GREATER THAN JOHN THE BAPTIST

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist…” After paying this magnificent tribute to the great faithfulness of His forerunner, John the Baptist, Jesus continues, “Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matthew 11:11)

How is this? “No one greater than John the Baptist,” and then immediately followed by, “the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater.” Is this some kind of riddle or double-speak Jesus is engaging in?

This verse, as it reads in The Message, gives us a hint of what Jesus is saying. “No one in history surpasses John the Baptizer; but in the kingdom he prepared you for, the lowliest person is ahead of him.”

When Jesus speaks of “those born of women,” He is speaking of every single person who has ever lived in all of human history. When He speaks of those in the kingdom of heaven, from the least to the greatest, He is speaking of all who have been born into the realm of the reign of Christ. Jesus is speaking of those “who received Him…who believed in His name…(and to whom) He gave the right to become children of God – born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12)

As all human beings, John the Baptist lived his life as part of human history. He also was born into the faith and traditions of the Children of Israel. He additionally had a special place within that faith and tradition. The prophets of Israel, both Isaiah (40:3) and Malachi (3:1), foretold of his appearing and his special role, assigned to Him by God, to be the messenger who would go before and make straight the way of the Anointed One. In this dimension, human history, Jesus said that there was no one greater than John the Baptist.

In the dimension of the Kingdom of God, however, things are different. There, even the lowliest of us who are the blessed recipients of God’s grace is greater. Not because we are greater, but because what we bear witness to is greater. In the Kingdom of God, we are recipients of and bear witness to God’s great salvation. We are the ones whose sins have been forgiven by Christ’s death upon the cross. We are those who are the heirs of eternal life secured by Christ Jesus’ and witnesses to His victorious resurrection. Though the prophets rejoiced to see the day of Christ’s appearing at a distance, they never experienced the wonder of Him on that day. Though John the Baptist was present at Jesus’ advent, recognized and announced Him, and even baptized Him, he did not witness the full power Christ in its completion at His death and resurrection. Only those who have been washed in His blood can shout with conviction, “worthy is the Lamb.”

Adam Clark says a similar point is made by a saying among the Jews: “Even the servant maid that passed through the Red Sea saw what neither Ezekiel, nor any other of the prophets had seen.”

Hebrews 11:13 says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.”

O how blessed we are to live in this time of grace and to be a part of that great cloud of witnesses who know and proclaim Christ’s victory over sin and death He won for us at Calvary. If this is your witness, you too are greater than John the Baptist.