While we are all unique, I think we could rightly say that John the Baptist was uniquely unique. There are many things about his birth, circumstances, calling, and ministry that confirm that. Two unique statements that he made during his public ministry stand out for their significance in our understanding of the Christian life.
When he cried out in John 1:29, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,’ he showed us the essence of what it is to become a Christian. But in his declaration in John 3:30, ‘He must increase but I must decrease,’ he shows us the essence of what it is to be a Christian. Matthew Henry calls this second statement ‘a most excellent pattern’. It is this pattern of the Christian life that we consider in this article.
It is significant in three ways.
First, because it shows us what is at the heart of the Christian life – relationship. This is a ‘He’ and ‘I’ statement because the Christian life is a ‘He’ and ‘I’ life. Christian living has many facets, but none more important than my personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. Second, because it shows us the imperative of the Christian life – ‘must’! It is noticeable that the NKJV has the second ‘must’ in italics. While it was not there in the original, it was inserted in the English translation to emphasise the importance of this twofold ‘must’. Third, we are shown the direction of the Christian life – it is going in two ways.
