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 

 

In yesterday's reading, we are given Jesus' continuing words to Nicodemus, explaining who He is:  "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 into 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.'"  My study Bible clarifies that in these passages referring to Christ baptizing, we are to understand that Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples, which the Gospel indicates in John 4:2.  At this stage we're notified that Jesus' ministry now surpasses that of John the Baptist (who was himself highly revered among the people as a holy man), for now "all are coming to 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 tells us that John the Baptist is called the friend (or "best man"), while Christ Himself is the bridegroom.  The bride is the Church, the people of God.  Here, John the Baptist lays out the proper relationship between Himself and Jesus.   John confesses his role in the coming of the Messiah; he is witness to the wedding of Christ and His people, and therefore he rejoices in this celebration. 

"He must increase, but I must decrease."  My study Bible comments that John here expresses a humility that serves as an example for all believers.   Here he renounces all earthly glory and reputation for the sake of Christ.  As John the Baptist allows Christ to increase in him, John finds true glory for himself.  This statement moreover indicates the end of the old covenant.  So, as the law vanishes, the grace of Jesus Christ abounds.  John's declaration is revealed in the liturgical calendar, as his birth is celebrated at a time when the sun starts to decrease in the sky (June 24), and Christ's birth is celebrated when the sun begins to increase (December 25). 

"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 echoes the teaching of Christ in our prior reading (above).  My study Bible asks us to note the absence of the word "alone" in this final statement of faith.  It quotes from the commentary of St. John Chrysostom:  "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 affirms here what Jesus has said earlier in this chapter:  that Jesus is the Son who comes from heaven.  Therefore, Jesus speaks of what He knows firsthand, of what He has seen and heard.  He testifies.  Jesus speaks the words of God, for -- and John says something exceptional here -- God does not give the Spirit by measure.  John also speaks to us of God's love, just as Jesus testified in yesterday's reading, above.  He tells us, "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand."   This is the same as Jesus' declaration to Philip in chapter 14:  "He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works" (John 14:8-10).  But let us examine John's words about John himself, because these words are essential to the identity of all of us.  He begins by teaching that a person "can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven."  John explains his place by saying, "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 the friend of the bridegroom, John's identity is fulfilled in all the things the bridegroom speaks, and thus rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice.  This sense of one's joy being fulfilled comes out of the power of real destiny; that is, the authentic "true self" that is fulfilled in more closely becoming the image planted within us by our Creator.  For John, this authentic self is the "friend of the bridegroom" in his mission as Forerunner, the one who heralds the coming of the Kingdom and of the Messiah.  So it is also with each of us.  Our joy is fulfilled in becoming that person God calls us to be, patterned after an image and likeness planted in us, our role in right-relatedness to Creator, to Christ.  For those of a certain generation who may recall this saying, this is what it means to "follow your bliss," and in the words of John the Baptist, to fulfill one's joy.  Let us do likewise, and each one of us rejoice to stand and hear the voice of the Bridegroom and fulfill our own roles in His Kingdom as we are called to do.  John's significant humility -- a part of his towering holiness in the image of the last and greatest prophet of Israel -- is key here, for without it, it is most hard to distinguish the Bridegroom's voice from that team of voices in the heart that come from all kinds of experiences of worldly life.  It is John, the radical ascetic with his vow of poverty in total dedication to God, that serves as the great model for the monastic life.  Let us hold in ourselves this image of humility before God, and endeavor do likewise.   For it is true for each of us, that "He must increase, but I must decrease" as we allow our Lord's grace to grow in us and teach us who we really are.