Baptist. Let us consider what it might mean for us, that Christ "increases" in us. What, therefore, will decrease?
