Daily Dose of Hope

October 7, 2025

Scripture – John 3:22-36

Prayer: Almighty Father, You always know what is best for us. Thank you for that. We are sorry for the ways that we resist. Help us to want what you want for us. Help us to want to be patient, to want to be kind, to want to be obedient. Conform our will, Lord, In Your Name, Amen.

Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the daily Bible reading plan at New Hope Church in Brandon, Florida. Currently, we are doing a deep dive into the Gospels and Acts. Today, we finish John 3.

After the nighttime conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus and John the Baptist are in the same storyline again. They are both baptizing in the same part of the river. John's disciples are a little miffed that people are headed over to Jesus for baptism and not to John. And this would have been understandable, as disciples had a tremendous amount of pride in their rabbi. When you were a student of a rabbi, you basically dedicated your life to that person. You sit under his teaching and learn everything about faith from him. So, there would be a certain amount of pride and protection of that rabbi. And that is kind of what we have here. They recognize Jesus as the one to whom John bore witness but they don't understand why he is now standing down.

John tells them that their ministry, as well as Jesus', receives what heaven gives, not what they earn or create with their own skill. John knows he isn't the Messiah, but Jesus is. John feels privileged to just be a part of what Jesus is doing. There is no envy.

Then John gives an analogy of a wedding. John basically describes himself as Jesus' best man – he does all the prep for the big day and he measures his success by the groom's happiness and joy at being united with his bride. Receiving the groom's kind words at the end of the day are the only reward he needs or wants.

It's interesting that John uses the picture of the bridegroom to describe his relationship with Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus refers himself as the bridegroom several different times and the New Testament letters describe the church as the bride. There was no way John could have known this, so we can see how the Holy Spirit was guiding his words even here. While John may not have understood his purpose initially, it's clear that he does now.

John tells his own disciples that being a rabbi is not the greatest thing one can be. Jesus came from heaven, and thus is greater than him or any other rabbi. But if we think of John like the best man, then it makes sense. He is there to support Jesus, to prepare the way for him, to point to him as the one who is the guest of honor. We really see John's heart here. There is no jealousy. He understands that he must decrease so that Jesus can increase because Jesus is the true Messiah. He is the Son of God.

John's joy will be complete when his disciples also understand that Jesus, the bridegroom, wants to have a relationship with them as well. John is willing to do anything, even look like a failure, if it means more people will come to Jesus.

Are we willing to do anything for Jesus? Take a moment and think about this today.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki