Articles
“He Must Increase, But I Must Decrease”
And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:26-30)
The conversation recorded here is prompted by a discussion between John’s disciples and the Jews on the subject of “purification” (John 3:25). At some point, “they” go to John and inform him that Jesus is baptized more people than John is! (Although the text later clarifies that it was Jesus’ disciples and not Jesus himself who were doing the baptizing (John 4:1-2)). The “they” in 3:26 is ambiguous. It could be John’s disciples. It could also have been the Pharisees, who had heard this news (4:1) and were trying to make John jealous. It could even be both groups, who were trying to get John to settle their dispute. However, in any case, the main issue in this discussion is what John will do with the fact that Jesus is attracting more followers than he is!
Ordinary humans might have been made jealous by this fact. But John is described elsewhere in Scripture as a somewhat extraordinary human. Jesus later said that “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist” (Matt 11:11; cf. Luke 7:28). This scene in John 3 gives us an understanding as to why Jesus would say this. From the beginning, John sees his role properly as the role of a servant. The fact that he has so many OT prophecies specifically applied to him (e.g. Isa 40:3; Mal 3:1; 4:5) might make him believe he was special. Many other humans in that role might have started to think they were someone great. But John, though he never lives to see the cross of Jesus, understands the message of the cross far better than some who are confronted with it every day. The cross is about decreasing, so that someone else may increase.
From the beginning, the gospel of John reminds us that John the Baptist “was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light” (John 1:8). When John testified about Jesus, he said, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me’” (John 1:15). When questioned by the Jews, he was emphatic that he was not the Christ, not Elijah, and not “the Prophet” (John 1:19-21). The denial that he is Elijah is all the more striking when we consider that Jesus identifies him as the fulfillment of the Elijah prophecies (Matt 17:10-13), that the angel Gabriel claimed John would go forth “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17), and that John himself even has a preference for dressing like Elijah (Matt 3:4; Mark 1:6; cf. 2 Kgs 1:8). Many interpreters have grappled with why John would say he was not Elijah when several other people in the New Testament clearly identify him with that prophet. However, the simplest answer is the one that is consistent with John’s overall mission. At all times, John is intent on deflecting attention away from himself and towards Jesus. Claiming to be Elijah would have distracted from this goal and put the attention back on himself, where he felt it didn’t belong.
For John, Jesus was one whose shoes he wasn’t worthy to untie (Mark 1:7; Luke 3:16; John 1:27; Acts 13:25) or even carry (Matt 3:11). The idea that John would baptize Jesus was found to be crazy in John’s eyes (Matt 3:14), who felt that he had need to be baptized by Jesus. John was not interested in drawing attention to his own special role. He wasn’t trying to get chapters in the Bible written about him (let alone bulletin articles!) What makes John special is his decided emphasis on his lack of specialness. In his own eyes, John’s role in the story is merely that of the construction worker straightening God’s highway (John 1:23). Once the road is built, the worker is forgotten about. The road is not named after him. There are no monuments to the worker built along the roadway. His role is important, but largely thankless in the human perspective.
All of these ideas are summed up in John’s statement about Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Like the best man at a wedding, John does not enjoy the benefits of marriage in the way that the groom does. The wedding was not a party thrown for the “best man.” It was thrown to give joy to the bride and groom. The joy that the best man feels is empathetic “I’m happy because you’re happy” joy (John 3:29). John knew how to find joy in the advances and benefits of others. He knew how to glory in his low position. He knew what it meant to be a servant of God. His role was not created to garner praise for himself (although Jesus certainly praises him later!) Rather, his role in his own eyes was a role of submission and servitude.
Would that our attitude towards Jesus were like John’s! Would that we also said, “He must increase, but I must decrease!” Christ himself decreased himself to the point of death on the cross, so that he might be increased and exalted above every name (Phil 2:5-11). If we want to follow Christ and proclaim Christ, we must focus similarly on decreasing ourselves. If men do not recognize us for our accomplishments, we ought to find joy in this! If generations after us forget us, but remember the Christ we stood for, we ought to see this as a great thing! If we want to be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, we must, like John, become servant of all and slave of all. May God help us to decrease ourselves and increase Christ!
