June 13
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HE MUST INCREASE AND I MUST DECREASE
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. 23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized— 24 for John had not yet been thrown into prison. 25 Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification. 26 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.” 27 John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ 29 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. So, this joy of mine has been made full. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease. – John 3:22-30
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John’s followers reported to him about how he is losing people to baptize because they were all going to Jesus instead. It is interesting how humans can be very limited about loyalties. They think that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet who cannot lose his following just because this one man came after John. They still didn’t know that Jesus was the Messiah that John had been prophesying about.
Let’s examine the character of John in this account. We witness someone who is very wise and spiritual. In verse 27, he says to his followers, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven”. This is clearly a statement that exemplifies John’s supernatural wisdom in understanding the deity of Christ. His humility is astounding as he continues to declare that he is not the Christ and gave the illustration that he is just the friend of the bridegroom, whom he is referring to Jesus. He says that he must not be seen as much as the bridge-groom should; that it is Jesus who must increase and he must decrease. No wonder Matthew 11:11 declares John the Baptist as the greatest prophet who has ever lived. John knew his place. He never took credit for what’s not his assignment. He knew that his life was to be Jesus’ precursor and that his whole life was to fulfill that role. Do we even recognize the purpose of our lives in God’s kingdom?
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REFLECTION
• Why do you think some Christian take credit for what only belongs to God?