John 3:30

He must increase, but I must decrease. HE MUST INCREASE, BUT I MUST DECREASE: - q.d., 'I do my heaven-prescribed work, and that is enough for me. Would you have me mount into my Master's place? Said I not unto you, I am not the Christ? The Bride is not mine, why should the people stay with me? Mine it is to point the burdened to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world, to tell them there is balm in Gilead, and a Physician there. And shall I grudge to see them, in obedience to the call, flying as a cloud, and as doves to their windows? Whose is the Bride but the Bridgegroom's? Enough for me to be the Bridegroom's Friend, sent by Him to negotiate the match, privileged to bring together the Saviour and those he is come to seek and to save, and rejoicing with joy unspeakable, if I may but "stand and hear the Bridegroom's voice," witnessing the blessed espousals. Say ye, then...

30._He must increase. _John the Baptist proceeds farther; for, having formerly been raised by the Lord to the highest dignity, he shows that this was only for a time, but now that _the Sun of Righteousness_, (Malachi 4:2) has arisen, he must give way; and, therefore, he not only scatters and drives away the empty fumes of honor which had been rashly and ignorantly heaped upon him by men, but also is exceedingly careful that the true and lawful honor which the Lord had bestowed on him may not obscure the glory of Christ. Accordingly, he tells us that the reason why he had been hitherto accounted a great Prophet was, that for a time only he was placed in so lofty a station, until Christ came, to whom he must surrender his office. In the meantime, he declares that he will most willingly endure to be reduced to nothing, provided that Christ occupy and fill the whole world with his ra

22-36 John was fully satisfied with the place and work assigned him; but Jesus came on a more important work. He also knew that Jesus would increase in honour and influence, for of his government and peace there would be no end, while he himself would be less followed. John knew that Jesus came from heaven as the Son of God, while he was a sinful, mortal man, who could only speak about the more plain subjects of religion. The words of Jesus were the words of God; he had the Spirit, not by measure, as the prophets, but in all fulness. Everlasting life could only be had by faith in Him, and might be thus obtained; whereas all those, who believe not in the Son of God, cannot partake of salvation, but the wrath of God for ever rests upon them....

Verse 30. _HE MUST INCREASE_] His present success is but the beginning of a most glorious and universal spread of righteousness, peace, truth, and good will among men. _I_ must _decrease._] My baptism and teaching, as pointing out the coming Messiah, must _cease_; because the Messiah is now come, and has entered publicly on the work of his glorious ministry....

HE MUST INCREASE - his authority and influence among the people must grow. his doctrine shall continue to spread until it extends through all the earth. I MUST DECREASE - “The purpose of my ministry is to point men to him. When that is done my work is done. I came not to form a party of my own, nor to set up a religion of my own; and my teaching must cease when he is fully established, as the light of the morning star fades away and is lost in the beams of the rising sun. This evinced John’s humility and willingness to be esteemed as nothing if he could honor Christ. It shows us, also, that it is sufficient honor for man if he may be permitted to point sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ. No work is so honorable and joyful as the ministry of the gospel; none are so highly honored as those who are permitted to stand near the Son of God, lead perishing men to his cross. Compare...

EXPOSITION This is the first of the eleven discourses recorded by this evangelist, and for the most part addressed to the cultivated, hierarcical party in Jerusalem, who questioned him in an unfriendly spirit. On the sources of these records, and the degree to which John's subjectivity coloured his record of them, see Introduction. JOHN 3:1 BUT THERE WAS A MAN OF THE PHARISEES. Is this narrative introduced, as Baur thinks, to give a specimen of wrongly directed faith, to which Christ did _not _entrust himself? and was the evangelist busy at once on his great mission of undervaluing the Jewish parties and nation? Certainly not. We have a clear proof that, in the case of the genuine inquirer, Christ did open His very heart; and to a "ruler of Jews," to a "Pharisee," to a "teacher of Israel," he deigne

HE MUST INCREASE,.... Not in stature of body, or in wisdom and understanding of mind, as man, he being come to maturity in these things already; but in fame, credit, and reputation among men; as he afterwards did in the land of Judea, by reason of his miracles and doctrines; and after that among the Gentiles, through the publication of his Gospel; and will more and more in the latter day, when he, and he alone, shall be exalted: and he must increase in the ministry of his word, which was published by him, and his disciples, throughout all the cities of Israel; and which, after his resurrection and ascension, grew and increased mightily, notwithstanding the opposition made unto it both by their civil and ecclesiastical rulers; and which, by the means of his apostles, was spread throughout the Gentile world, and will hereafter cover the earth, as the waters do the sea: and also in his king...

John 3:13. _And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that come down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven._ We are in the stairway now between heaven and earth; Christ has came down; Christ has gone up, and yet he was always there; a mystery, but one that is true, and new. Today we can go up by thought and prayer, and blessings can come down; and Christ is always there. «He is at the Father's side, the Man of Love, the Crucified.» John 3:14. _And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life._ What a glorious word! Here is the gospel in a verse, the whole Bible in a line or two. If we believe in him this morning, we have eternal life; not me

II. ETERNAL LIFE IMPARTED: What it is and What it Includes Chapter 2:23-17 The second part of this Gospel contains the blessed teachings the Son of God gave concerning eternal life, how it is imparted and what it includes. Everything in these Chapter s is new. The story of Nicodemus, the woman at Sychar's well, the healing of the impotent man, the discourses of our Lord, etc., are not reported by the synoptic Gospels. There is not a word of the Sermon on the Mount reported by John; the many miracles, so significantly arranged in Matthew, are omitted (except the feeding of the 5000); nor do we find a single parable concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. The progressive revelation concerning eternal life will be brought out in the annotations. As already stated the teachings begin with the new birth, in which eternal life is imparted, and end with the destiny of those who are born again. This...

THE LAST APPEARANCE OF THE BAPTIST. Convinced that the nation is not ripe for Messianic teaching, Jesus falls back on preparatory work similar to that of John, who was continuing his work at Æ non near Salim. In Eusebius-' time this was identified with a place on the borders of Galilee and Samaria not far from Bethshan. Modern explorers favour a place called - Aynun, north of the Salim near Nablus. The evangelist notes that John's imprisonment did not take place, as the earlier gospels (Mark 1:14) seem to imply, before the beginning of Jesus-' public work. A dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew about purification, probably leading to a comparison of the cleansing power of the two baptisms. The disciples of John are jealous for their master's honour, hardly an impossibility (Wellhausen) after the witness borne by him to the superiority of Jesus. The splendid answer of self-den...