John 3: 22-36

22After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing.

23John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized--

24for John had not yet been thrown into prison.

I say this a lot, but I really am hugely impressed with John’s literary style. That line, “for John had not yet been thrown into prison” is genius. John the Baptist is a secondary character in this story, and about due to drop out of it altogether. John’s gospel doesn’t even tell the story of how the Baptist lost his head. But this offhand reference simultaneously tells you

1) John’s going to end up in prison.

2) But he’s not there just yet.

There’s a subtlety to it, telling John’s ending this way. It also adds a poignant weight to this passage, which the gospel-writer gives us as John’s last pronouncement.

25Therefore there arose a discussion on the part of John's disciples with a Jew about purification.

26And they came to John and said to him, " Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified, behold, He is baptizing and all are coming to Him."

The followers of John seem to be concerned. Concerned, specifically, with Jesus baptizing, and the fact that He was the one everyone was coming to. He was stealing John’s thunder.

So this is what John tells them:

27John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven.

28"You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent ahead of Him.'

29"He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice So this joy of mine has been made full.

30"He must increase, but I must decrease.

31" He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth and speaks of the earth He who comes from heaven is above all.

32"What He has seen and heard, of that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.

33"He who has received His testimony has set his seal to this, that God is true.

34"For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.

35" The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.

36"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

There are a couple of points John makes.

It’s okay. Everything we have, God gives us. As such, of course, it makes little sense to complain when we lose it.

Jesus taking precedence, that’s the whole point. “He must increase, and I must decrease.” In other words, John is very aware that his job is done, his role performed. The man who heralded a new age, John’s destiny is not to be a part of it. There is a parallel here with Moses, who led Israel to the borders of Canaan, but never entered the Land himself.

More recently, Tolkien borrowed the emotional impact of this passage in The Lord of the Rings. The Elves, Gandalf and Frodo all fought the darkness, and ultimately triumphed. And, having saved the world, they found that there was no place for them in it, and so they passed into the West.

John the Baptist meets his final end at the hands of a cruel king and a spiteful girl, but even before then, he’s aware that he’s no longer part of the main story.