Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled

 

 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 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 

 

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.  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 of the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled."   My study Bible notes that John the Baptist is called the friend (or the "best man"), while Christ is the bridegroom.  The bride is the Church, the people of God.  It says that 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.  Let us take note of John's declaration, "Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled."  Jesus will also use the language of joy in a similar way, at the Last Supper (see John 15:11; 16:22-24; 17:13).

 

"He must increase, but I must decrease."  My study Bible comments here that John expresses a humility that serves as an example for all believers.  He renounces all earthly glory and reputation for the sake of Christ.  By allowing Christ to increase in him, John himself finds true glory.  Moreover, this statement is indicative of the end of the old covenant.  As the law vanishes, the grace of Christ abounds.   In the liturgical calendar, this is expressed.  John's birth is celebrated by most denominations at a time when the sun begins to decrease in the sky (June 24), while Christ's birth is celebrated when the sun begins to increase (December 25 for most; January 6 when the celebration is joint with Epiphany, also known as Theophany, the event of Christ's Baptism and the beginning of His public ministry).  

 

"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."  My study Bible comments that here John echoes the teaching of Jesus Himself (John 3:18, from yesterday's reading, above).  It asks us to note that the word "alone" is not found in this statement of faith.  It quotes St. Chrysostom here:  "We do not from this assert that faith alone is sufficient for salvation; the directions for living that are given in many places in the gospels show this."  See also James 2:14-24.

 

 John the Baptist says, "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."  As noted above, Jesus uses the same language of joy when He speaks about His relationship with the disciples.  John's particular relationship to Christ defines identity, a true identity in the fullness of his own spiritual  understanding, his place in the sight of God.  As this is what defines identity in the fullest sense, it is in the fulfillment of that identity that joy -- this kind of joy -- takes place and is made possible.  This has meaning for all of us, for it is that same sort of joy that Jesus addresses to the disciples.  We understand ourselves in relationship to Christ the Son, and in this fullness of who we are, of where our soul is linked to Creator, and how we experience that in faith,  we come to the truth of identity.  It is in the living and fulfillment of that identity that we also find this kind of joy.  The word in Greek is χαρά/chara.  It also means delight.  When we find this place in which we are embraced in love, and taught who we are, we find our joy.  John understands that he is the friend of the bridegroom, like the "best man" at a wedding, as my study Bible notes.  Therefore in standing beside the Bridegroom, Christ, in hearing Him, and in finding his own place in this salvation dispensation, John takes joy, he finds his delight.  So it is with each one of us, drawn to this place of finding ourselves.  That is, finding ourselves in Christ, this place where love draws us like a type of gravity, to the place where we find comfort, home, where we know and are known.  It is this place where we find direction, and experience an embrace unlike any other for its acceptance and teaching and care.  That joy is in the fulfillment of who we are as those created "in the image and likeness of God" (Genesis 1:26), that true icon or true face of who we are.  When we are drawn by this gravity of love, and respond in trust (or faith), we are taken on this journey of discovery of who we are through this relatedness, this place for us -- and that becomes the lifelong path of faith.  We may not find that path to be straight, we may be taken on a journey that asks us to examine many things about our beliefs, our habits, our practices.  We may be taken on a long journey of change, an evolution of the way we think.  Like John the Baptist, it is a worldly, limited sense of self which decreases, as Christ increases in us.  But what draws us in this deep place is the love of God, and the joy found there -- for there we are free to find ourselves and to live that abundant life.