“He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this pleasure and joy of mine is now complete. He must increase [in prominence], but I must decrease. “He who comes from [heaven] above is above all others… He who comes from heaven is above all.”
John 3:29-31 AMP
There are some passages of scriptures that almost take my breath away at the beauty the words invoke. I can almost picture John speaking to his disciples, love and fondness dripping from his voice as he implored them to understand how great his friend Yeshua was.
John and Yeshua were related in some way. Being close in age, I’m sure they grew up around each other to some degree, and somehow their proximity or personalities formed a special bond. John was a champion of Yeshua, recognizing Him and preparing the way for Him long before Yeshua’s ministry began.
John describes himself as a friend, or philos, of the bridegroom. Best I can tell, he was the first one to refer to Yeshua as the bridegroom. In the original Greek text, a philos was more than a casual acquaintance- the word is used to describe a dear, active friend. Specially, this was one of the bridegroom’s friends who, on his behalf, asked for the hand of the bride and rendered the bridegroom various services in closing the marriage and celebrating the nuptials. The friend of the bridegroom – or “best man” – played an important, trusted role from betrothal and banquet of wine up through the wedding ceremony which could have come over a year later. This was an active, all in, all the time fiend. And, to John, his greatest joy was the voice of his friend, Yeshua.
So he stood – listening, watching, waiting – continually pointing to and exalting Yeshua.
My Pastor often says “Yeshua doesn’t have favorites, He has intimates.” (Although, if He did have a favorite, Pastor Olen would be it – Yeshua loves Pastor so much that it’s a house rule he cannot pray during card games- it’s an unfair advantage.)
Jokes aside, Yeshua is looking for friends like John – a friend who prepares the way, pointing to Him alone. He is above all and before all. And as a friend of the bridegroom, I desire to be found standing and listening- leaning and looking lovingly at Him, longing to hear His voice more than anything else. Oh, I hear Him in my heart. I know the still quiet voice – but when I finally stand before Him and hear Him face to face, my joy will be complete. I just long to hear Him say, “my friend, welcome home.”
Father – thank You for Your Word. Thank You for making a way. Give me ears to hear You above all else. You are good and You keep doing good. Your leadership in my life is perfect and You can be trusted. Amen.
Daily Reading: John 2-4
October 6, 2022