He must increase, I must decrease

And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  --John 8:23

One of the criticisms of modern worship is that it has become less Christ centered and more "me" centered.  There are choruses that many churches sing, such as "Lord I come, I confess/Bowing here I find my rest/Without You I fall apart/You're the One that guides my heart."  Another example is "I am who You say I am."  Then there's "Reckless Love", which begins: "Before I spoke a word/You were singing over me/You have been so, so good to me/Before I took a breath/You breathed Your life in me/You have been so, so kind to me." In some of these churches, you begin to wonder who is the subject of these praise songs, Jesus or me?

Before we lament, "When did worship become all about me?" we have to remember the book of Jonah.  God told Jonah to go preach to his enemies, the people of Ninevah.  Jonah went the other way, because He did not like them.  When God sent a storm that threatened everyone on the ship, Jonah confessed and got thrown overboard.  Then, when Jonah was swallowed by the great fish, he sang a song of praise:

I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction/And He answered me/Out of the belly of Sheol I cried/and You heard my voice/The waters surrounded me, even to my soul/the deep closed around me/weeds were wrapped around my head/I went down to the moorings of the mountains/the earth with its bars closed behind me forever/yet You have brought up my life from the pit/O Lord my God/When my soul fainted within me/I remembered the Lord/and my prayer went up to You/into Your holy temple.  --Jonah 2:2, 5-7

You remember the rest of the story.  The big fish transported Jonah back to the coast of Israel and spat him out on dry land.  Jonah went to Ninevah, and preached against them.  After 3 days, he climbed up on a hill overlooking the city to see Ninevah burn.  But Ninevah did not burn; the people repented.  Jonah pouted.  God planted a gourd to give Jonah some shade, and he was happy again.  But when the shady plant died, Jonah was angry again.  God's final message to Jonah was basically, "Why are you being so selfish? You pitied the plant, which you did not make grow and had no power over; but you did not have that same compassion for the people of Ninevah--120,000 souls that would have perished if you'd had your way."

We see some of that same selfishness in our passage today.  If you have not read my previous posts, we are walking our way through the Gospel of John.  Today let's read John 3:22 - 4:3.

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."  Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptized, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.

You generally don't see a lot of preachers preaching on this text.  Maybe because it is sandwiched between the stories of Nicodemus and the woman at the well, which are both so much more familiar.  Maybe because it contains some hard truths.  So let's go against the grain, and study what this passage has to tell us.

The Test

The Pulpit Commentary suggests that when Jesus took His disciples to Judea, to the country outside the city of Jerusalem (where He had worked so many miracles), He wanted to teach the disciples so that they could learn from Him.  This may have been an extended period of time, where the disciples could hear Jesus speak without the distractions, away from the masses of people in the city.  Whether it was a period of 40 days or longer, we don't know.

We do know that when the people of Jerusalem found out where Jesus went, they started gathering around Him to hear some of His teaching.  Since they were right there on the river, some of the people asked if they could be immersed in a form of Jewish purification, as a sign of repentance.  John was doing the same thing upriver from Jesus, near a town called Salim.  Over time, more people came to Jesus for baptism than came to John (although we see in chapter 4 that Jesus did not baptize anybody; His disciples did the baptizing.)  Even though John had been baptizing longer, he could see that Jesus was getting more attention.

John's disciples were seeing this as well.  They may have begun to feel emotional about this--were they following the wrong rabbi? Was John's ministry coming to an end?  And if so, what would they do?  On top of all of this, one or more devout Jews came in and started arguing with them about the purpose of baptism as a form of purification.

According to Biblehub.com, "The Jewish rites of purification are not merely ritualistic but are deeply symbolic of the holiness required by God. They serve as a constant reminder of the need for spiritual cleanliness and the separation from sin. These practices highlight the importance of obedience to God's commandments and the desire to live a life pleasing to Him."   Devout Jews were all familiar with the purification rites outlined in Leviticus 12-15.  God commanded that men be immersed in water after a bodily emission or discharge; women were commanded to wash with water after menstruation or childbirth.  There was also a specific process of purification for those who had been healed from leprosy--not only did they have to wash, but they also had to go before the priests, then wait a week and go see the priest again.  The ceremony also had a blood component; the priest was to sprinkle blood on the right ear, the right thumb, and right great toe of the leper, then wash off the blood with oil.

John the disciple does not go into detail about what the dispute was about, but it may have been an accusation that John the Baptist was not of the priestly tribe of Levi, that he was not qualified for the rites of cleansing as outlined in the Torah, and that the work he was doing was incomplete, in that he was only immersing people in water.  There was no priest on site to administer the sacrifice or to sprinkle the blood, so his whole ministry was unnecessary, unscriptural, and undermining God's law.  After arguing for their rabbi, John's disciples were quite discouraged.  "Jesus is stealing your ministry," they said.  "He is taking away the crowds that use to follow you.  Aren't you going to do something about that?"

The Testimony

John had to sit them down and explain his ministry to them.  He was not the Christ, only a forerunner of Christ.  Just like the best man at a wedding, John was not the most important guy at the party.  Jesus was.  "He must increase," John said.  "I must decrease."

John came from the world.  Jesus came down from heaven.  As heaven is greater than earth, so is Jesus greater than John the Baptist.

If you listen to John speak and disagree, there would be no fallout, no consequences.  If you listen to the testimony of Jesus, however, you had to know that Jesus's words were certified by God to be true.  If you reject the testimony of Jesus, then you would be rejecting God Himself.

The Geneva Study Bible says, "Satan inflames the disciples of John with a fond emulation of their master in order to hinder the course of the gospel: but John, being mindful of his office, not only puts a stop to their endeavors, but also takes occasion by that means to give testimony of Christ, that in him alone the Father has set forth everlasting life."

Paul wrote in Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."  John the Baptist was not jealous of Jesus.  He was not selfish.  His job was to glorify Jesus, not to say "look at me!"  All glory was returned to God.  You'd never hear John singing "Reckless Love."

The Truth

Look again at verse 34.  "For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God."  Was John the Baptist speaking about himself?  No, I don't think so.  Notice that the NKJV capitalizes "He", which means he is talking about Jesus.  Jesus is the one whom God has sent.  Jesus is the one who speaks the words of God. The rest of that verse invokes the Trinity; already having spoken about God the Father and Jesus the Son, it goes on to say, "for God does not give the Spirit by measure."

What does that mean exactly?  I think it means that in the Old Testament God spoke through the prophets, but they did not have the whole story.  The prophets spoke the words that God had given them, but their message was incomplete.  When Jesus came, He had the entire message of God.  He was the rest of the story.  If we hold to the Old Testament, if we hold to tradition, we are doomed because God has revealed the entire truth through His Son, Jesus Christ.  "The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand."

And what is that truth that God gave His Son? "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."  We do not hear so much about the wrath of God these days, especially in those churches that sing the shallow praise lyrics about "me, me, me."  Hardened hearts want to hear about grace, about God loving us even in our sin.  We don't always like the part about "sin no more," or "turn from your sins."  We don't like to think about the wrath of God, and as a result the world hears a half-truth from the church.  They hear "don't judge", but they do not hear "bear fruit in keeping with repentance."  They hear Jesus say, "I have not come into the world to condemn the world," but they ignore the very next verse that says, "but he who does not believe is condemned already."

I'm afraid we overemphasize John 3:16, "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," while we underemphasize John 3:36 (in the same chapter), "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."

Let us swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God.  Let us humbly honor Him in our praise and worship, and not glorify ourselves.  It's not about me, or my finding God, or my redemption.  It's all about Him, how He took our sin and suffering upon Himself, about how He breathed new life into people dead in our trespasses and sins.  Hallelujah, what a Savior!

“Man of Sorrows!” what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior! 

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!