He must increase, but I must decrease.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
He who comes from above is above all. He who has his origin in the earth is of the earth, and speaks [as] of the earth. He who comes out of heaven is above all,
John the Baptist's disciples had come to him worried: crowds were draining away to Jesus. He did not defend his own standing. He pointed instead to where each of them came from. Origin, he says, settles everything.
John had just said that the One coming after him must grow greater while he grows smaller. He said it with joy, because he knew where Jesus came from.
Like the sun, Christ was to rise to His zenith with increasing glory; so, like the moon, John was to fade out and disappear. He knew it and rejoiced, for at that moment Christ was everything in his thoughts. He knew Him as One coming from heaven and not of earth at all. Being such, He spoke in a way impossible to all others.
Notice whose lips these words come from. The Lord could have defended His own place. Instead the man losing ground makes the claim.
It was fitting that John the Baptist's own lips should declare the unquestionable supremacy of the Lord Jesus. He said it in front of his own disciples, who were jealous for their leader's honour. The Lord may vindicate John, but John asserts the glory of Jesus.
"Above all" is not a ranking at the top of a list. It removes Jesus from the list altogether.
The glory of the Person of Christ shines with rich brilliance here. It is not only that He stands nearer to His people than John did. It is not only that He increases while the greatest man born of women decreases. He is superior to all comparison. "He who comes from above is above all." Neither Adam nor Abraham, Enoch nor Elijah, could take such ground. They, like John, did not come from above, nor could any one of them be said to be above all. Nor could our blessed Lord Himself be so described, as born of Mary and heir of David, had He not been God — the great theme of this Gospel.
The verse says the earth-born man speaks as one of the earth. Jesus was a real man on this earth. Yet His Person lifted His humanity, not the reverse.
Jesus lost none of His own supreme dignity when, in divine love, He chose to become man. Like all other men, John could claim no other origin naturally than the earth. Jesus alone is out of heaven. His Person has such power that He raises humanity up into union with His divine nature. Humanity does not drag Him down into its degradation by sin, as some have wrongly imagined.
The contrast is not moral — John was no sinner in view here — but a matter of range. A man from earth can only report earth's business, even when he reports it under inspiration.
John bears witness to the glory of Christ as coming from above — from heaven. So He must take a place above all who come from earth. John came from the earth, so he was earthly in character. He spoke only of earthly things: the Messiah and His earthly kingdom. The One who comes from heaven speaks of heavenly things which He has seen and heard. A prophet like John can speak only of earthly things. Even those are things still to come, which do not yet exist on earth. Christ, by contrast, speaks of actual things which exist in heaven.
This chapter draws the line between earthly and heavenly twice. That line also shows where to look for what in the Bible.
In this chapter both the Lord and the Baptist separate things earthly from things heavenly. They speak of Jesus as the great distinct prophet of the heavenly things. This prepares us for two conclusions. In the old prophets we must expect to find earthly things. In the teaching of Jesus to His apostles we must expect heavenly things. Hints of the heavenly things may be scattered or shining through the prophets. Hints of earthly or Jewish hopes and calling may also appear in the apostles. But the Spirit's main purpose through the prophets is to tell of the earth's interests. His main purpose through the apostles is to tell of the Church's heavenly interests.
The order of the verse matters. What Christ is comes first; what He says follows from it.
First "above all," as to Himself, His place, His Person; then testimony. John was merely a witness.
- Origin — the verse starts with "from above." What a person is decides what a person can say.
- Above all — coming from heaven puts Christ beyond comparison. Adam, Abraham, Enoch and Elijah could not stand on that ground.
- Undiminished — becoming man cost Him none of His dignity. His Person lifts humanity; humanity does not lower Him.
- Range — an earth-born prophet can speak only of what is still to come on earth. The One from heaven speaks of what He has seen there.
- Order — Person first, testimony second. John was only a witness, and he said so to disciples who wanted him bigger.