Life of Christ part 32

 John 3.22-36

Jesus and His disciples left Jerusalem, but instead of returning to Galilee they went out into the Judean countryside. There Jesus spent time with His disciples. This is significant. If we want to understand Jesus we have to spend time with Him. Jesus also engaged in a preaching and baptising ministry similar to that of John the Baptist, although Jesus didn’t actually baptise people, but left that work for His disciples to perform. In fact, John was still preaching and baptising nearby. Some people went to John and told him that many people were abandoning his ministry and following Jesus instead. We might have expected John to become jealous of Jesus’ popularity, but John was truly a man of God. He simply replied that he himself wasn’t the Messiah. Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus must increase in popularity, while John indicated that he himself should decrease. The time had come for Jesus to take centre stage in the unfolding spiritual drama of the ages. Only Jesus can grant eternal life. He alone must be the object of our faith.