In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins examining John 3:22-36, the final testimony of John the Baptist about Jesus in the Gospel of John. John the apostle presents the final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers. The presentation of the testimony in John 3:22-36 unfolds in three parts, and Pastor Dave covers the first two parts in John 3:22-30 in this sermon.
Complaint: Jesus Is Superseding John the Baptist!
Clarification 1: Jesus Is the Main Point, Not His Messengers
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Summary
This passage from John 3:22-30 teaches us that Jesus Christ alone is worthy of ultimate devotion, not earthly messengers or leaders. Through the final testimony of John the Baptist, we are reminded that every good thing we receive comes from God’s sovereign hand, and that true discipleship means pointing others to Jesus rather than building our own kingdoms.
Key Lessons:
- No person on earth—no family member, leader, or teacher—deserves devotion without reservation, because only Jesus can bring ultimate satisfaction, security, and salvation.
- John the Baptist models the attitude every believer should have: rejoicing when Jesus receives the attention and honor, even at the cost of our own prominence.
- God-ordained suffering is a means by which Christ is exalted and we are made truly strong and joyful, as illustrated by Paul’s thorn in the flesh.
- True ministry—whether evangelism, counseling, or teaching—must always aim to bring people to Jesus, not to ourselves, our churches, or moral codes.
Application: We are called to examine where we have placed ultimate devotion on earthly people or our own comfort, and to repent by adopting John the Baptist’s motto: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” This means embracing suffering, sacrificing comfort, and ensuring every act of service points others to Christ alone.
Discussion Questions:
- In what areas of life have you placed too much devotion on a person, group, or comfort rather than on Jesus Christ?
- How does the wedding analogy of the bridegroom and best man reshape how you view your role in ministry and evangelism?
- What would it practically look like this week for you to embrace the motto “He must increase, but I must decrease” in your daily decisions and relationships?
Scripture Focus: John 3:22-30 records John the Baptist’s humble response to his disciples’ complaint, teaching that Jesus is the bridegroom worthy of full devotion. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 is also referenced, showing how God uses suffering to exalt Christ through our weakness.
Outline
- Introduction
- The Question of Devotion
- The Purpose of John the Baptist’s Final Testimony
- The Complaint: Jesus Is Superseding John
- Jesus and John Both Baptizing
- John’s Imprisonment Foreshadowed
- Why John’s Death Is Barely Mentioned
- The Dispute About Purification
- The Disciples’ Complaint to John
- Clarification: Jesus Is the Main Point
- Application: Humility and Self-Forgetfulness
- Application: Ministry Must Point to Jesus
- Application: Embracing God-Ordained Suffering
- Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh
- Suffering Produces Joy in Christ
- Closing Prayer
Introduction
Great God, you are the holy God. There is no God like you, and there is no one like Jesus Christ. God, as we move into this next passage, I pray that we would appreciate just how special, how on another plane Jesus is compared to every other person. And that we would not give to another person what belongs to Jesus. That we would not be zealous, overly zealous, for a person with a zeal that only belongs to him.
And God, I also pray that the attitude that we will see exemplified today by your servant John the Baptist would become our own. That we would be able to say with sincerity the same thing that he does. And God, that our lives be all about you. How many people explain this now? And I pray that you would speak to us through me, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The Question of Devotion
Well, as I often like to do, let me start off the message today with a question. To whom are you fundamentally devoted in your life? Which person or persons inspire your loyalty? For whom will you zealously stand up to defend and support?
Probably one natural answer is your family. You are devoted to your spouse or your parents or your siblings or your kids. You love them. You want to see them succeed. You want to see them honored. You will defend them against those who work to their harm or dishonor. That makes sense.
But are there others to whom you are also devoted? Maybe you are devoted to a particular sports team or a music artist or YouTube personality. Maybe you’re devoted to a particular politician, political party, or celebrity. Maybe you’re devoted to your own ethnic group or your fellow hobbyists in a particular hobby, or your country.
“To whom are you fundamentally devoted in your life? Which person inspires your loyalty?”
It’s possible that you may even be devoted to certain Christians. Maybe you’re devoted—hopefully you’re devoted—to the brothers and sisters of this church and also your shepherds here. Maybe you were devoted to the person who led you to Christ. We have a special love and loyalty to that person.
It may also be that you are devoted to other Christian teachers or writers or ministry organizations that you’ve come to know and trust and appreciate. There’s nothing wrong with a certain measure of devotion, of loyalty, even of zeal, for any of these. But there must be a limit, right? There is a line you must not cross when it comes to devotion for any person or group on earth.
Signs of Too Much Devotion
It is easy to cross that line, and we often do. One sign of too much devotion is when you are no longer content if your favored person or group does not succeed in the way you want. My team lost the championship game. I’m gonna be depressed for a month. My child didn’t get into a top college. Life is over. My dreams are shattered. My candidate didn’t win the election. I’m moving to another country. No hope here.
Another sign of too much devotion is when you jealously resent or bitterly criticize those who do succeed when your favorite person or group does not. My husband’s co-worker didn’t deserve that promotion. She must have cheated to get it. That new pastor is popular, sure, but I think he’s just trying to show off in his sermons. Everybody loves the new artist. That’s only because they don’t know what real music is.
“One sign of too much devotion is when you jealously resent those who succeed when your favorite does not.”
Still another sign of too much devotion is when you automatically assume your favorite person or group can do no wrong, and so you are not willing to consider any criticism or accusation against them. My child got in trouble at school. I’m sure it was the teacher’s fault. Someone’s accusing America of doing something wrong? Just a patriotic—unpatriotic trader. A pastor disagrees with what my favorite pastor said? Surely that other pastor is compromised.
Only Jesus Deserves Full Devotion
Now, again, devotion’s not bad. Loyalty is not bad. Zeal for those you love is not bad. But no one on earth—not even your church elders here—deserves devotion without reservation. And why not? Because every person or group on earth is made up of sinners or imperfect, and who will fail. And because no matter how devoted you are to a person or persons, they will never bring you ultimate satisfaction or security or salvation.
“No one on earth deserves devotion without reservation, because every person is imperfect and will fail.”
And because Jesus Christ, the one sent from heaven, is the only one truly worthy of full devotion. Our next passage in the Gospel of John will show us that the persons we Christians might otherwise most want to praise, support, and obey should be the very ones insisting that they not receive ultimate honor or ultimate loyalty.
Rather, the attitude of the best among us should be the same as we see from John the Baptist: always putting the focus on Jesus and testifying sincerely, “He must increase, that I must decrease.”
And that’s the title of the sermon today. If you would please take your Bibles and turn to John 3:22.
We’re going to read from John 3:22 all the way down to verse 36. This is page 1061 in your pew Bible. Let’s read our passage.
“After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea. And there he was spending time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And people were coming and were being baptized. For John had not yet been thrown into prison. Therefore, there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew 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, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses. I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of 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. So this joy of mine has been made full. He must increase, but I must decrease.
“He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. What he has seen and heard, of that he testifies. And no one receives his testimony. He who has received his testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God. For he gives the Spirit without measure.
“The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. He who believes in the Son has eternal life. But he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
The Purpose of John the Baptist’s Final Testimony
This passage represents an important point of transition in the Gospel of John. Remember the purpose of this gospel, why it was written? John the Apostle writes this to persuade Hellenistic Jews—that is, Greek-speaking, Greek-cultured Jews—and Gentile God-fearers that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, so that they will believe in him and receive eternal life.
Remember the way that the Apostle John is going about this purpose in his book? John records certain signs—that is, certain miraculous works that Jesus did—along with certain words that explain Jesus’ works and explain Jesus as the son and the ultimate revelation of God.
Most of these explaining words that the Apostle includes come from Jesus himself. But John also sees fit to include the words, the witness of another man. And that’s John the Baptist.
John the Baptist, remember, is the greatest of Old Testament prophets. Jesus said before him, or up to that point in history, no one was greater than John. He was even recognized by Israel generally, throughout Israel, as a prophet, as a true man of God.
He was presented to us at the beginning of John’s gospel as a kind of star witness about Jesus. This great man keeps pointing to Jesus. Surely we must heed his testimony. We saw that in John 1:19-34.
“This great man keeps pointing to Jesus. Surely we must heed his testimony.”
John the Baptist testifies about Jesus. He fulfilled his primary calling of pointing out the messiah’s arrival and directing all the people to follow Jesus, and not the baptizer.
But before John the Baptist leaves the scene, our author wants us to hear from him one more time. This is the last that we will hear from John the Baptist in this book. The rest of the book focuses on Jesus.
Three Critical Purposes of This Testimony
This final testimony from John the Baptist is important, and it accomplishes three critical purposes. First, it shows us that John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus did not change after Jesus began his ministry. It’s not like John affirmed Jesus as the Christ in the beginning, but then Jesus went rogue, went in some direction that John the Baptist never forsook, never foresaw, and poor John never had a chance to take back his testimony. No, that’s not the case.
As we’ll see, after Jesus’s miracle and preaching ministry began, John continued to affirm Jesus and even corroborated Jesus’ most shocking statements, like the ones we saw in John 3:1-21. You’re going to see there’s a lot of parallelism between the beginning of chapter three and what we’re now seeing at the end of chapter three.
Second, this testimony—this final testimony—shows us once again that people stopping short of full faith in Jesus by settling for belief, belief in or adherence to a religious teacher like John the Baptist, that is completely unacceptable. Jesus knew revelation is so much greater than anything that came before. He himself is so much greater than anyone who came before.
That coming short of Jesus, not only is missing out on the glory of God, but it is a soul-damning move.
“Coming short of Jesus is not only missing out on the glory of God, but it is a soul-damning move.”
And then third, this testimony provides us another picture of what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus, even a true herald and minister on Jesus’ behalf today, which is what we all are as Christians to some degree or another. John the Baptist is going to show us what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
We must not be worried about our own success, our own comfort, our own honor. Rather, we must follow John’s example of insisting on Jesus being lifted up, even at our own expense. This is the only way to true joy, and really it’s the reason for which we were made.
Main Idea and Sermon Structure
Now, we can roll up these three purposes into one main idea statement for this passage. In John 3:22-36, John the Apostle presents the final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers.
I say that again. John the Apostle presents this final testimony of John the Baptist so that you will devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers, not yourself, not someone else.
“Devote yourself to Jesus Christ alone and not mere earthly messengers.”
Now, our narrative divides into three main parts. The first part shows the origin of a complaint about Jesus given to John the Baptist. The second and third parts represent John the Baptist’s clarifying answers to that complaint.
We’re just going to look at the first two parts in the narrative today. We’ll come back and look at the third next week. So we’re just going down to verse 30 today.
The Complaint: Jesus Is Superseding John
The first part of the narrative comprises verses 22 to 26, and it sets the backdrop for John the Baptist’s final word about Jesus. The heading to summarize this first part is the following: “Complaints: Jesus is now superseding John the Baptist.” That’s the complaint that Jesus is now superseding John the Baptist. Let’s see how this unfolds, starting in verse 22.
“After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judea. And there he was spending time with them and baptizing.”
Notice the beginning phrase, “after these things.” This is a reference to what just came before, what we’ve been studying in John 2 all the way to John 3. And that was, if you remember, Jesus going up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. And while there, dramatically cleansing the temple, confronting the corrupted worship.
He also did many sign miracles in the city. People were believing in him. And then Jesus had a profound conversation with that old rabbi, Nicodemus. All this is what just took place.
“After those things, Jesus went into the countryside of Judea, spending time with his disciples and baptizing.”
Verse 22 is saying, “After those things, sometime after that, we get the following events taking place.”
Jesus and John Both Baptizing
Now, notice also in verse 22 the phrase “the land of Judea.” This is best understood as referring to the countryside or the rural parts of Judea. Because after all, Jesus has already been in Judea. He’s in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is part of Judea. But now he leaves the city and he goes to Judea. That is, he goes into the country. He probably goes east towards the Jordan River. Why that direction? Well, because the end of the verse tells us that Jesus begins baptizing in the area.
And now that’s interesting. John’s gospel is the only one that mentions that Jesus baptized followers. John 4:2 is quickly going to clarify that it wasn’t Jesus himself baptizing. He was overseeing while his disciples baptized. But we never heard about a baptism ministry of Jesus in the other gospels. John tells us about it here.
John’s gospel is additionally the only one that mentions a prolonged time of ministry in the area of Judea at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. If you compare this to the other gospels, you’ll see that they only really pick up the narrative of Jesus’ ministry after Jesus transitions back up north into Galilee.
In this gospel, then, our author uniquely reveals that for a time Jesus had a ministry just like John the Baptist’s, calling on people to repent due to the approaching kingdom of God. And then, upon repentance, being baptized as a symbol of the purification of heart that God has accomplished. This baptism of repentance—this isn’t Christian baptism, by the way. This is kind of like a step towards that, something that John was doing, and that Jesus ends up doing too.
“For a time Jesus had a ministry just like John the Baptist’s, calling on people to repent due to the approaching kingdom.”
Verse 22 tells us all this, but the plot thickens in verse 23. Look there now.
“John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there is much water there. And people were coming and were being baptized.”
We learn here that John the Baptist is also continuing to preach and baptize. Now, we’re told more specifically where John is operating. It’s in Aenon near Salim. But unfortunately, we don’t really know where those places are today. We don’t know for sure. Most likely, they were somewhere near the cities of ancient Shechem and Beth Shean, which are a little bit north of Jerusalem in the region of Samaria. It still would have been considered the Roman province of Judea. And these two sites do indeed have much water near them, a number of natural springs near them.
And you’re going to need much water if you’re John the Baptist, because he’s baptizing lots of people, according to the end of verse 23. People apparently are still coming to John the Baptist to be baptized. They’re continually coming. They’re continually being baptized, even after Jesus has been revealed.
So where is John in relationship to Jesus? John is baptizing. Jesus is baptizing. Where are they in relation to one another? Hard to say. It depends on where exactly Jesus sets up. The two could be close to one another. They’re both in the province of Judea. But maybe John is a little bit north of Judea, or a little bit north of Jesus. What is clear is that they’re not in the exact same area. It’s not like they’re side by side. There’s some distance between them.
Now, we get one more statement of background in verse 24, which is an explainer of verse 23.
John’s Imprisonment Foreshadowed
Verse 24: “For John had not yet been thrown into prison.”
On the surface, this verse provides a simple clarification of the timing of the conversation we’re about to read. This takes place between John’s revelation of Jesus as the Lamb of God, the chosen one of God, to Israel, and John’s later imprisonment.
Again, this period is not mentioned in the other gospels. John uniquely presents it. So he clarifies the timing for his readers.
“This takes place between John’s revelation of Jesus as the Lamb of God and John’s later imprisonment.”
But there’s something else here. Verse 24 is the only statement in this gospel that alludes to John the Baptist’s ultimate fate, where he’s imprisoned and then executed by Herod Antipas. The other three gospels report how and why these events unfold. But not this gospel.
Why John’s Death Is Barely Mentioned
One question we might ask is, why? Why don’t we get a longer explanation of John’s end? Surely one answer is that our author expects his audience is already familiar with what happened to John the Baptist, either because they read about it in the other three gospels already, which have been circulating, or because John the Baptist was so famous a person among the Jews that even those who didn’t read the other gospels already knew his life story. So truly, that is part of the answer.
But I think another part of the answer is that our author is showing us, in narrative form, what John the Baptist is about to declare himself. And that is that John the Baptist shouldn’t be people’s focus. Jesus should be the focus. The baptizer will be pleased to have people’s attention only so far as it connects people to Jesus. Beyond that, John doesn’t need attention. John doesn’t want attention.
Even his unjust death at the hands of a lustful, people-pleasing ruler named Herod is actually not that important to mention. John the Baptist would rather fade into obscurity, quietly exiting stage left. All eyes are on Jesus. I think our gospel author wants to emphasize the same truth. And so that’s why we only get this terse explanation about John’s fate in verse 24.
“John the Baptist would rather fade into obscurity, quietly exiting stage left. All eyes on Jesus.”
Well, with these opening verses, we’ve now learned what John and Jesus are doing. And that’s important for understanding the disputes and the complaints which are about to emerge in the next two verses. Now, look at verse 25.
The Dispute About Purification
Now therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew about purification.
Notice the word “discussion” in verse 25. This Greek word can indicate a simple discussion, but more often was used to describe a controversial discussion, even a dispute or a debate. Such would seem to be the sense here. We’ve got a dispute brewing between John’s disciples and a certain Jew about purification.
Now, who’s this Jew? We don’t know. He’s clearly not a disciple of John. It could be a new Jewish believer in Jesus. But our author usually reserves the term “Jew” for those who oppose Jesus.
So more likely, this Jew is someone who follows neither Jesus nor John, but is prepared to debate with John, or at least with John’s disciples. So this is probably a scribe or a Pharisee.
We’re told the subject of the debate is purification or cleansing—the same word was used back in John 2:6 when describing the purpose of the water pots at the wedding of Cana. They were for purification, that ceremonial custom of Jews purifying themselves before meals. Same word here: purification.
But what exactly is it that this Jew wants to debate about purification with John’s disciples? Again, we don’t know.
Certainly, the Jews in general were concerned about ceremonial purification. And certainly, John and Jesus are concerned about purification of hearts, symbolized in the unique rite that they instituted or practiced, this baptism of repentance.
The only other clues to the nature of this debate are what comes before and after: an observation about apparent competition between the baptism of Jesus and the baptism of John.
“John and Jesus are concerned about purification of hearts, symbolized in the baptism of repentance.”
So perhaps this Jew was questioning the need for John’s baptism ministry in light of what Jews were already doing and in light of what Jesus was beginning to do. I mean, what’s your master doing? There’s no need for him here. He’s obsolete. Maybe.
Regardless of the exact nature of the debate, the outcome is the important part, which is what we see in verse 26.
The Disciples’ Complaint to John
“And they came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, he who is with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, he is baptizing, and all are coming to him.’”
Oh, we’ve got a complaint about Jesus’ new baptizing ministry from John’s disciples. And notice how they framed the complaint to their master John. “Rabbi,” they say, which is the title of respect for a religious teacher. Nicodemus called Jesus a rabbi back at the beginning of the chapter. The disciples then identify Jesus, but not by name, but simply according to the events that took place in John 1.
“He who is with you beyond the Jordan”—even the one you baptized—”that same one whom you have testified about him being the chosen Lamb of God. Behold, look mentally, come and see for yourself this surprising, this even shocking development. This one is baptizing. And not only that, but all are coming to him.”
Now, that last phrase is intriguing, because verse 23 has already told us that people were coming to John to be baptized. They were continually coming to John. So clearly, not everyone was going to Jesus. But certainly, you can hear the alarm in John’s disciples’ complaint. And perhaps even hear some indignation.
How is it right? How is it fair that the very one to whom you have testified, or for whom you have testified for such a long time, is now stepping on your turf? Baptism was your thing. And now he’s trying to take it over. And worse, the people are going along with it. More and more people are coming to Jesus instead of you, Master Rabbi. Something is wrong with this picture.
“Baptism was your thing, and now he’s trying to take it over—and worse, the people are going along with it.”
We can also see that John’s disciples were indeed devoted to him. They really loved him. They respected him. They were grieved, worried, even angry that Jesus should eclipse the ministry of their great teacher. They were zealous on his behalf.
Something was wrong indeed. But it wasn’t the situation that was wrong. It was how John’s disciples were viewing it.
Clarification: Jesus Is the Main Point
John the Baptist needs to clarify. He needs to set the record straight for his overzealous disciples, which is what he begins to do next. John’s reply to his disciples provides two main clarifications to them—clarifications that are important for us too—so that we also will devote ourselves only to Jesus and not mere earthly messengers.
The first clarification we begin to see in verses 27 to 30.
Glorification one: Jesus is the main point, not his messengers. Jesus is the main point, not his messengers. Look at verse 27.
“John answered and said, ‘A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.’”
Here’s where John begins in his reply to his disciples by pointing out that everything that they see is proceeding exactly as God ordained it. Neither John nor his disciples should have any reason to complain. Verse 27 is an axiom, a general statement of truth. It applies to all situations.
No one succeeds. No one becomes popular unless God grants such. God gives such as an undeserved gift. God has his reasons for what he does. But our role is simply to embrace God’s plan humbly and thankfully.
“No one succeeds, no one becomes popular unless God grants such. Our role is to embrace God’s plan humbly.”
John mentions this axiom because he’s implicitly applying it to himself. Based on the complaint his disciples have just brought him, my friends, I didn’t earn my role as a forerunner, nor have I deserved my disciples, my popularity, or my success. These were gifts ordained by God. But what was given me was ultimately designed by God to be given to someone else: Jesus.
Jesus is succeeding in his new baptism and preaching ministry because God ordained it. So will you argue with the good sovereignty of God? Does he not know how to give out his gifts rightly?
I Am Not the Christ
John continues in verse 28 by reminding his disciples of some other words that they had already heard from John before.
Verse 28: “You yourselves are my witnesses. Then I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of him.’”
We should remember these words too, because we saw them in John 1:19-28. John was just as emphatic then as he is here that he is not the promised Messiah, nor anyone truly deserving esteem.
“You yourselves are my witnesses,” John says. That’s an emphatic statement. You of all people should know and remember that I categorically denied being the Christ. I myself am not the Christ. I don’t have any pretensions toward that role.
So why are you being zealous for me as if I were the Christ? Why are you so committed to my honor? I told you what I said: that I merely have been sent ahead of him as a forerunner. I came first, not because I’m greater or more important, but because I had a role to fulfill on his behalf.
So why are you treating me the way that he should be treated? It’s always been about him.
“Why are you being zealous for me as if I were the Christ? It’s always been about him.”
The Wedding Analogy
And verse 29, John gives a certain analogy to help his disciples better understand the relationship between John and Jesus. In particular, this analogy will help them understand how John himself feels about this relationship. Look at verse 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.”
What’s the analogy that John provides? It’s a wedding. Back in those days, it was customary in Judean weddings—Galilee weddings are apparently a little different—it was customary in Judean weddings that the friend of the groom, the equivalent of our best man today, would be in charge of arranging and overseeing the wedding festivities.
The groom was ultimately responsible for the wedding, for preparing his home for the bride and preparing the wedding feast. But the groom relied on his best man to function something like a wedding coordinator to make sure that the events of the wedding were prepared and went smoothly. In fact, it was the best man who was specifically responsible for making sure that the bride was prepared for the groom when the groom came to retrieve her and bring her to his home to be his new wife.
In this wedding analogy, Jesus is the bridegroom. John is just the best man. John says, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” The bride is not meant for the best man, but for the bridegroom, for the husband to be.
By analogy, the people of Israel aren’t ultimately meant for me. They’re meant for Jesus. What business would I have trying to keep them for myself? I’m simply preparing them for him.
“The people of Israel aren’t ultimately meant for me. They’re meant for Jesus. I’m simply preparing them for him.”
The Joy of the Best Man
And John’s not sad at all about this. He’s not resigned. For he goes on to say, “The friend of the bridegroom, the one who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.” What makes a best man happy at a wedding? Not stealing the bride. Rather, being there to serve and honor his friend in whatever way he can.
Actually, the happiest moment for a Judean best man back in those days would have been seeing the couple finally come together. And then hearing the bridegroom speak and preside over the wedding feast that has been perfectly prepared.
Why would that make him so happy? Because that means that best man did his job successfully. Now the bride and groom can rejoice in one another as they were always meant to do. Now the bridegroom can have the spotlight on him as the honored host of this wedding feast.
If the best man truly is the best man, the true friend of the bridegroom who loves his friend, then the happiest he can be is to see his friend receive and enjoy the bride. And John says, “That’s me. I’m happy at seeing the bride, the people who have been coming to me, the people I’ve been preparing for God, going to Jesus, going to the bridegroom, for whom they were meant.”
This is why John says at the end of verse 29, “So this joy of mine has been made full.” And what a contrast, right? John’s disciples are steamed about Jesus stealing away John’s ministry. But John is feeling just the opposite.
What you see happening, what you hear happening, that’s making me happy. I hear the bridegroom’s voice. The wedding celebration is beginning. My joy is full now because I see that my mission is accomplished and God’s people are going where they belong: to the Messiah, to the son of God, to God himself.
“My joy is full because I see that my mission is accomplished and God’s people are going where they belong.”
It’s interesting if we just compare how this analogy, this metaphor of a wedding being used with God and his people, is used throughout the Bible. The Old Testament several times describes Israel as the bride of God. You see this in the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Hosea.
But unfortunately, most of the time that metaphor is used, it is used to emphasize how adulterous Israel has been toward her heavenly husband and how Israel therefore will be judged for it.
So when you heard that metaphor in the past, or when you saw that analogy being employed, it was a grievous thing. It was a sorrowful thing to think about Israel as the unfaithful bride of God.
But John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament prophets, he gets to witness the opposite. He gets to see the bride coming to God in true repentance and faith. What a joyous sight for him and for all those who truly love God.
He Must Increase, I Must Decrease
Yet such was not going to happen without John suffering some loss. The very goal he longed for, the very thing that would make his joy complete, is going to end up diminishing his own importance, really making him obsolete. But John does not avoid this reality. He embraces it.
Notice how John ends his first answer of clarification to his disciples in verse 30.
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
It’s a pretty famous statement, right? It sums up John’s attitude and really, what should be the attitude of every true Christian in regard to Jesus and the self.
To translate the original Greek more literally, this will sound more clunky in English. The verse would read, “It is necessary to make that one greater, but it is necessary to make me less.”
Why is it necessary? Why must Jesus increase or be made greater? And why must John and you and me decrease and be made less? Because Jesus is the bridegroom and we aren’t. Because Jesus is the Christ and we are not.
Jesus is the main point. We are just messengers. All life, goodness, and joy are wrapped up in him, not us.
If we’ve come to see that our goal must not be to present ourselves to people as if we could give them those things, but to bring people to Jesus so they can find it all in him, this is God’s design. It is a glorious design, and it has been set from eternity past.
It must happen, and it will happen. The only question for us is: Are we on board with God’s program?
Are we like John the Baptist, as this exemplary true disciple of Jesus? Are we about magnifying the glory of Jesus? Or are we about magnifying the glory of our favorite people, even our family members, our societal leaders, our favorite Christian teachers?
To say that another way, are we more interested in Jesus’ honor and success than the honor and success of earthly persons, including ourselves?
Another question worth asking, especially in light of the analogy that John the Baptist employs: Have we become like traitorous friends of the bridegroom, intent on stealing the bride for ourselves, for our own twisted pleasure, for our own pride, for our own glory?
Or are we faithful friends of the bridegroom, determined and zealous to deliver the bride in purity, rightfully to Jesus, and then happily fade into the background?
Application: Humility and Self-Forgetfulness
I think there are a lot of good applications we can make from this passage, and especially verse 30.
Certainly, you see that the attitude of humility, of self-forgetfulness, should be ours as believers. John exemplifies it. But it was first and even greater in Jesus himself. We see this in Philippians 2 and other places. Being incarnated and coming to save sinners, Jesus was not thinking of himself. He was thinking of the Father and of us. See the same kind of humility in John the Baptist, and it ought to be in us as well.
“In coming to save sinners, Jesus was not thinking of himself. He was thinking of the Father and of us.”
We indeed, like Jesus, should consider others more important than ourselves. We should not be worried about our own rights, our own honor, our own plans and designs. We should be concerned about the Lord’s honor, the Lord’s plans, the Lord’s purposes.
I think another way that this can be specifically applied is to think about our evangelism, or really any type of service that we’ve been called to before Jesus. What’s one of the main reasons that we don’t end up doing it? We don’t end up speaking to others about the Lord. We don’t end up serving in the church. We don’t end up sacrificing ourselves for him.
It’s going to cost us. And we’d rather not endure that cost. We might lose friendships. We might lose a job. We might lose comfort. But what we’re really saying is, “I must increase. I’ve got a kingdom. I’ve got plans that need to be seen through. Jesus is kind of getting in the way of it. So I’m gonna let him decrease.”
That’s the opposite of the attitude of a true disciple. And if we find ourselves thinking that way, it’s time for us to repent. We’re not here for our own comfort. We’re not here for our own kingdom. We’re here for his.
Actually, we’re believing a lie when we think, “If I can just get my own desires fulfilled, if I can stay comfortable, if I can keep people happy with me, then I’ll be happy.” No. Whatever happiness you feel is going to be shallow and fleeting.
True joy comes from being a faithful best man, bringing the bridegroom to Jesus. You’ve been sacrificing yourself for him. I’ll give you two more specific applications in the way we do our ministry.
Application: Ministry Must Point to Jesus
Certainly, we should choose to minister because of these things that we’ve seen. But in the way that we minister, we must remember first and foremost that the goal, the main point, is Jesus.
When you’re trying to win people in evangelism, you’re not winning them to yourselves, to your church, to a moral code. When you’re counseling somebody and trying to use the Bible to counsel them, you’re not trying to win them to you as a counselor or to a set of wise principles from the Bible.
When you’re teaching in church, you’re not trying to win people as your own disciples. You’re trying to win people to Jesus. Get them to see Jesus. Get them to go to Jesus. Get them to rely on Jesus, not you.
Virtually in him, they will find the strength, the life, and joy that they need. It’s only when we lead people in this way as his ministers that we will find joy.
You haven’t really done your job until that person comes to Jesus. Be like John the Baptist who insists, “Don’t stop with me. Go all the way to Jesus. I’m just here to point you on the way, and then you can forget about me.”
“You haven’t really done your job until that person comes to Jesus. Be like John the Baptist: go all the way to Jesus.”
Application: Embracing God-Ordained Suffering
Foreign. And now I’ll give you one other application. John the Baptist saw as a law of ministry: it’s only when he himself was diminished or made low that Christ would be made great and lifted high.
So something else we need to realize is that if we truly see Jesus as the main point, we must embrace the goodness of God-ordained suffering in our lives.
This is something that Greg was talking to us about last week. Pain itself is not good. That’s just a sign of the brokenness of this world that needs redemption.
But what painful circumstances produce is good. It’s being sovereignly arranged by God. It’s going to do a number of good things. But one of the most important is it’s going to exalt Christ and diminish the self.
“If we truly see Jesus as the main point, we must embrace the goodness of God-ordained suffering in our lives.”
Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh
I think one great example of this, and another part of the scriptures, is one I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. That’s 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.
You don’t have to turn there. You can just listen as I read it. This is that passage where Paul talks about the thorn in the flesh. We don’t know what the thorn in the flesh was. Paul never describes it in detail, but it was some kind of great pain in his life.
Listen to the way Paul says this pain came about and what it produced. This is something Paul talks about right after revealing, in a kind of funny way, that he was granted visions of heaven, visions of paradise. And then he says this right after.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10: “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself. Concerning this, I implored the Lord three times, that it might leave me. And he has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’
Most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore, I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Do you hear? God’s apostle Paul was given this thorn in the flesh, some persistent, painful, tormenting circumstance, not because Paul had done anything wrong, but just to keep him from exalting himself. He had been given so many blessings as a minister of God. It was a great possibility that he might try to exalt himself.
So God says, “I’m going to protect you from that.” This was a specific provision from God to make Paul less. When Paul pleaded three times for God to remove the thorn, God told Paul he would not. Rather, he assured Paul that God’s grace would be sufficient for him, and that Paul would display the power of Christ in Paul’s weakness.
Now that’s a sobering and wonderful truth. The very goal that we as Christians want most, if we actually have come to know him, is to make much of Christ before the world. We have to understand that it will come about very often by God plunging us into suffering.
You want to make Christ known? You want his name to be lifted high? God says, “Here’s the perfect way to do it: suffer righteously for my sake.” As John the Baptist says, “He must increase. He’s worthy of this. This is what God has always planned. But you must decrease.”
We must confess that we are too much filled with our own desires, our own worldly goals, our own short-sighted plans, our own self-reliance to really show people the glory of Christ like we are. So God, in his mysterious and kind faithfulness, is determined to afflict us that in our weakness we may be made strong and in our sorrow we may be made joyful in Christ.
“You want to make Christ known? God says, ‘Here’s the perfect way: suffer righteously for my sake.’”
Suffering Produces Joy in Christ
The world won’t know what to do with that. Just as Greg urged us last week, and as Peter urged us from the passage in which Greg was preaching, let us by faith count it all joy when we see and experience multi-colored trials, when we run into personal loss, because that is how the bride is going to reach the bridegroom.
That is how we’re going to bring God’s chosen from among the world into his kingdom. And that is also how our joy will be made full.
That’s the temptation, right? When we experience suffering, we say, “God, he doesn’t want me to be happy. He doesn’t want me to enjoy what is good. He’s just bringing suffering, suffering, suffering.” But the Bible reveals that the truth is different.
God is more committed to your joy than you are. But he doesn’t want you to settle for something shallow or sinful. He says, “I want your joy to be made full. I want it to be the very joy of Christ.”
“God is more committed to your joy than you are. He doesn’t want you to settle for something shallow or sinful.”
And we can embrace that by faith. We can take as our motto, “He must increase, that I must decrease. God, however you want this to play out in my life and the way that I serve and in my suffering, I want this to be true because you’re worthy of it.”
I know my role is that your motto is that our motto as a church because the Lord is showing us today it ought to be. And by faith it can be.
Well, we’ve seen today John’s first reply of clarification to his disciples’ complaint about Jesus superseding John. And that clarification is: Jesus is the main point, not his messengers.
But what’s John’s second reply of clarification? We’ll look at that next time.
Closing Prayer
Let’s pray. God, it is so easy for us to lose sight of the truth, especially when you bless us with various comforts in this world. You have given us so many good things. You’ve given us families. You’ve given us food to enjoy. You’ve given us enjoyable weather. You’ve given us places to live. You’ve given us relative safety in the country and communities in which we live. You’ve given us beds to sleep in at night. You’ve given us friends. You’ve given us this church. You’ve given us opportunities to work and to serve you.
But God, like Israel, sometimes when we receive the blessings, we begin to cling to those instead of you. We want to retain the popularity that you’ve seen fit to grant us. We want to retain for ourselves the disciples that you’ve brought into our lives. We want to claim the treasures of the world and not give them up for you. But in doing so, Lord, we not only dishonor you and betray our claim to be your disciples, but we work against our own joy.
For life does not consist in these things. Life consists, as we will see later in your gospel, the Gospel of John. Life is knowing God and knowing Jesus Christ. So God, coming now again this morning to see this truth afresh, we ask, in line with the holy example of John the Baptist, that you would increase and we would decrease. Lord, sanctify our hearts so that we do not make life about ourselves, that we do not devote ourselves to any person other than the person of Jesus. He alone is worthy. And that is your design.
Will you protect us from the evil one, from the allure of sin and treasures of the world? May we make use of the passing things of the world that are not evil. May we make use of them as those who do not make use of them, who hold them as those who do not hold them. That is, we hold them lightly, ready to give them up, ready to use them to see Jesus lifted high.
Lord, forgive us for where we have not done this, where we have made it about ourselves. But we are confident of your forgiveness. We are confident that we are always saved and safe in Jesus Christ. But we want to live in the way that he’s called us. We are aware that those who say they believe in Jesus but do not obey the son, they will not see life. The wrath of God abides on them. We are confident, Lord, that we are not such because of the work you’ve done in our hearts.
So God, I pray for myself, for my brothers and sisters here, that a true humility of mind would be in all of us, seeing others more important than ourselves and saying Jesus as the main point. Let there be something that we see and do with joy because that’s the way you always meant it.
In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.