John Calvin Commentary John 3:29

"He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, that standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom`s voice: this my joy therefore is made full." — John 3:29 (ASV)

He who hath the bride. By this comparison, he confirms more fully the statement that Christ alone is excluded from the ordinary rank of men. For just as a man who marries a wife does not call and invite his friends to the wedding to prostitute the bride to them, or, by giving up his own rights, to allow them to share the nuptial bed with him, but rather so that the marriage, being honored by them, may be made more sacred; so Christ does not call His ministers to the office of teaching so that, by conquering the Church, they may claim dominion over it, but so that He may use their faithful labors to associate them with Himself.

It is a great and high distinction that men are appointed over the Church to represent the person of the Son of God. They are, therefore, like the friends whom the bridegroom brings with him, so that they may accompany him in celebrating the marriage; but we must pay attention to the distinction, so that ministers, being mindful of their rank, may not appropriate to themselves what belongs exclusively to the bridegroom. The whole amounts to this: all the eminence that teachers may possess among themselves ought not to hinder Christ from ruling alone in His Church, or from governing it alone by His word.

This comparison frequently occurs in Scripture when the Lord intends to express the sacred bond of adoption by which He binds us to Himself. For as He offers Himself to be truly enjoyed by us, so that He may be ours, so He justly claims from us that mutual fidelity and love which the wife owes to her husband.

This marriage is entirely fulfilled in Christ, whose flesh and bones we are, as Paul informs us (Ephesians 5:30). The chastity demanded by Him consists chiefly in obedience to the Gospel, so that we may not allow ourselves to be led aside from its pure simplicity, as the same Apostle teaches us (2 Corinthians 11:2, 3). We must, therefore, be subject to Christ alone. He must be our only Head; we must not turn aside a hair’s-breadth from the simple doctrine of the Gospel. He alone must have the highest glory, so that He may retain the right and authority of being a bridegroom to us.

But what are ministers to do? Certainly, the Son of God calls them so that they may perform their duty to Him in conducting the sacred marriage; and, therefore, their duty is to take care, in every way, that the spouse — who is committed to their charge — may be presented by them as a chaste virgin to her husband, which Paul, in the passage already quoted, boasts of having done.

But those who draw the Church to themselves rather than to Christ are guilty of basely violating the marriage which they ought to have honored. And the greater the honor that Christ confers on us by making us the guardians of His spouse, the more heinous is our lack of fidelity if we do not endeavor to maintain and defend His right.

This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He means that he has obtained the fulfillment of all his desires, and that he has nothing further to wish, when he sees Christ reigning and men listening to Him as He deserves.

Whoever has such affections that, laying aside all regard for himself, he extols Christ and is satisfied with seeing Christ honored, will be faithful and successful in ruling the Church; but whoever swerves from that end in the slightest degree will be a base adulterer and will do nothing else than corrupt the spouse of Christ.