Luke 7:28
“I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
Jesus declared of John the Baptist that no greater prophet
had ever lived. There was not prophet greater
than John the Baptist, but the even the least in the Kingdom – the Kingdom that
both John and Jesus came preaching – the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is
greater than John. How can this be? I have known many great Christians, but I
have not known any that I believe carried the stature of John the Baptist.“I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
The answer to my question lies in what Jesus used as the
measure of greatness. Obviously Jesus is
not speaking of personal dedication or service to the Lord. According to Dr. John MacArthur, the answer
to this comparative measure of greatness is the reality of the Kingdom,
specifically the risen Christ, Lord of the Kingdom. John and the prophets looked ahead to the
Messiah, but none of them saw or even fully foresaw the resurrection of
Jesus. John, the greatest of the Old
Testament prophets, did see Jesus, but the Kingdom was not complete until Jesus
rose from the dead as King of kings and Lord of lords. The least in the Kingdom would be privileged
to see what John would not.
This comes back to the original issue of true measure of greatness. Jesus measures greatness in this context by
the fullness of the revelation of Himself.
The least of the Kingdom have by faith seen and believed in the risen
Jesus the Messiah. We have experienced
the completion John’s mission and message.
The tragedy of my experience in today’s church and worship,
so called, is the lightness with which we take this great privilege of knowing
and serving the risen, eternal, and soon coming King Jesus Christ.
Coram deo
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