September 12, 2023

John 3:22-30 (HCSB)
Jesus and John the Baptist
22 After this, Jesus and His disciples went to the Judean countryside, where He spent time with them and baptized. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized, 24 since John had not yet been thrown into prison. 25 Then a dispute arose between John’s disciples and a Jew about purification. 26 So they came to John and told him, “Rabbi, the One you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, is baptizing—and everyone is flocking to Him.” 27 John responded, “No one can receive a single thing unless it’s given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly[o] at the groom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

BJ Stahlin
No matter the translation, John the Baptizer’s statement in verse 30 is so powerful; “He must increase, but I must decrease” or “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” Are these declarations new for John? Are we finding any inconsistencies with his previous statements? In chapter one of John’s Gospel, this same man proclaims “Here is the Lamb of God...He existed before me...I came baptizing with water so He might be revealed to Israel...He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit...I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!” Are our lives consistently testifying as John the Baptist did? Are we asking and allowing our hearts to be renewed and our minds transformed as He is magnified in us?