John 3: 22-36
After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing.
John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and 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 and said, A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from Heaven.
You yourselves are my witnesses that 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.
Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover when Nicodemus came to Him by night, and we were able to listen in on what He was teaching him.
Now after these things, He left the city and was out in the countryside of Judea, baptizing. And John the Baptist was still baptizing, too. But an argument arose, because John was baptizing first, but more people were coming to Jesus to be baptized by His disciples than were coming to John.
When they asked John about it, we get his comment, that "He must increase but I must decrease." John displays a very complete and coherent understanding of just who Jesus is, the Son of God Himself. This must be the Holy Spirit speaking through him, because later, when he was in prison, he sent a messenger to ask Jesus if He really was "the One."
And Jesus said that John was among the greatest of God's prophets of all time.
John clearly told them that he was not the Messiah, but God had sent him to go before the Messiah to prepare for Him. He is only the friend of the Bridegroom, like the best man, who stands up with the Bridegroom, but bows out at the proper time, and is happy for Him, enjoying the party.
But it is the Bridegroom Himself who is from Heaven, and talks about Heavenly things. John can only talk about Earthly stuff, to get ready for Messiah's coming.
John pointed to Jesus as the One to follow. Jesus is the Son, loved by the Father, and come to Earth specifically to rescue us.
Jesus is the only One Who could save us: He was God, the eternal Person Who could pay our eternal debt to God in Time, when it would take us eternity to pay it; and He had a genuine human nature, He was a real Man, which qualified Him to die a human death for each of us. He is the only Savior, the only Mediator between God and man.
So we need to trust Jesus, Who is our Christ. There is no other. Without Christ, the wrath of God is upon us all.
O my Father, You are so good to us to reveal to us Who You are, to let us get to know You. Unless You had chosen to do so, there is no way we could ever know anything about You. You are totally Other than everything You created. We are all Your imagination--if You would not be thinking about us, we would not exist!
And Your Love and care for us extends all the way to sending Your own Son to come and be one of us! It's like if my son loved his Lego people so much that he decided to be a Lego guy with them to help them! Yes, impossible; but that's exactly what You did. You are outside our whole Universe, yet You came into History as one of us! Nothing is impossible with You, God! You're incredible!
I can hardly wait to see my King Jesus return to this vale of tears to wipe all tears from our eyes, to rule in perfect righteousness and purity, and this World will experience its only true Golden Age!
Then we will reign with Him forever, in the New Heaven and the New Earth; and every other World that will come after that, forever and ever!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
