Jesus and his disciples went into the region of Judea, where he spent
some time with them baptizing. John was also baptizing in Aenon near Salim,
because there was an abundance of water there, and people came to be baptized,
Now a dispute arose between the disciples of John and a Jew about ceremonial
washings. So they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with
you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing and everyone
is coming to him.” John answered and said, “No one can receive anything except
what has been given from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said that I
am not the Christ, but that I was sent before him. The one who has the bride is
the bridegroom; the best man, who stands and listens for him, rejoices greatly
at the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made complete. He
must increase; I must decrease.”
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Reflection:
What is the usual downfall of those who preach about Jesus? It’s to
present themselves bigger than Jesus. They use Jesus as their vehicle so that
they could attain their selfish objective rather than advance the objectives of
Jesus.
John did not experience any downfall in his mission as the precursor or
herald of Jesus. His disciples always looked up to him with respect because
never did he advance himself, Jesus was always first in his mind. This is the
reason why John said, He must increase and I must decrease (John 3:30).
John was content to be in the background, he rejoiced as he humbly erased
himself from the limelight so that Jesus could be in the spotlight. This is so
difficult to do! To give way when we actually could have our own
way!
Many of us have this mistaken notion that to be respected we always have
to be in the forefront. To be respected our voice must always be heard
and we must always be popular and visible.
But John proves us all wrong because even if he decreased himself and
even if he faded away for the sake of Jesus. His act of humility remains to be
one of the biggest guiding lights of our time.
Would you be like John? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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