Progress in Revelation: See how an Image Develops AND How It Can Divert In New Directions

March 22, 2021                       John 3: 29-30

25 Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples and a Jew. ²⁶They came to John and said to him, ‘Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.’ ²⁷John answered, ‘No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. ²⁸You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, “I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.” ²⁹He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled. ³⁰He must increase, but I must decrease.’

31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³²He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony. ³³Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true. ³⁴He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. ³⁵The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands. ³⁶Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.

4:1 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, ‘Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John’— ² although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized— ³he left Judea and started back to Galilee.

            John the baptizer moves into marriage metaphor..  He talks about the bridegroom (Christ) and the friend of the bridegroom (himself).  If he were writing now, John the baptizer might call himself the “best man”, one closest to the bridegroom.  The opening to our verse, "he who has the bride is the bridegroom”, that can move us forward in Biblical imagery or it can draw us backward.  What do I mean?

            To look forward, consider that John the gospel writer is also identified as the writer of the Book of Revelation.  In that final book of the Bible, there is powerful imagery of the Church being the Bride and Jesus being the Bridegroom.  To look backward, consider Jesus’ first miracle in the Gospel of John, turning water into wine. 

Remember the windup to that miracle?  The steward (who did not know what Jesus had done) drew out a sample of wine and took it to the bridegroom, and his analysis was simple, most serve the good stuff first, get the guests tipsy, and then break out the cheap stuff.  The bridegroom saved the best for last.  What is the best?  What Jesus provided.  Is this over-reading into the miracle?  Maybe, but it also ties together.  John the baptizer’s entire point is that Jesus is taking over and moving ahead in the ministry of God’s plan.  And John the baptizer is happy about this.  The best is saved for last, so with the wine, so also with the Messiah.  To come back to his words, the friend of the bridegroom ‘rejoices greatly’ to hear the voice of the bridegroom.  When the bride is identified as the church, so the meaning of the bridegroom becomes even more powerful.  The metaphor is not fully developed here, but it is progressing.  What God reveals to us in the Bible builds upon itself.

What is the result for John the baptizer?  His joy has been fulfilled.  His followers seemed to be pushing the notion of competition between John and Jesus, and I do not blame them.  The ministry of John has been superseded.  Everyone thought he was the Messiah, despite his denials.  Even his followers, to this point, seem to be trying desperately to hold onto their relevance.  It is a natural thought, “Jesus is here, what use is John?”  Even worse in light of a couple of disciples defecting to follow Jesus earlier in the Gospel.

But John the baptizer will have none of it.  “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  From here, John moves into developing his thoughts that follow Jesus’ train of thought when he met with Nicodemus.  But before we turn to that, I want to talk about one of the most interesting ‘redirections’ of the meaning of a bible verse I have ever come across.    

The principle of imagery, of the metaphor, is well founded in Scripture.  We have just walked through the language of Jesus as the Bridegroom and how it will develop in the New Testament.  But this can also spin in new and different directions.  He must increase, but I must decrease. This verse has been used in Christian-centered weight loss.  On the face of it, it sounds comically unbelievable, but if you search the verse in Amazon under books, you will find it.

To be fair, reading the blurb of the book makes it sound like this is surrendering the self to the power of God to find strength to move forward.  But that is certainly not how I interpreted the title when I pulled it up on the screen.  It looked like I was being told to ‘give my extra pounds to Jesus’.  That is not what I have ever taken away from this verse read in context.  Pull it loose, take it out of context, and that is a different story.

Note on Structure:

            I am going to lay down our verses a little differently going forward.  Instead of putting down the block of verses from one particular section, I am going to ‘scroll’ them, removing verses from the top and adding verses to the bottom.  Chapter and verse are constructs imposed on the text well after it was written.  They are conveniences, but they are not ‘inspired’.