John 3:27-30
John replied: No one can do anything
unless God in heaven allows it. You surely remember how I told you that I
am not the Messiah. I am only the one sent ahead of him.
At a
wedding the groom is the one who gets married. The best man is glad just
to be there and to hear the groom’s voice. That’s why I am so glad.
Jesus must become more important, while I become less important.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Anyone
who knew my Mam-ma Polly understands that she was a “corker”. So one
day when someone said to her of me…”You are so lucky to have such an
attentive grand-daughter,” my grandmother retorted…”Aw...she’s not so
hot!” Talk about knowing where I stood! I couldn’t help but think of
this when I read John’s words to his followers, who had gotten into an
argument with a Jewish man over John’s authority because he was
baptizing people…and JESUS was baptizing people also. The followers saw
this as a “competition” for disciples and felt that people would start
to follow Jesus instead of John.
John pointed out that HE was
“not so hot”…he was not the one to be followed. John explained that he
was merely the messenger who paved the way for the coming of Jesus - the
true Messiah. If you read on in this passage, you will hear John
explain that God has given each of us a purpose in our Christian
discipleship…that we are the messengers – and something of Jesus’ “best
man”.
We have to know where we stand. We are NOT Jesus. We
never will be, even though some of us have mentally elevated ourselves
to such status. We judge others…we decide what is acceptable and what
is not…we interpret scripture in a way that suits our agenda. We raise
the name of Jesus like a badge of honor and declare that what we are
saying and doing is sanctioned by Him – even when we know in our hearts
that it is not.
But the Good News is that God chose us for
specific, important roles in His Kingdom. If we pay attention and
listen carefully, our mission and “position” will become abundantly
clear. We will have no problem serving as “best man” to Jesus, because
we will understand that our eternal success is dependent upon our heavenly
help (paraphrased from John 3:27 The Message*). It’s not about what we
accomplish here on this earth – unless we serve God and further His
kingdom. In other words - in and of ourselves - we’re not so hot!
Our
goal should be to serve Jesus at every turn…to pave the way for others
to find Him and become His followers, also. We will stand beside Jesus
and serve as His “best man”…and be happy just to know His voice. If we
remember to give Jesus “top billing”, He will show up in our lives in
ways we never envisioned. Undergirded by His power and presence, we
will experience unimaginable confidence, peace and joy. That’s more than
good enough for me…what about you?
©2015 Debbie Robus
*Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
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