“They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan-the one you testified about-look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” (John 3:26)
“He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30)
A magnifying glass is used to enlarge the fine-tuned characteristics of an object, similarly, I want to magnify the characteristics of my God. John the Baptist had his own disciples, just like Jesus. These disciples were studying under John, but John was pointing them towards Jesus as the Messiah. One day, John was baptizing new believers at the same time that Jesus was baptizing new believers.
An argument broke out with John’s disciples where they began to compare the amount of people John was baptizing to the amount Jesus was baptizing. They were comparing John’s ministry to Jesus’s. John responded with the truth. John’s ministry was to point ALL towards Christ, the bridegroom. His ministry had nothing to do with personal fulfillment, numbers, or gaining followers. His ministry was actually about one thing which was, “He must be greater; I must become less” It was about glorifying God.
You see, many times God calls us to ministry, jobs, or service and our hearts forget what matters: as long as God is glorified, nothing else matters. The focus should truly be on becoming less, so that he becomes more. Through this, we begin to experience GREAT joy as we, “take up our cross daily.”
![We were gifted a Savior which is Christ the Lord, our sin-bearer who died a death so that we may live and have eternal life. Humanity needed a Savior of their sins and his name was Jesus. Jesus name means, “Yahweh saves.” In the Old Testament, Joshua saves his people from the Canaanites, he foreshadows the real Jeshua/Jesus who saves the world from their sins.
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In the Christmas story, we are familiar with this passage, “Give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21) As we continue to reflect on the names of Jesus, let us grasp the fullness of what he came to do. He came in humility a small babe, a common man with a common name, and yet the significance/meaning of the name could only be fulfilled through him. Only he has the power to save. Many were named Jeshua, but there is only ONE who lives up to the meaning of this name: Savior.
Luke 2:11 says, “for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Christ the Lord, an anointed prophet, king, and priest came as a baby to save us from our sins.
Jesus name was common, he lived a common life, yet despite other people having this name, salvation is exclusive to him and he is anything but common, “Yahweh saves.” #chasingsacred](https://www.chasingsacred.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
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