Pints With Aquinas - He Must Increase, I Must Decrease | Bible Study With Aquinas

Episode Date: July 2, 2020

Today we'll take a look at what Thomas Aquinas has to say about John 3:30: "He must increase, but I must decrease." Please help us out by subscribing and hitting that bell Litany of Humility https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/litany-of-humility-245  GIVING Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mattfradd This show (and all the plans we have in store) wouldn't be possible without you. I can't thank those of you who support me enough. Seriously! Thanks for essentially being a co-producer coproducer of the show. LINKS Website: https://pintswithaquinas.com/ Merch: https://teespring.com/stores/matt-fradd FREE 21 Day Detox From Porn Course: https://www.strive21.com/  SOCIAL Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattfradd Twitter: https://twitter.com/mattfradd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pints_w_aqu... MY BOOKS Does God Exist: https://www.amazon.com/Does-God-Exist... Marian Consecration With Aquinas: https://www.amazon.com/Marian-Consecr... The Porn Myth: https://www.ignatius.com/The-Porn-Myt...

G'day and welcome to another Bible study with Thomas Aquinas. My name is Matt Fradd and my channel is called Pints with Aquinas. If you enjoy theology and philosophy, if you want to walk more closely with the Lord, please hit that subscribe button and then the bell. And that way YouTube will be forced to let you know whenever we put out a new video. Now before we get into anything, I should probably explain what I'm wearing because I just know a bunch of y'all in the comments are going to be asking about it. This is my DC comic book shirt. I'm a big fan of DC, I'd say more than Marvel. Look at that, isn't that beautiful? It's all the men from, well most of the men from the DC comics. So Wonder Woman is not it for some reason, but there you are. Anyway, I do like the

Marvel movies more than DC, generally speaking, but DC Universe, I prefer to the Marvel Universe, but that is a conversation for another day. Today, we will be taking a look at three verses from John's Gospel, chapter 3, verses 28, 29, and 30. Thomas Aquinas wrote a whole commentary on John. We've been doing a little bit here and there on John's gospel, kind of bouncing all over the place. So he had a lot to say. This whole book here is just what he has to say about chapters one through eight, believe it or not, but it is in Greek and Latin and English. So that explains why it's so large. But anyway, I think it'll be nice just to focus on a couple of verses and to try and keep this short. I've been really enjoying reading your comments in the comment

section below. Many of you have said, I really like that these are short. I can fit them into my day. Pints with Aquinas episodes are a lot longer usually. So 15 minutes is what we're going to try and keep them to. Okay. So here's what I'll do. I'll throw up the verse here from John chapter 3, and let's read this together. Before we do, why don't we make the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So beginning in verse 28, you yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.

There is so much that we could say about this verse. What I think I'll do is I'll read directly from Aquinas and then share some of my thoughts afterwards, since, let's be honest, his are more important than mine. Let's begin here. I want to focus specifically on verse 30, honestly, because that is where I think that line is just kind of sums it all up. You know, he must increase, but I must decrease. He answers their question as to their complaint about the increasing esteem given to Christ. First, he notes

that such an increase is fitting. Second, he gives the reason for it. He who came from above is above all. So, he says, you say that all the people are flocking to him, that is to Christ, and therefore that he is growing in honor and esteem among the people. But I say that this is not unbecoming because he must increase not in himself, but in relation to others in the sense that his power becomes more and more known and I must decrease in the reverence and esteem of the people. For esteem and reverence are not due to me as if I were a principle, but they are due to Christ. And therefore, since he has come, the signs of honor cease in my regard, but increase in regard to Christ. Just as with the coming of the prince, the office of the ambassador ceases.

When the perfect comes, what is imperfect will pass away. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 10. And just as in the heavens the morning star appears and gives light before the sun, when the sun comes, its light ceases. Thus John went before Christ and is compared to the morning star. Can you bring out the morning star? Job 38, 32. This is also signified in John's birth and in his death. In his birth, because John was born at a time when the days were beginning to be shorter.

Christ, however, was born when the days were beginning to grow longer, on the 25th of December. As pertains to his death, it is signified because John dies shortened by decapitation. Yes, I suppose he was shortened by that. But Christ died raised up by the lifting up of the cross. There you are. How's that? I never thought about that before. He must grow greater. I must grow less. There are multiple ways you can think of that. I would have never thought that John grew less because he had his head cut off. So I guess he did get, I shouldn't be laughing at that, but Christ was increased in the sense that he was lifted high on a cross. Come on, that is kind of funny. The moral sense, in the moral sense, this should be taken in each one of us. He, that is Christ, must increase in you. That is, you should grow in the knowledge

and love of Christ because the more you are able to grasp him by knowledge and love, to grasp him by knowledge and love, the more Christ increases in you, just as the more one improves in seeing one and the same light, the more that light seems to increase. And from this, it is necessary that as men advance, their self-esteem decreases. Say that again. And from this, it is necessary that as men advance, their self-esteem decreases, because the more one knows of the divine greatness, the less he thinks of his human smallness. Wherefore, it is said, the revelation spoken by the man close to God, Proverbs 31. And then there follows, I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not in me. I have heard you, but now I see you.

And so I reprove myself and do penance in dust and ashes. Okay. So I think this is kind of immediately applicable. And I think most of us have already kind of caught on to the theme of this and what I'll be drawing from it. But it's this idea that Christ must grow greater, I must grow less. And I want to say something that happened to me recently, which I'm a little embarrassed about. And some of you might think less of me for it, but I don't care what you think about me. Whatever bad you think about me, believe me, it's much worse than you think. Somebody wrote

recently and told me that they had a conversion experience because they were listening to Pints with Aquinas, Scott Hahn, and Father Mike Schmitz. And so this guy wrote to me and said, I've been listening to these three podcasts and they've really been helping me. And I just had this profound experience of God, right? So I was relaying this to some friends. And as I said this, I was aware that within me, I wanted to hold back the truth that he was also listening to Scott Hahn and Father Mike Schmitz.

So I said, I was, the way I couched the conversation was like, yeah, this man, like he wrote to me, he's been listening to Pints with Aquinas, and he's had this conversion. And I noticed within me as I was saying that this reluctance to say these other names. This is absolute self-love and pride, which must be crucified. Thankfully, by God's grace, as I said, Pints with Aquinas, I also then said, and Father Mike Schmitz as well. So I did say it, thank God. But I just want to point that out in me, you know, and not in a self kind of deprecating way, because honestly, like I'd say 99% of you

are just like me, stupid, full of self-love. And I think acknowledging it is a good thing to do. But in fact, even as I sit here and acknowledge it, there is probably something even beneath the surface that wants you to see me as humble. Do you see this spiral we get into? Oh, look how humble Matt is. He just admitted something that was embarrassing. So I think it's true for many of us

and what we have to fight in the spiritual. And then, you know, gosh, it goes all the way down, doesn't it? Look how humble he is in not just admitting that Father Mike Schmitz and Scott Hahn also helped this guy, but he's also admitting that he's saying, you know, like it's, yeah, it's like an onion, you know, you keep peeling back the layers. But the whole point in kind of saying this is this is kind of, we have to realize this self-love that we see within ourselves, right? We want to be center stage.

We want to be important. We want people to listen to us, right? But what I should be able to say is, you know, if Google shuts down Pints with Aquinas tomorrow, glory to Jesus Christ. Like that really should be my reaction because, well, because it's the will of God. It's at least the permissive will of God, that is to say. So it's an evil thing that happens, presumably, if they shut me down for no good reason. But even though it may not be the perfect will of God, that is to say, God wills it, you know, it's part of his perfect will, but he permits

it in that sense, I can rejoice. But what am I trying to say here? Like, here's an uncomfortable question for me. If more people could be brought to Christ by my channel going away, would I do it? And look, apply this to yourself. Whatever sphere of influence you have online or at work or in your social circles, if more people could be brought to Christ by people focusing less on your Twitter account and more on whatever, this person's, would you cancel it? Now, be careful here, because don't be too quick to say yes. Again, I really do think that we want to see ourselves in the most favorable light, but I'm not sure what I'd say. I mean, by God's grace, I'd be like, shut it down yesterday and let me go into a life of obscurity and prayer, you know, for the salvation of souls. That's what I would want to say.

But I think we are so full of ourselves that this is very, very, very difficult. Okay. Now look at John. John has a booming ministry. People are coming from all over to hear him preach and to be baptized by him. And just at the pinnacle of his ministry, people are repenting publicly. He says, I must grow greater. No, beg your pardon. He must grow greater. I must grow less.

That is profound. And it is a grace of God that enables him to be humble in that regard. So, I guess that's what I want to share with you today. Let's just stop here. I want to share a prayer with you before we wrap up. But this idea of humility. I think it was Mother Teresa who said, if people come to us and they find only us, how sad. Or I think she said, if people come to us looking for Christ and find only us,

how sad that would be. We want to lead people to Jesus Christ and away from us. And it might just be good to kind of reflect on this today. Here's another thing to think about, right? Like, suppose you have like, you know, suppose you have a little YouTube channel or a Twitter account or something, and you're posting these things. Are you excited about posting what other people have to say? You know, what other Christian authors and philosophers are having to say? Are you happy pointing to other people who speak the truth better than you?

Again, these are questions that I don't necessarily think we have to respond to right now, but just to reflect on. So maybe after this video, we could just sort of pray about that. And in order to help you pray about that, I want to share with you a prayer that just destroys me every time. Every time I pray it, it just knocks me over. So we're going to end with this. Many of you might be familiar with it.

It is the Litany of Humility. It is a beautiful prayer. I've just put it up here on Google Docs. Why don't we read through it, and then I will put it in the description below. You can pray with it, and tell me what you think. Tell me how this prayer affects you as you pray it. So why don't we pray it together? I'll leave it in the description.

You can pray it on your own time as well, and let me know in the description how it's helping you. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being loved, deliver me, Jesus. And here I think we could say an inordinate love is what we mean. Obviously, we all desire to be loved, and that's a good thing and a natural thing. But this inordinate affection from people. You see, I think that's what that means. From the desire of being extolled, you know, look at Matt Fradd's YouTube channel. He's doing such great work. Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being honored,

deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being praised, deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being preferred to others. Say that again. From the desire of being preferred to others. Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being consulted. Deliver me, Jesus. From the desire of being approved. Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being humiliated. Deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being despised, deliver me Jesus. From the fear of suffering rebukes, deliver me Jesus. From the fear of being calumniated, deliver me Jesus. From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me Jesus. From the fear of being forgotten. Yeah, that's hard. You want to know how hard that is?

Give up your social media for a week, and you'll begin to feel invisible. See what that feels like. From the fear of being forgotten, deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being ridiculed, deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being wronged, deliver me, Jesus. From the fear of being suspected, deliver me, Jesus. That others may be loved more than I. I love it. I love what it's saying. It's not saying I desire it.

It's fully acknowledging that I don't desire it, which is precisely why I'm praying for the grace to desire it. That others may be chosen and I set aside. Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be praised and I go unnoticed. If this isn't hitting you, you're not praying it. That others may be praised and I go unnoticed. If this isn't hitting you, you're not praying it. It's sort of like when you go and you work out and the fitness instructor says, okay, you want to do this stretch. This is the position. And you're like, this is really easy. They're like, then you're not doing it right. Like it's not a sign of virtue. It's not a sign that you're super

fit. If when you do this stretch, you don't feel it. It's a sign you're doing it wrong. Also, if you pray the litany of humility and you don't feel it, it's because you're doing it wrong. This ought to be hurting you. That or you're fully sanctified. There's always that option. That others may be preferred to me in everything. Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it, that others may become holier than I,

provided that I may become as holy as I should. Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Let's read the scripture again together. John says, You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom, the friend of the bridegroom who stands and hears him rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, the joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease. You know, another thing I

think about when I read that passage is, you know, when I got married, my best friend, Todd Ma, was one of my groomsmen. I love him to death and such a good man. And I was actually at his wedding too. And I was his best man. And, you know, like I was so overjoyed for him and there was not a part of me that wished I could be in his shoes, Mary and Caitlin. That's not why I was happy. That's not what I wanted. But what I wanted was to stand there and to look at him looking at her and to look at her looking at him. And I'm like, this is awesome.

I am happy, right? I'm rejoicing greatly because of this. So just like I want the good for my friend Todd when he gets married, right? I want people to come to know Jesus Christ and to forget about me. Well, maybe I don't want that. Maybe you don't want that. So let's pray, God, give me the grace to desire it. Thank you so much for watching. If you haven't subscribed, click below, click the bell button, and that way YouTube will be forced to let you know whenever we put out a new Bible study. And that's just a fun thing to force Google to do, don't you think? God bless you guys.