28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' 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. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
John 3:28-30 (NKJV)
Discussion Question:
- Are you increasing or decreasing? Is what you do around others increase or decrease Jesus?
Comments:
These verses show even more of John's willingness to "step aside" for the Son of God. He refers to himself as not the bridegroom but the friend of the bridegroom. The responsibilities of the "friend of the bridegroom" included: serving as the master of ceremonies announcing the bride and bridegroom to the guest and bringing the bride to the bridegroom. In this analogy, as it is throughout the Bible, the bride refers to the Church and the bridegroom is Christ. John goes on to say that as the "friend" he rejoices at the sound of the bridegroom's voice, meaning that he has nothing but happiness that the bridegroom has arrived. Because John is only the "friend" he says that he must decrease and because Jesus is the bridegroom, He must increase.
Just like yesterday, we are left with a statement that we should be constantly reminding ourselves: "He must increase, but I must decrease."
With these statements, John is signaling an end to his ministry to make room for One greater, which signals an end of the old covenant to make room for the new. For the remainder of the week we will read about this new beginning.
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