Saturday 12 January 2013

Background

The argument about purification may well have focused on therelative merits of the Baptisms of John and Jesus, given theconcern that John's followers go on to express. Baptism was astandard way of initiating Gentiles (non-Jewish)proselytes into the Jewish faith, and also for purification inother circumstances of ritual impurity. The Baptism Jesusinstitutes in the Trinitarian formulation is obviously quitedifferent. The exact meaning of the Baptism that Jesus practisedduring his own ministry is not clear, but this is not the focus ofthis passage. The issue of Baptism is simply the evangelist'sintroduction to a discussion about the relationship between Jesusand his cousin John.

Like Jesus, John knows who he is. Like Jesus he has spent timein the wilderness, being known by God and becoming secure in hisown skin. Because of this strong sense of identity (verse 27) he isuntroubled by what his followers perceive as a rival when they hearof Jesus baptizing nearby. John's concern is not who has the mostsuccess or the largest number of followers, but that each shouldfulfil the purpose God has given to them (verse 27). To do sobrings joy (verse 29). John's statement: "He must increase, but Imust decrease" comes not from pious and self-conscious self-denial,but from a deep sense of his own purpose, which will not beundermined by Jesus' purpose being greater than his. He has theconfidence to decrease because, like Jesus, he knows that his valuein God's sight is dependent not on his own status, but on theunfailing love of God.

To Ponder

Think about your church:

• Is it more concerned with numerical success or with fulfillingGod's purpose for it?

• Does it have a deeply rooted sense of its own identity andvalue?

• Is it willing to decrease so that Christ might increase?