Who Was Jesus' Best Man? John 3:22-30

 John Testifies Again About Jesus

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. 24 (This was before John was put in prison.) 25 An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27 To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”

John's gospel focuses on Jesus' ministry in Judea, whereas the other 3 gospels focus more on his ministry in Galilee.  Jesus was baptizing with his disciples and most commentators conclude that this was the same type of baptism John had been administering, "a water baptism for repentance".  In a sense Jesus is validating John's ministry of baptism. We see in the next verse that John was still baptizing as well and people were still coming to him to be baptized.

We don't know the specific nature of the argument with John's disciples and a "certain Jew", but it had to do with the nature of purification in John's baptism.  But John's disciples' main concern was that Jesus and his disciples were baptizing and "everyone" was "going to him".  They viewed it as a competition and possibly counterproductive with what they were doing with John.  

John calms his worried disciples by first telling them that baptism is a gift they have received from God.  They don't have sole dominion over this minsitry.  They don't have to hoard what God's is doing in the world.  If Jesus and his disciples' baptisms were coming from the same gift from heaven, there should not be a sense of competition. Then, he reminds him that he is not the Christ/Messiah.  This is the first indirect way that John is claiming that Jesus and not HE is the Messiah.  

Then he uses the metaphor of a bride and bridegroom.  He is like the best man at a wedding, and Jesus is the bridegroom.  The bride, we later know is the Church, the bride of Christ.  The best man's job is always to support the bridegroom and never take the attention away from the bridegroom.  Rather than feeling that Jesus was taking away from his flock, John let his disciples know his extreme joy is to see the purpose and fulfillment of his baptism.  Jesus is the one John is announcing and he knows now is His time. 

John ends with the classic verse, "He must become greater; I must become less."  This verse is a summary of what it means to be a disciple of Christ.  As we follow Jesus, it becomes less about us and more about him.  Our desire is to give him glory through lives not glorify ourselvees. Our desire when we serve or do good deeds is not to draw attention to ourselves, but to point to our Savior  

Paul summarizes what our attitude should look like in Philippians 2:3-4, "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

In what ways do you need to decrease, so Jesus can increase in your life? How can John's attitude about Jesus and his disciples baptizing, help us when we are tempted to get jealous of other churches?  How can we as a church celebrate what God is doing in other churches, both locally and globally?  Where do you need to be more humble in your life like John?