“You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but rather, ‘I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. He must become more important while I become less important.” —John 3:28-30
John was the forerunner of Christ and he was assured of his calling, hence he found his joy fulfilled in Jesus’ growing influence.
He had great satisfaction in the advancement of Christ. Faithful modern day disciples of Jesus should have that same satisfaction in Jesus’ growing influence as well being assured of our calling to make Jesus known.
No one is more exhausted than one who is constantly striving to appear great in the eyes of men. As believers, our work is to reveal Jesus to those around us. Just as Jesus came to make the Father known, accomplishing the work He was sent by God to do, so too, we are on a divine mission.
We bring glory to God through our obedience to His call and our lives are most satisfied when God is most glorified.
The shrinking of self so that the Spirit may shine through is not a concept we readily hear from our pulpits today, yet Jesus thought it important enough to address it in all four gospels! In Matthew, Jesus said:
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life? ” —Matthew 16:24-26
Take It to Heart
“For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body. For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal body. As a result, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.”
—2 Corinthians 4:5-12
Further Reflections
“Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed – he did not deny but confessed – “I am not the Christ!” —John 1:19-20
“The kingdom of Christ is, and will be, a growing kingdom, like the light of the morning, like the grain of mustard seed. John was not at all displeased that the effect of this was the diminishing of his own interest: ‘I must become less.’ The shining forth of the glory of Christ eclipses the luster of all other glory. As the light of the morning increases, that of the morning star decreases. We must cheerfully be content to be anything, to be nothing, so that Christ may be all.” —Matthew Henry