John 3:26-30 – 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.” To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 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. He must become greater; I must become less.”
I love John’s attitude. From the beginning of his ministry, he knew that what he was called to do was not about him. He knew that God gave him a loud voice for a reason, and it wasn’t to draw attention to himself. It was to direct people’s attention towards God Himself. He had the sweet privilege of being merely a conduit that delivered the message of Jesus coming to rescue and save. And he wasn’t about to stand in the limelight of the glory and honor that only Jesus deserved.
Remember John’s response when people tried to press him to promote himself?
John 1:17 – 27 – Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.” Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’” Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
From day one, he made it clear who Jesus was and who John was not.
But the people just didn’t get it. They had become followers of John instead of Jesus. So when they noticed that Jesus was baptizing people and those people were beginning to follow him, they ran to report it to John, as if he should have been indignant that Jesus was getting more attention than he was. Hadn’t they heard what John had been saying all along? John was the voice. Jesus was the Message.
I don’t know if John struggled with pride and selfish ambition. He was human, so I can only image he did. I don’t know if the famous statement he made was for the benefit of the people or if he was reminding himself. It doesn’t matter. The truth of his deliberate words came through loud and clear – He must become greater; I must become less.
Each of us who know and love Jesus are, like John, a voice. Each of us “speaks” with our own accent and cadence. Some of us will be louder than others. But no matter what the voice sounds like, the Message remains the same. We declare the Message, but we are NOT the Message. Just as John emphatically said, “I am not the Messiah”.
This reminder is so helpful to me when I feel that my voice lacks the words I need to convey the message or when I don’t feel that anyone is listening. Sometimes my voice is weak and cracking. On those days, I know that God will use the voice of another to showcase His glory. Because it’s not about me. It never was and never will be.
He must become greater; I must become less. Until my voice becomes nearly just background music for the Message of truth…
