John the Baptist represented the height of popularity in his day. People were coming to him in droves to follow him and listen to what he had to say about life.
Does this sound familiar? We live in a world where, and at a time when, popularity and fame have never been as magnified and celebrated.
And suddenly Jesus showed up and the people started leaving John and going to Jesus. Concerned, some of John’s closest followers approached him with this: “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” (John 3:26). John’s response is perfect, and it perfectly models what every one of us should hope to replicate in our own lives. He responds with such humility and sincerity. John knows who he is and understands who he is not. He also understands who Jesus is and how monumentally important it is that people are going to Him.
John knows he is a finite being with a finite ability to help others, but Jesus is an infinite being with no limitations to offer everyone what they need most. Against that awareness, John assures those asking him that he is overjoyed about the masses not looking to him anymore, but rather to the one and only Son of God.
In verse 30 comes John’s declaration: “He must increase, and I must decrease.” He — Jesus — must be ever-increasing in and through our lives, and our tendency to proclaim ourselves, our accomplishments and our own smaller stories must be ever-decreasing.
