There is a time for everything and especially for looking at things in a different way

There is a lot of pressure these days from advertising and media to consider ourselves as the most influential and important ones. In this passage we see the direct opposite of that. The disciples of John the Baptist were concerned when people started responding to Jesus’ ministry in increasing numbers. John said to them ‘He must increase, I must decrease’.

John also said that the ‘bride’ is joyful when she sees the ‘bridegroom’ arriving and identified himself as among those who were joyful at the coming of Jesus. John understood that it was only Jesus who could save people from their sins and that he would do this through dying and rising again from the dead.

There are also some very important words for us as the end of this passage. Whilst for some there will be great joy, for others there is great danger …….. ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them’. The modern focus on our own importance stands in stark contrast to the vital wisdom of John.