I was reading
through John 3 the other day when I came across two very interesting
conversations. You may or may not recognize both, but I’m sure you’ve read at
least the first. The first conversation is between Jesus and a Pharisee named
Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nicodemus the famous line, “For God so loved the world…”
You know the rest.
However, there
is another intriguing conversation that happens later in the same chapter that
holds perhaps equal weight.
This is found in
John 3:22-36.
The Baptizer, named
John, was confronted by the Jews, as well as his own disciples.
“Rabbi,” they
said, “He who was with you (Jesus) beyond the Jordan, to whom you have
testified – behold He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”
Now at first
glance, perhaps we might think that John’s disciples are excited about people
coming to Jesus. After all, John said Jesus would come, He came, and now people
were following Him. It was perfect.
The disciples
were not happy, however, because they had missed the point of John’s ministry.
Before Jesus’
ministry began, everyone had been coming to John to be baptized. Now Jesus was
the one with all the followers. He had all the attention John had once had, and
the disciples were upset.
Let’s put this
in today’s context.
Let’s say
someone comes up to you and tells you that someone in your town is going to
start a food and housing shelter for the homeless, and that it is your job to
start a temporary one in the meantime. You get some of your buddies together
and make it happen.
You build a
small shelter where the homeless can eat and sleep, and you tell each of them
that very soon someone is going to build a huge, permanent place for them to
stay and eat.
Well, a long
time passes and soon everyone knows you as the guy who helps the homeless.
Hundreds of people come through your doors, and you and your buddies feel
pretty good.
Then out of the
blue someone else comes, builds a way bigger place, and nearly everyone who is
homeless leaves your place and goes to the new place.
It’s a nicer
place, sure. The food is better, the rooms are more comfortable, and it is big
enough to fit everyone in need. You know it’s better this way.
Your buddies
come up to you and say, “Hey! That guy just came in and stole our business.
What’s up with that? We were the big shots. People looked up to us. We were
doing a good thing, helping people. Who is this new guy anyway?
Well in John 3,
the new guy was Jesus. The name meant nothing to the disciples, but John
understood. John’s ministry had been to baptize and proclaim Jesus. But John’s
ministry was not meant to last forever. Jesus’ ministry was.
Now John could
have still agreed with his disciples. He could have complained, pouted, or even
neglected to finish God’s calling on His life.
He didn’t.
Here is what
John told his disciples instead:
“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.”
The example John
uses here may sound a little strange, but bear with it for a moment.
The point of the
example is this. The wedding day is not about the best man, it’s about the
bride and groom. The best man doesn’t stand in the front and shout, “Hey look
at me! I’m the best man! I’ve stuck with the groom his whole life!”
No.
It’s true that
the best man has done his part for the groom, but when the wedding roles
around, even the best man stands in the background.
John knew that.
And then John
interjects one of the most powerful verses in the entire Bible.
“He (Jesus) must
increase, but I must decrease.”
John understood
the necessity of Jesus’ increase. What is most powerful here is the second
usage of the word “must.” John wasn’t saying that he supposed his popularity
would die down after Jesus’ picked up.
John was saying
that it was completely necessary for he himself to decrease so that Jesus might
increase.
Present Day
What does that
mean for us?
What does such
humility look like?
Let me give you
a visual.
Think of the old
time scales. The ones where you add something to both sides to make sure they
are even.
On one side you
have Jesus and on one side is you.
You want to show
Jesus in your life. You want Him to “increase.”
How do you do
so?
You add humility
to your own life. You add humility on top of humility on top of humility until
you hit rock bottom and Jesus is raised as high as possible.
Jesus is always
exalted in humility.
The more pride,
the less Jesus.
The more
humility, the more Jesus.
Now if you are
having trouble believing, accepting or understanding this, let me give you one
last example.
Jesus.
When Jesus was
on earth, He wanted to exalt the Father (God).
In Luke 22:42,
Jesus is praying moments before He is arrested.
He says,
“Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My
will, but yours, be done.”
Jesus knew the
pain (both physical, emotional and spiritual) that would accompany His death.
And just like you or me, He would have rather not gone through that. But more
than His own desires, He wanted what the Father wanted. He wanted to exalt God,
and the best way He knew how was to humble Himself, more than any person in the
history of the world ever had or ever would humble themselves.
This alone is
enough to make us humble ourselves. But God is gracious, and offers a promise
to those who humble themselves.
Matthew 23:12
says that “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself
will be exalted.”
Exaltation
always comes through humility, both for ourselves and others.
Ultimate
exaltation, however, isn’t the reason we are to be humble.
It can’t be.
The temptation
to exalt ourselves would be too great in this life. After all, it is so easy to
exalt yourself.
Jesus said that
we are to take up our cross daily (Luke 9:23).
In order for us
to carry that much humility each day requires a goal, a purpose much greater
than self-exaltation.
We carry our
cross for the Creator of the world, just as Christ did. We carry our cross for
something bigger than ourselves, for a grand story that is still being told. We
carry our cross to show the greatness of God.
But when the
cross becomes unbearably heavy, and we no longer think our part of the story is
important enough for the trouble; it is then that we are reminded that glory
awaits just beyond death’s gates.
He must
increase. I must decrease.
And when we
exhale for the last time on earth, and inhale for the first time in Heaven, we
will understand. We will see the grand story in its fullness, and we will be exalted
together with Christ.
1 John 3:2
God Bless
