John 3:22-36 - He Must Become Greater
Sermon By Pastor Brent Kompelien
October 30, 2022
INTRO (SLIDE 1)
I want to share with you that I have been convicted and challenged in the last few weeks about something in my own walk with the Lord. God has brought to my attention these words of Jesus: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
This is from John 15:5, which we will get to in a few weeks. But I just want to say: I long to abide in Christ. I have felt a surge of desire to abide in Christ. I have become more desperate to abide in Christ day-by-day.
I’ll confess, I often try to do things on my own strength. I wonder if you can relate?
Here’s the problem: When we try to do life apart from Christ, we miss an opportunity to glorify God and it robs us of joy. I’m not talking about happiness, I’m talking about deeper joy and contentment that only comes from resting in the life-giving presence of Jesus himself.
This is why Jesus said a few verses later in John 15:11, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
So, let me ask you: Where does your joy come from? Does it come from resting in Jesus? In abiding in the vine? In drawing your life, your strength, your wholeness from him?
ILLUST — There is an old hymn called “Jesus, I Am Resting” and the opening verse goes like this: (SLIDE 2)
Jesus, I am resting, resting
in the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
of thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee,
as thy beauty fills my soul,
for by thy transforming power,
thou hast made me whole.
PROP — Let me ask you again: Where does your joy come from?
(SLIDE 3) Open with me to John 3:22-36. In this passage, we are going to encounter John the Baptist again. The first time we saw him was in chapter 1 and he was getting a lot of attention, but he made it clear that his job was to prepare the way for Jesus. Now in chapter 3 we see John’s job coming to completion, and it reveals something about where we find our contentment and joy.
ORG SENT — There are two parts to this passage: First there is an argument that develops in verses 22-26. Then we see John the Baptist’s response about how Jesus is greater (vv. 27-36).
Let’s read our text. READ John 3:22-36.
Again, we are going to first look at the argument that develops, and then at the response of John the Baptist.
MAIN 1 — Argument (vv. 22-26). (SLIDE 4a)
Let’s get our bearings here.
Jesus had just been in Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover festival. He had been performing miracles and teaching. And he had just met with the prominent Pharisee Nicodemus.
Now he leaves the city with his disciples and they go into the countryside of the hills of Judea, nearby to Jerusalem. Jesus was probably visiting small villages or remote farms in the hills, and people from Jerusalem may have followed him because of the signs he was performing.
The point here is that Jesus is gaining more and more momentum in his ministry. There are people all over who are curious about him. Word is spreading fast, and people are coming from everywhere to see him and hear him teach.
Not far away was a small village called Aenon, which literally means “springs” of water. John the Baptist had set up shop there because there was plenty of water to do his baptisms.
John the Baptist had his own followers. (SLIDE 4b) If you look at the text carefully, there are two problems that arise simultaneously that are cause for alarm for John the Baptist’s disciples:
FIRST — (SLIDE 4c) In verse 25, they got into an argument with someone about the Jewish rituals of ceremonial washing. Apparently some Jews were upset that John the Baptist was violating some law or regulation. So John’s disciples were being pressured by the Jewish religious establishment.
SECOND — (SLIDE 4d) In verse 26, they come to John the Baptist with a complaint about Jesus. Look at what they say. READ v. 26.
Its like they are saying, “John, Jesus is using your playbook! He’s actually becoming more popular than you! He’s beating you at your own game. What are you going to do about it?”
Why would John’s disciples come with this complaint?
You can sense the fear and the jealousy in their voices. They have given up everything to help John in his ministry. And now their own Jewish friends were criticizing them, and they began to perceive Jesus and his disciples as competitors.
KEY — Here’s what I want you to see: John’s disciples embody the opposite of joy. They embody the opposite of hope. They embody the opposite of contentment. Their words are full of fear, anxiety, self-doubt, and jealousy.
This is exactly what happens when you get your eye off what matters most. This is what happens when you think you’re doing something important for God, but you lose sight of who really is the Savior.
This is why John the Baptist’s response is so powerful at this moment. He cuts right through their anxious response with a sense of calm and contentment and rest.
MAIN 2 — John’s Response (vv. 27-36). (SLIDE 5a)
Look at what John says in verses 27-28. READ v. 27-28.
We already need to stop here and think about this.
John is making a bold statement here. He is saying that God is in charge, that God knows what he is doing, and that God has gifted us our resources, our skills, our circumstances, and our station in life.
John’s disciples were essentially saying to him: (SLIDE 5b) “John, don’t you want more followers? Don’t you see that you’re going to be out of business soon? Don’t you care? Do something!”
But what John says is this: (SLIDE 5c) “If I covet a more prominent position, if I’m not content with God’s wise and sovereign plan, if I wish people liked me better than the Messiah, I would not only be rejecting God’s gifts, but I would be guilty of trying to stand where God stands.”
APPLY — Friends, each one of us can succumb to this temptation. In so many areas of life, we can feel a sense of fear and anxiety ramp up, we can think that we need to take matters into our own hands, we should carry the burden to help or to lead or to change something. So often, the things in this life can cause us to experience the opposite of rest, the opposite of peace, the opposite of joy.
What is the antidote to the poison of thinking that you can be the savior?
ILLUST — You all know that Sarah and I attended a retreat a couple weeks ago about resiliency in ministry. The presenter, Donald Guthrie, stopped and one moment during the first session and looked straight in the eyes of this room full of pastors and their wives, and he said, “Let’s make sure we have something clear…repeat after me: I…am not the Christ. Ok, now we can talk about ministry!”
Friends, the same applies to each and every one of us in the circumstances and responsibilities and relationships that we have. So, listen to me…
In your parenting — “I am not the Christ!”
In your workplace — “I am not the Christ!”
With your finances — “I am not the Christ!”
In politics — “I am not the Christ!”
In conflict — “I am not the Christ!”
In outreach to non-believers — “I am not the Christ!”
When you’re stuck in sin — “I am not the Christ!”
In hardship and crisis — “I am not the Christ!”
In success and joy — “I am not the Christ!”
In all things! — “I am not the Christ!”
PRAISE GOD THAT NONE OF US HAVE TO BE THE SAVIOR! We can stop and rest in him, we can let go and abide in him, we can find real joy in him!
ILLUST — Remember that hymn I shared, “Jesus, I Am Resting.” One of the other verses goes like this… (SLIDE 6)
Ever lift thy face upon me
as I work and wait for thee;
resting 'neath thy smile, Lord Jesus,
earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory,
sunshine of my Father's face,
keep me ever trusting, resting,
fill me with thy grace.
You see, in each area of life we are called to work and serve and lead and love like Jesus, but the difference between toil and joy is the attitude of trust and the restful realization that Jesus is the Messiah, and I am not!
(SLIDE 7a) This is exactly what John the Baptist does. And he uses a metaphor about a wedding to explain what he means. READ vv. 29-30.
This is so great! John the Baptist says, “You know, I’m just the Best Man! (SLIDE 7b) The Bride and Groom are really the center of attention, I’m just the friend who is helping the Groom!”
ILLUST — You see, in a 1st century Jewish wedding, the Best Man was responsible for helping ensure the wedding plans were carried out smoothly and that the whole event went well. This is how things would typically go:
The groom would leave his parents house with a group of friends to go to the Bride’s parents house where the marriage ceremony would be held.
After the ceremony, the Bride, Groom, and all the wedding party would form a processional that would meander through the streets of the city loudly singing and celebrating the marriage. They would make a huge display and people would come out their doors and hang out the windows to congratulate the couple.
Eventually, they would end up at the Groom’s house to hold a wedding feast that would last several days.
Now, here’s the point: John the Baptist is like the Best Man who really wants the wedding to go smoothly. He makes the arrangements, ensures everything is in order, and coordinates with the bride’s family and the groom’s family. And then he waits…and he waits…and he keeps an eye out for the groom to come parading down the street. (SLIDE 7c) When the groom arrives, the thrill of the Best Man is to step aside and witness the union of two people he cares deeply about.
This is John’s privilege, to step aside as Jesus comes to be betrothed to his bride, the church, in the new covenant of grace.
You see, Old Testament prophets like Hosea foretold this beautiful reality. (SLIDE 8) In Hosea 2:19-20 God says, “I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.”
This is actually the whole purpose and goal of God’s plan to redeem a people and renew all of creation!
ILLUST — Jonathan Edwards, the great puritan preacher, said it this way: (SLIDE 9) “The creation of the world seems to have been especially for this end, that the eternal Son of God might obtain a spouse, towards whom he might fully exercise the infinite benevolence of his nature, and to whom he might open and pour forth all that immense fountain of love and grace that is in his heart, and that in this way God might be glorified.”
We see this as the goal of redemption in the final chapters of Revelation that describe the new heavens and new earth. Revelation 19 and 21 say, (SLIDE 10) “Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”
This is the grand picture that floods the mind of John the Baptist — that he confesses, “I am not the Messiah,” and that he realizes that his job was to prepare the heart of the bride to receive the gift of Jesus Christ himself by calling people to repentance and faith.
APPLY (SLIDE 11, blank)
Friends, we can learn a lot about what kind of church we should be by observing John the Baptist here. There is a restfulness, an anticipation of what God can do, a trust in God’s power and sovereign plan, and a joy that comes from seeing Jesus doing the work that only Jesus can do.
I want to speak for a moment about our vision process and about our Deepening Roots and Growing Branches ministry initiative.
I have felt humbled, and sometimes overwhelmed, by the things that are in front of us as a church family. Some of you also might be wondering what the future holds, what is our church going to be like, and how are we going to pay for a building project.
There are so many needs within our church: some are struggling with health issues, others are dealing with conflict, others are experiencing job or house transitions, and others are grieving over loss or missed expectations.
And there are so many needs around us in our world: There are natural disasters in the news, a divisive election season, a flood of violent crime, and a changing moral landscape in our culture.
And yet as we’ve been stepping out in faith to say, “We want to learn how to disciple people well in all the complexity of the 21st century,” I’m fully convinced that God is calling us into a new season of ministry fruitfulness, and we all have an opportunity to trust in the Lord Jesus to illuminate each step on that path.
Our job is like John the Baptist’s…to point people to Jesus. To realize, as verse 35 says, that “the Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”
This means we continue to say “I am not the Christ”…but I know who is! We can humbly invite people to surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and we learn to walk in faithfulness together.
I want to set the tone today for what our vision is about. When we talk about deepening the roots of our discipleship and extending the branches of our outreach through a learning-by-doing method, this is vision for a ministry where God uses each one of us to minister to each other in the Body through our gifts, passions, and everyday life.
ILLUST — Paul David Tripp wrote a wonderful book 20 years ago that crystallized a biblical vision for discipleship, and he says that God has ordained an “all of my people, all of the time” model for the church. Isaiah Langenfeld pointed me to this book this week, and it proves the very principle because I’m being edified by my brother in Christ!
Tripp says, “Many of us would be relieved if God had placed our sanctification in the hands of trained and paid professionals [so that church is merely an event we attend or an organization we belong to], but that simply is not the biblical model. God’s plan is that through the faithful ministry of every part, the whole body will grow to full maturity in Christ…The paradigm is simple: when God calls you to himself, he also calls you to be a servant, an instrument in his redeeming hands…God uses people, who are themselves in need of change, as instruments of the same kind of change in others…it is a calling that shapes our entire life.”
In other words…welcome to the family of God. We are going to walk into this next season of ministry side-by-side, loving and serving one another, pointing people to Jesus, realizing that God is doing a work in me and he is doing a work in you and he is doing a work in us! “He must become greater; I must become less.” To him be the glory!