If you could imagine being the best man in a wedding, you could imagine that your role is to support, encourage, and be present for the bridegroom. You stand at his side, readied and listening, alert to help your friend. In this passage John describes his mission and purpose. John was called to prepare the way for the Messiah. For John it is all about Jesus, the Messiah, and John takes great joy in Jesus’ success. Read on to see why this was so important to John. He understood what was going on. He knew who Jesus was.
John 3:27-36 The Message
John answered, “It’s not possible for a person to succeed–I’m talking about eternal success–without heaven’s help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom’s friend, his ‘best man’–that’s me–in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start?
That’s why my cup is running over. 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.
The One that God sent speaks God’s words. And don’t think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away–a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever! And that is also why the person who avoids and distrusts the Son is in the dark and doesn’t see life. All he experiences of God is darkness, and an angry darkness at that.
- “Lord, what are you pointing at for me in this passage?”
- How is my heart being spoken to in this moment?
- Where might this word intersect with my life right now?
- How do these words foster greater love for God and others in you?