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THE KING’S BUSINESS
From the very outset he had told them “ I am not the Christ.” He had told them that his mission was simply pre paratory for another. He told them furthermore^ “ I am sent before Him.” The Greek word for “ Him” is a very emphatic word; literally “ that one.” Therefore, there was no reason that he should be grieved when that one came, but rather that he should be glad o f it, and should also be glad that all men resorted to Him and they should be glad o f it, too, The zeal therefore which they were displaying for John as against Jesus was alto gether mistaken and unwarranted, as theywould themselves see if they would only recall his earlier words to them. John could not for a moment bear the thought that any word o f his could have given occasion for the folly into which they had fallen in claiming the highest place for him. The writer of the Gospel may have had in mind in recording these words of John the Baptist those who still clung to John the Baptist even in his own day in stead of following the One of Whom John the Baptist declared himself sim ply the forerunner. Vs. 29, 30. “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom which (rather, who ) standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly (rather, with joy rejoiceth ) because of the bridegroom’s voice: This my joy therefore is fulfilled (rather, made full). He must in crease, but l must decrease.” John here defines exactly the rela tion both of the Lord Jesus and of himself to the church ¿nd to one an other. The Lord Jesus is the One who has the bride, He is the bride groom. In the prophetical books of the Old Testament this figure of the bridegroom and the bride is used of the relation of Jehovah to His earthly people, Israel (Hosea 2 : T9; Ezek. 16;
preacher and Christian worker of to day. There comes to every one of them at some time in life the tempta tion to wish the crowds for themselves and not merely wish the crowds that they might point them a^vay from themselves to the Lord. The tempta tion before which the disciples of John fell, that of being jealous of another worker who drew greater crowds, is a temptation before which many fall to day. John furthermore recognized the great truth that every man has his place assigned to him from heaven, from God, (cf. Ps. 75:6, 7; 1 Cor. 3 : 7 ) and he attributed the success of Jesus’ ministry to the will of God, and the apparent dwindling of his own ministry also to the will o f God, and he joyfully accepts the place o f infe riority assigned to him “ from heaven.” Not every supposedly earnest Chris tian today is as willing as John to take the inferior position which God, in His infinite wisdom, sees fit to assign to him. The word translated “ receive” in verse 27 means primarily to “ take” or “ lay hold o f’”—the active idea of taking is more prominent than the mere nega tive idea of receiving what is given by another, though both ideas, that of taking and receiving, are in the word. So John’s thought is that a man can not lay hold of anything, even if he desires to, unless it has been granted from above, and even if he desired to have a larger place than the Lord Je sus it would be impossible for him to take it. What had been given him from heaven, that he would take and that only. John further appeals to their own recollection of what he had already said to them as showing the folly of their present attitude in being jealous for him. The “ ye yourselves” is very emphatic. If they would only stop and think they would recall that he never claimed the first place for himself.
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