Good Tuesday morning! May the joy of the Lord shine in you today. Have you ever been put in your place? Probably happened a lot during your growing up years; this is where we came to equate being put in our place with a disparaging remark or a put down. John the Baptist is going to put his disciples and all of us in our place in today's verse, but this is not a put down. John simply tells the truth about where we are and how we think, and then relates that to Jesus and where he comes from.
"He (Jesus) has come from above and is greater than anyone else. We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but he has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else." John 3:31
Recall that John's disciples had come to John with a complaint about how more people were going to Jesus to be baptized. With this, John reminds them of who they are and by reading this we are reminded of who we are. I cannot write of heavenly things other than what I can read in God's word. I have no experience of heaven, only some vague hints from the good times we have here on earth. John the Baptist couldn't speak of heaven, he hadn't been there either. Jesus on the other hand could speak from his experience in Heaven. John reminds us twice that Jesus is greater than anyone else. Interestingly, Jesus once said of John that he was greater than all who have ever lived.
This was not some return of a compliment. Jesus spoke only the truth, and John the Baptist spoke the truth about Jesus. Remember that the other part of what Jesus said went something like: The lowliest of Heaven's citizen's is greater than John. I'm not looking up the verse because I think we will come to it later in John's gospel. In any case, as John became less and less, Jesus did take center stage. Jesus, who John tells us comes from Heaven, is greater because of where he comes from. John is greater than all who have lived, but he still is not from Heaven. We are given a clear demarcation between those above and those of us down here on earth. However, we already know that believing in Jesus is the way to eternal life. As we read more in John's gospel, Jesus will fulfill the Law and become the Way for us to see the Kingdom of Heaven.
Have a wonderful day,
Bucky
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