John 3:22-36 / He Must Increase
In the summer of 1998, Lauryn Hill dropped her first solo album titled The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Blending hip-hop, soul, gospel, R&B, and reggae, Hill creatively told a story within a story—her critique of fame, the music industry, and relational betrayal unfolds inside of the album’s larger narrative on Love.
In many ways, the Gospel of John works the same way — a story within a story. Their retelling of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection serves as an outer layer for the hidden narrative of a community caught in social tension. A group of bold Christians who were wrestling with the power of Rome and the Synagogue, disillusioned by secret Christians who remained silent about their belief in Jesus, and challenged by rival voices rising in the region. And it’s this last group that we encounter in John 3:22-36.
The Tensions Beneath the Surface
This week’s passage begins with a moment of tension between John the Baptist’s disciples and Jesus, who had begun baptizing people in the region nearby. John’s disciples come to him, worried. Crowds were gathering around Jesus. People were going to him to get baptized instead of John. Their influence was shrinking. Their visibility was fading. It’s a deeply troubling situation for these disciples who had dropped everything to follow John the Baptist.
Like many established groups whose power and influence are threatened, John’s disciples chose to create an enemy and sow discord between “them and us”. Rather than seeing the rise of Jesus as a gift, they saw it as an offense and a direct challenge to their ministry.
“Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing—-and everyone is going to him!” (v.26)
An Ancient Temptation
John's disciples fell into a mindset that still tempts the Church today—the idea that success is measured in crowd sizes, influence, and charisma. We begin to think:
“If I’m not growing fast, if I’m not gaining visibility, if I’m not gathering attention…then maybe God isn’t with me.”
“Perhaps, they have more faith in God than I do.”
But this is the logic of empire. It’s not the logic of God’s Kingdom.
We assume that if a movement or a personality is drawing crowds and spectacular things are happening then God must be in it. While we can’t fully deny that God can move and be present in these moments, the problem lies in making this the standard for the work of God. When we do this, we minimize how God speaks through and works within the spaces that aren’t drawing crowds. We dismiss the prophetic voices who aren’t as charismatic and polished—who aren’t sitting atop platforms for all to see.
John’s Liberating Response
In response to the disciples’ panic, John the Baptist replies with a friendly reminder:
“No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven…He must increase, but I must decrease” (v27, 30)
John refuses to fall into the trap of competition. He refuses to cling to power. He sees himself in a supporting role, a stagehand pulling up the curtain for all to see the main character, King Jesus.
John’s joy was not in the spotlight—it was in seeing Jesus lifted up. And in order for that to happen, John understood that he had to step aside and, in his words, decrease.
Many of us were raised in church traditions that connected this verse to the idea that faith and emotions don’t mix. For Christ to increase, our emotions needed to decrease. But John is not talking about self-erasure or emotional denial. When read in the context of the disciple’s concern over Jesus's encroaching ministry, to “decrease” is to push away whatever ambition, grasp at power, and self-interest is preventing Jesus from being elevated and centralized in and through us. This is the “decrease” that the American church is in desperate need of recognizing in this cultural moment. The rival loves of power and self-interest have filled the hearts of many, and God is calling us to do as John did—loosen our grip on whatever measure of power and influence we might have so that Christ can be made larger in our lives.
Discussion Questions:
What rival love(s) are competing with Christ in your lives?
Share some experiences you’ve had where you were able to release something that had a grip on you.
Where have you witnessed God work in the unspectacular—quiet, mundane, easily overlooked moments?