Friend of the Bridegroom

Friend of the Bridegroom

After that deeply theological conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus heads back into the Judean wilderness where John is baptizing.  And, we hear John’s last speech in this Gospel.  He joyfully says he is not the bridegroom; he is the friend of the bridegroom.  Jesus, the one from above, is the bridegroom (implying he is God), while those who receive him become his bride (implying a new people of God).  For John, as the friend of the bridegroom, his job was to connect the bride to the bridegroom.  When he does his job, he can joyfully fade out of the picture, an attitude captured in his final statement, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (3:30).  What if we were to live by that same attitude as well?