The greater you are, the more humble yourself, and you shall find favor before the Lord.
All Commentaries on Wisdom of Sirach 3:18 Go To Wisdom of Sirach 3
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
You should listen to John, you heretic. You should listen to the one who runs forward as you run backwards. You should listen to the humble, you who are proud. You should listen to the burning oil lamp, you unlit lamp. Listen to what John said when people came to him. "I baptize you with water." You too, if you would only acknowledge what you really are, are a minister of water. "I," he says, "baptize you with water; but he who shall come is far greater than I." How much greater than you is he? "I am not worthy to undo the lace of his sandal." How much would he have humiliated himself had he said he was worthy of this? In reality, he said he was not even worthy to do this"to undo the lace of his sandal. "It is he who baptizes you with the Holy Spirit." " Repeat what the friend of the Bridegroom says instead of drawing attention to yourself and away from the Bridegroom. "Neither is he that plants anything, nor he that waters, but God who lets it grow."
Listen again to the one we are talking about, the friend of the Bridegroom. It is true that he had, it seems, his own disciples and that he himself was not a disciple of Christ. Listen to him though as he recognizes himself as a disciple of Christ. See him there among the disciples of Christ, both more true and more humble. The humbler he was, the greater he was. Notice how he behaves himself according to what is written: "The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favor in the sight of the Lord." He rightly says, "I am not worthy to loosen the lace of his sandals," but this was not how he showed himself to be a disciple. "He who comes from above," he says, "is above everyone," "but we all have received from his fullness." Therefore, he too was among the disciples who had disciples around him, just as Christ did. Listen to him admitting with utmost clarity to being a disciple: "The one who possesses the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom stands there and listens."
