It was not for nothing that Andrew and John spent that day with JESUS.
They told others what they had found: "We have found the Messias, which
is being interpreted the Christ," and they brought their companions one
by one to JESUS, with the result that very soon the Baptism of the Holy
Ghost was taking place in the Jordan as well as the Baptism of Penance,
and the people instructed by John left the less for the greater.
There were "busybodies," as St. Paul calls them (1 Tim. V. 13), even in
those days, people who could not let others alone, who could not
understand the situation or pretended that they could not; they "came to
John and said to him: Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to
Whom thou gavest testimony, behold He baptizeth and all men come to
_Him_" (St. John III. 26). They were words calculated to stir up
jealousy and ill-feeling; but John was too humble and too great to be
disturbed by them, his answer was characteristic: "You yourselves do
bear me witness, that I said that I am not Christ, but that I am sent
before Him. He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom." There is the
proof that all I have been telling you is true. He has the Bride, the
people all go to Him, you see for yourselves that He _must_ be the
Bridegroom; "but the Friend of the Bridegroom, who standeth and heareth
Him, rejoiceth with joy because of the Bridegroom's voice. This my joy
therefore is fulfilled." It was enough for "the Friend of the
Bridegroom" to hear His Master's voice. The necessity for him and his
preaching was fast passing away and he knew it. He had been for a time
the great man, the popular preacher, the one every one talked about,
whose advice everyone sought, now he must stand aside and see his
disciples gather round another master, himself not in the group at all.
It is a position most workers in God's vineyard find themselves in
sooner or later, they have to give place to others, to watch others
reaping the fruit of their labours, to see those whom they have taught
going to other teachers, those who have sought their advice seeking it
elsewhere. How do they bear this difficult situation? How am I going to
bear it when my turn comes? Am I going to pose as a martyr, craving for
and expecting every one's sympathy? Am I going to put difficulties in
the way of those who succeed me, and make it hard for those to whom it
has been my privilege to minister? Some are even jealous and show their
displeasure by criticizing those who succeed them! What was John's
attitude? All he wanted was his Master and His Will. He was the "Friend
of the Bridegroom." He was satisfied to stand on one side, and his cup
of joy was full when he heard his Master's Voice. "He must increase" in
the minds of the people "and I must decrease." Let me learn a lesson
from John the Baptist and make my sacrifice beforehand, remembering that
nothing matters so long as I am the friend of the Bridegroom, can hear
His Voice and see the souls I have tried to help following Him. These
are joys, real joys, and they are perhaps never fully realized till the
cool shade of the background is reached.