John 3:30Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

For this I came, and I rejoice that His works have received such success. What has come to pass is the very thing for which everything done by us was done. Do you see how calmly and with what wisdom he tamed their passion, quenched envy, and proved the impossibility of their undertaking? By this especially the evil is weakened.

But this took place during John's lifetime and baptism, so that, having so great a witness in him, they could no longer justify themselves if they did not believe. He did not come of himself to say this. Nor did he speak only because outsiders asked him. His own disciples questioned him and heard him.

If he had spoken on his own initiative, they might still have refused to believe. But when they heard his answers to their own questions, they already had a sentence against themselves. Likewise the Jews sent a special delegation to him, heard his answers, and yet did not believe him. Therefore they deprived themselves of every excuse.

What, then, do we learn from this? That vainglory is the cause of all evils. It brought John's disciples to envy. It stirred up their envy again when they had already grown somewhat calm. For when they came to Jesus, they said to Him: "Why do Your disciples not fast?" (Mt 9:14).

Let us then, beloved, flee this passion. If we avoid it, we shall be delivered from Gehenna. It is this passion that most of all kindles the fire. It extends its power everywhere and tyrannically rules every age and every rank. It has overthrown whole churches. It harms civil affairs. It ruins whole houses, cities, peoples, and nations.

Why do you marvel at this? It even penetrates the deserts and there shows great power. Often even those who had left great possessions and all the deception of the world, and had no dealings with anyone, mastered the strongest fleshly desires. Yet, being captured by empty glory, they lost everything.

Because of this passion the Pharisee, who had labored much, was placed below the publican, who had labored not at all and had committed many sins. It is not difficult to condemn this passion, for all agree in their opinion of it. But we must strive to overcome it.

How shall we overcome it? Let us set glory against glory. As we despise earthly wealth when we look to heavenly wealth, and do not value the present life when we think of a much better life, so we shall be able to despise the glory of the present world. We must think of a far higher glory, the true glory.

The glory here is empty and vain. It has only the name, without the reality. But that heavenly glory is true glory. In it, men are not glorified by men, but by angels and archangels and by the very Master of the archangels. Better said, they are glorified together with Him.

If you look upon that spectacle, if you learn of the crowns there, and if you turn yourself toward that glorification, earthly things will never master you. You will not consider the present great, nor will you seek what passes away.

In royal palaces, none of the guards standing before the king will leave his service to the one who wears the diadem and sits upon the throne, in order to attend to the cawing of crows and the buzzing of flying flies and gnats. The praises of men are no better than these things.

Therefore, knowing the small worth of human things, let us gather everything into secure treasuries and seek the glory that is constant and unchanging. May we all be counted worthy of it, by the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom be glory to the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

But it belongs to me to decrease, remaining with what I have received and not exceeding the measure once given me. While He always ascends to the increase of glory, I decrease in proportion to His exaltation. This is what the blessed Baptist explains to us. Yet I think it useful to disclose the meaning of what was said more clearly by examples.

Suppose, for example, that a tree two cubits high stands on the ground. Beside it is a plant just sprung from the earth. It stretches green branches into the air and is driven strongly upward from the root, ever more and more. If speech could be given to the tree, and it then said of itself and the neighboring plant, "He must increase, but I must decrease," this would not indicate that any harm was being done to it. Nor would it mean that the measure of height belonging to it was being taken away. Rather, it would affirm its decrease only in appearance, since it proves smaller than the plant which is constantly increasing.

In the same way, one of the greater stars could say of the sun, "He must increase, and I must decrease." While the expanse of air is covered by the darkness of night, the morning star sends forth a golden radiance and shines with splendid light. It can rightly draw wonder to itself. But when the sun, before its rising, already begins to illumine the world with a moderate light, the morning star is overcome by the stronger light. Little by little it yields to the sun that surpasses it. Then it could rightly say John's word about itself, because it had experienced the same thing which, John says, happened to him.

John, the blessed Baptist, says of our Savior, Christ: "He must increase, but I must decrease." Someone who very much desires to think in the best way may perhaps say that increase and decrease here signify bodily growth. But how will he not seem to speak nonsense if he takes this into his mind?

For the nature of human bodies may perhaps still admit increase. But the bodily dimensions that have fallen to someone's lot and have once been established by nature cannot decrease by themselves and without force, though many misfortunes sometimes happen to our bodies. Therefore it is wholly incredible that "He must increase, but I must decrease" was said of bodies.

One must infer from these words something trustworthy and not foreign to John's thought. Thus Christ ever increases, showing John to be smaller. This does not mean that He surpasses him as man surpasses man, or as creature surpasses creature. The difference between such things is small and worth little. Rather, one shows Himself by His works to be God and always rises to this height. The other, as man, falls down before Him, to the measure by which the human race yields to the divine essence.

After this, how is he not most impious who dares to abase the Son, endowed with such dignity, by attributing createdness to Him?

Who among those who are of the earth has known anything other than the earth? He speaks human things, knows human things, understands human things, and judges fleshly things in a fleshly way.

He suspects in a fleshly way. This is the whole man. Let the grace of God come. Let it enlighten his darkness, as it is said: "You will light my lamp, O Lord; You will enlighten my darkness" (Ps 17:29).

Let Him take the human mind and turn it to His light. Then man already begins to say what the Apostle says: "Not I, but the grace of God in me" (1 Cor 15:10).

And again: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). This is what it means: "He must increase, but I must decrease."

"He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30). What does this mean? "He must be magnified, and I must be humbled."

How does Jesus increase? How does God increase? The Perfect One cannot increase. God neither increases nor decreases. If He increases, He is not perfect. If He decreases, He is not God.

How, then, does Jesus increase, being God? Perhaps in respect of age? For He deigned to become man and was a child.

Although He was the Word of God, He lay as an infant in a manger. Although He Himself created His Mother, as an infant He suckled milk from His Mother.

Since Jesus grew in respect of the age of His flesh, was it perhaps for this reason that it was said, "He must increase, but I must decrease"? But why was this said?

According to the flesh, John and Jesus were the same age. The difference between them was six months (cf. Lk 1:36), and they grew alike.

If our Lord Jesus Christ had willed to remain here long before His death, and had willed John to remain here with Him, then just as they grew together, they could also have grown old together.

Why, then, "He must increase, but I must decrease"? Certainly because our Lord Jesus Christ was already about thirty years old (cf. Lk 3:23).

If He was thirty years old, was He still growing like a youth? From that age people already begin to decline and pass into a more venerable age, and then into old age.

If they had been boys at that moment, John would not have said, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30). He would have said, "We must increase together."

But at that moment one was thirty years old, and the other was thirty years old. The six months that separated them did not affect their age. The difference is detected more in reading than in looking at them.

What then does "He must increase, but I must decrease" mean? It is a great mystery. Understand, beloved.

Before our Lord Jesus Christ came, men exalted glory for themselves. He came as Man so that the glory of man might be diminished and the glory of God might increase.

For He came without sin and found all men in sin. If He came in order to remit sins, then God had to show bounty, and man had to confess sins.

For man's confession is man's acknowledgment of his littleness. God's compassion is God's greatness. Therefore, if He came to remit sins for man, man must recognize his littleness, and God must show His mercy.

"He must increase, but I must decrease." That is, He must give, and I must receive. He must be glorified, and I must confess.

Let man recognize his place and confess before God. Let him hear the Apostle speaking to the proud and arrogant man who wished to exalt himself: "What do you have that you did not receive?"

"And if you received it, why do you boast as though you had not received it?" (2 Cor 4:7). Let man understand that he has received everything from God.

He wants to call his own what does not belong to him. Let him diminish himself, for it is good for him that God be glorified in him. Let him diminish himself, so that he may increase in God.

Christ and John manifested this testimony and this truth also in their sufferings. John lost his head, and Christ was lifted up upon the Cross. Through this too it became clear: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (Jn 3:30).

Moreover, Christ was born when the days had begun to increase, and John was born when the days had begun to decrease. The Nativity of Christ came after the winter solstice, and John's nativity after the summer solstice.

The very Nativity and the very Passion pointed to the words spoken by John: "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Therefore let the glory of God increase in us, and let our glory decrease, so that our glory too may increase in God.

For this is what the Apostle says, and this is what Holy Scripture says: "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1 Cor 1:31; cf. Jer 9:23-24).

Do you want to find glory in yourself? You want to increase, but by your evil you only grow in evil. And he who grows in evil decreases in righteousness.

Therefore let God, who is always perfect, increase. Let Him increase in you. For when you understand God more and receive more, God is clearly increasing in you. Yet He does not increase in Himself, but is always perfect.

Yesterday you knew little. Today you know more. Tomorrow you will know still more. This is the light of God increasing in you, just as God increases in you, though He is always perfect.

It is as if someone's eyes were healed from former blindness, and he began to see the light a little. The next day he saw more, and on the third day still more.

It would seem to him that the light was increasing. Yet the light is perfect, whether the man sees it or does not see it.

So also with the inner man (cf. Rom 7:22). When he advances in God, God seems to increase in him. Yet he himself decreases, so that he may renounce his own glory and ascend to the glory of God.

If Jesus acts as they say, then He acts only by God's command. John refers to them themselves as witnesses of what he had said: "I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before Him."

Then, wishing to explain visibly to them the necessity of the growth of Jesus' glory and the lessening of his own significance, John compares Jesus to a bridegroom and himself to the bridegroom's friend.

The significance of the bridegroom's friend is great in the time preceding the marriage. But as soon as the marriage has taken place and the bridegroom enters the rights of a husband, the bridegroom's friend yields first place to him.

He rejoices in this and does not envy the bridegroom. Hearing that Jesus has entered into His rights as Messiah, John rejoices and says, "This joy of mine is now fulfilled."

Therefore He, that is, Jesus, must increase, but I must decrease.

"He must increase." His influence, His authority, and His activity must grow, increase, and spread. His teaching must embrace the whole earth.

"But I must decrease," as the brightness of the morning star gradually fades as the sun rises, cf. Theophylact.

This is a lesson to John's disciples. Therefore your jealous feeling about my relation to Jesus is wholly out of place.

Calm yourselves. This is how it must be. When the sun rises, the stars fade. Rejoice in this rising, as I rejoice.

His comparison of himself with the friend of the bridegroom in verse 29 continues the same testimony that the Lord Jesus is the Christ. When John calls himself "the voice crying: Prepare the way of the Lord" (Jn 1:23; Is 40:3), and likens the Lord to a bridegroom, he points directly to prophetic expressions of the Old Testament.

In Ezek 16:8, Hos 2:19, 21, Mal 2, and many other places, Jehovah is depicted as the bridegroom, and the people of promise as the bride. "And I will betroth you to Myself forever... and you shall know the Lord," says the prophet Hosea.

Yet in these words of Hosea the Lord was no longer calling to the Jewish people, but to that Church of God which He created upon the ruins of the ancient Old Testament church, destroyed by the crimes of a stiff-necked people.

The Christian Church became the Bride of Christ. John the Baptist spoke his words by the command of the Holy Spirit: "Concerning this salvation the prophets sought and searched... It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but us" (1 Pet 1:10-12).

In his words was the fulfillment of what the prophets had proclaimed: the coming of Jehovah to earth in human flesh, and the betrothal of the Church to the divine Bridegroom, whose friend and herald John names himself.

It was given to him to understand that the Lord had appeared on earth, and therefore "his joy was fulfilled." He sees the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth, though he cannot yet comprehend the whole greatness of the mystery.

That mystery is fully revealed only after the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Moved by the Spirit of God, John testifies concerning the Lord Jesus that He is truly the Christ. He rejoices greatly, seeing "the salvation of the Lord, which the Lord has prepared before the face of all peoples; a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of His people Israel" (Lk 2:30-32).

With supreme spiritual joy, he again acknowledges and proclaims the Lord Jesus as Christ. Compare Jn 1:26, 30. He declares that He, the Lord Jesus, must increase, while he, John, must decrease.

The mission laid upon him by God is drawing to its close. Chrysostom, in Homily 28 on John, suggests that the death of John the Baptist was permitted by God so soon in order that all the people's attention might be concentrated on Christ.

John rejoices like Symeon the God-receiver, feeling that the Master is releasing him, and that for him "there is laid up the crown of righteousness, which the Lord gives to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Tim 4:8).