John said, He s right around the corner. John was such a good preacher that many people thought he was the Messiah. Then one day the two meet. John was decreasing, so that the Messiah might increase. We increase for a time, then inevitably the time comes for us to decrease.
Nobody stays in the limelight forever.
But John tried to get it right, so maybe he can help us. The day John baptized Jesus in the Jordan, it was a unique moment in the sacred story, accompanied by the affirmation from heaven, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased. It became his lot to begin to taper off. His role was now to decrease so that Jesus might increase. His purpose was to herald the arrival of the Lord, and yield his place to someone else.