John had not yet been put in jail. He was at Aenon near Salim, where there was a lot of water, and people were coming there for John to baptize them. John’s followers got into an argument with a Jewish man about a ceremony of washing. They went to John and said, “Rabbi, you spoke about a man when you were with him east of the Jordan. He is now baptizing people, and everyone is going to him.”
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.
I grew up with the King James version of John’s phrase, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” At times I interpreted this as meaning I should be quiet and unassuming, not promoting myself or my ideas. The character of Jesus was to be seen in my life, not the personality of Duncan Macleod.
This has played out in my life in positive and negative ways. In my line of work I regularly speak to large crowds or write for wide readership. To talk to large crowds you have to be larger than life. To inspire people you have to be inspiring. To intellectually stimulate people you have to be thinking on the edge. Being quiet, unassuming and reluctant to share goes against all the requirements of effective communication in these settings.
John wasn’t aiming to become quiet and unassuming. He wasn’t planning to drop his up-front personality. But he was preparing his followers for the long term impact of his life. He wasn’t aiming to have his reputation grow at the expense of anyone else’s. His goal was to enhance the reputation of Jesus. He wasn’t so much concerned about what people thought of him. What counted was what people thought about Jesus.