He Must Become Greater

He must become greater; I must become less.

-John 3:30 (NIV)

This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.

-John 3:30 (The Message)

I am just loving everything I read in John these days!  When I think of John 3, my mind generally goes straight to John 3:16, the wonderful (albeit quoted to the point of trendiness- kudos to Tim Tebow and Forever 21) words that give us hope and life:  "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  But John 3 doesn't end with those precious words, and today I want to focus on the treasures we find in God's word in the paragraphs after verse 16.

Let's think about John for a moment.  He's pretty much at the top of his game right now.  He's baptizing people left & right, he's prophesying that the Messiah is coming soon, and he hasn't been thrown into prison quite yet!  There he is, going about his daily business, when suddenly a few of his disciples come up to him and tell him that they've witnessed Jesus baptizing folks and everyone wants to ditch John and head over to Jesus to be baptized.  

How would you feel if you were John?  It would be nice to think that he is trusting in the Lord so completely that he feels no earthly emotions or desires, but I have a hard time believing that.  John was not the Son of God, and even Jesus himself was tempted by human desires and emotions!  Is there a chance that John might have felt the slightest pang of jealousy, knowing that his time was coming to a close and this Jesus fellow would become the new star in town?  I know I sure would.

And yet, somehow John responds without a trace of envy, pride, or arrogance, assuring his followers in no uncertain terms that Jesus Christ is above him:

He must become greater, I must become less.  The one who comes from above is above all;  the one who is from the Earth belongs to the Earth.  The one who comes from heaven is above all.   

-John 3: 30- 31(NIV)

I admit that I rarely read The Message version of the Bible, but I thought that it puts John's reaction in such plain words that I had to share with y'all:

This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.

 The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth. 

-John 3:30-31 (The Message)

How difficult it is for me to "slip off to the sidelines" and allow all glory to go to God!  I'd like to think that I share John's attitude in believing that when I trust in Jesus for my salvation and my life, I should become less.  But the truth is, I take credit for things that I'm not responsible for, and I'm prideful about many of the great things the Lord has done in my own life.  When someone compliments me for my achievements or personality or looks, how quick I am to pat myself on the back, conveniently forgetting that I am nothing without God.  Let us learn from John and remember today that our lives, our friends, our gifts, everything we have, & everything we are capable of achieving or doing--- all of that is only possible through God.  He is in "a league of His own," and He is so far above us that we just praise Him for even thinking about and loving us.  Thank you Lord!