“Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”
What exactly does Jesus mean by this? Well, there are essentially three things that Jesus is teaching here. The first is that, outside of the Son of God who was not conceived in the natural way, so among those born into sin, John is the most righteous man to have lived. The second thing is that those who have been born again of water and the Spirit, those who have been born again supernaturally, will be even greater than the greatest natural man. And the third thing is that the kingdom of God isn’t broken when the righteous suffer violence at the hands of the unrighteous.
The crowds don’t understand why John is languishing in prison. John’s disciples don’t understand it and perhaps John himself doesn’t understand it. Why isn’t Jesus coming to his rescue if John is so righteous? But, Jesus tells us, this is simply what we should expect and it’s what God in His mysterious wisdom permits.
Those who belong to this world can perceive when the righteous are ripping this world out of their hands by preaching the Gospel. It’s what Cain did to Abel. It’s what Herod did to John. It’s what the Pharisees did to Jesus, what a variety of sinners did to the apostles. And we shouldn’t be surprised when it happens to us. We should expect those of this world to lash out in anger and violence when we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
So don’t think God has abandoned you if you are hated for the sake of the Gospel. Don’t think that something has gone wrong when people withdraw their love from you over the name of Christ. Rejoice because you have been blessed to drink from the same cup as John the Baptist. And rejoice because, through the blood of Jesus Christ, you will drink from an even greater cup in the eternal kingdom of your God and Father.
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