May He Ever Increase | Sermon 11/20/2022

John 3:22-36

The time has come for John the Baptist’s ministry to be absorbed by the One whom he came to testify of. After a discussion with a Jew concerning purification, John’s disciples somehow learned about all the people coming to Jesus who was baptizing at the same time as John. At learning this, his disciples inform him of the rise in Jesus’ prominence. It was at this moment that John knew his function that God gave him was diminishing.

He would forever until his death and even after it, point people to Jesus Christ but the forerunner has almost finished the race. John tells his disciples that none of those people being given to Jesus as followers could have come to Him apart from the sovereign hand of God in heaven. He reiterates that he came to only testify of the Christ. He is the “I am not” while Jesus is the “I AM.” John’s disciples ought to be following the others who are going to Jesus at this point. John then gives a parable showing he was never the Bridegroom but the best man. His role has always been to assist the holy Bridegroom while also pointing the Bride (the Church) to her divine Husband. And so at the hearing of Jesus’ status elevation, John smiles, he feels an immense sense of joy.

His joy is complete because of two things: one, he obeyed God’s calling on his life to be the forerunner and he completed the task; and two, he also gets to be a recipient of the forgiveness that the Lamb of God offers. He knows now that Jesus must continue to increase and he must decrease. Jesus is the better Baptist and better witness of God and John knows it gladly. John the apostle then finishes this section of chapter three by reflecting on the theme of the prior verses: the supremacy of Christ above all things.