And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1:7-8 NIV
When John was going to deliver the message, he completely lost sight of himself. The humility of the messenger is vital. This is because the glory attached to the efficacy of the message should never be given to the messenger. God’s messengers are to be humble. Even Jesus did not exalt Himself when He came to the world because He knew He was a messenger. He took the nature of a servant to fulfil the Father’s desire.
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Phillipians 2:5-8 NKJV
John understood that his life was not about him but about Jesus. So often, we want to be great in the eyes of others, even in the church or ministry or to the world. We want our ministry to be better than others. We want recognition for how we serve God, and if we are not careful, serving Jesus may turn into serving our own agendas and making ourselves look good. However, John was the opposite. He was humble and knew how great Jesus was and how unworthy he was before Him. We need to exemplify this type of humility that John displayed.
John understood the principle of decrease when he said in John 3:30 about Jesus. “He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less” (NLT). He must increase, and I must decrease. The spotlight needs to be on Him and not me. People’s ‘talk needs to be about Him and not me. They should not see the eloquence or the expertise. It should all be Him. What should move men is Him and not all the addendum of a good service.
In addition, God’s messengers are not expected to do what only God can do. In verse 8, John emphasises that the work of transformation is of God. The Holy Spirit produces cleansing, change and sanctification in any man. This reminds us that we are not God. We cannot change people. We can only do what God would have us do or say, but God brings about real internal transformation and changes in any man’s heart. Our duty is to direct them to Him.
