Luke 7:28, commentary and pictures

Among those born of women no greater prophet has arisen than John the Baptist, to whom was given the greatest prophetic mission and work as the faithful herald sent to prepare the way for Christ. His greatness lay in moral and spiritual worth rather than wealth, rank, birth or intellect, shown in self-denying purity and love, in pointing people to Jesus, and in Spirit-filled wilderness preaching that called sinners to repentance and fearlessly rebuked sin even in priests and rulers. Yet even the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he in privilege, honor and joy, because even the humblest disciple who followed Jesus witnessed His miracles and heard His teachings and comforting words, which John, shut in prison and beheaded, did not live to see and hear. That comparison turns on fuller light and privilege in knowing Christ's ministry in person, which illuminated prophecy and revealed the character of His kingdom and the immortal life He offers, truths John heralded and pointed to without fully and clearly understanding. It does not mean a greater prophetic work than John's, nor does it measure his guilt or worth.

John's Greatness and Imprisonment

Among those born of women no greater prophet has arisen than John the Baptist, whose mission and work as the faithful herald sent to prepare the way for Christ was the greatest ever given to a prophet. His greatness was moral and spiritual worth, not wealth, rank, noble birth, or intellectual ability, but serving God with love and purity. That worth appeared in self-denial, in not seeking honor for himself but pointing people to Jesus and rejoicing in Christ's ministry. It appeared in his Spirit-filled calling as a reformer who called people to repentance to prepare them to receive Christ. It appeared in powerful, uncompromising wilderness preaching in which he bore his message unflinchingly, rebuked the sins of priests and rulers, called them to the works of the kingdom of heaven, made no compromise with sin, and turned many from unrighteousness.

He was first in heralding Christ's kingdom and first also in suffering for it. He was taken from the free air of the wilderness and the vast throngs that hung upon his words and shut in by the walls of a dungeon cell as a prisoner in the fortress of Herod Antipas in the territory east of Jordan where much of his ministry had been spent. Herod himself had listened to his preaching and heard him gladly as a just and holy man, yet cast him into prison at the instigation of Herodias because John had faithfully denounced Herod's iniquitous alliance with Herodias his brother's wife. He had given Herod light that Herod rejected, and was punished for reproving his wrongdoing. At last he was executed as a criminal for fearlessly reproving crime, though blameless, his spotless life of practical piety, virtue, and justice condemning sin and sinful lives.

He expected Christ's kingdom to bring earthly rule and the overthrow of oppressors, even the establishment of a temporal kingdom at Jerusalem. Because Jesus did not claim kingly authority or release John from prison, John became perplexed about the nature of that kingdom. With those expectations unfulfilled he became impatient and questioned whether Jesus was the coming one. The declaration of his greatness affirmed his mission while directing people away from treating him as the Messiah and toward the coming One. His preaching prepared the way for Christ and brought sinners, including publicans and harlots, to repentance, so that they accepted the invitation and entered the kingdom, while the Pharisees and lawyers rejected God's counsel and refused to repent.

Least Greater in Privilege

To be least in the kingdom of God and yet greater than John is to be greater in privilege and honor, and in the pleasure and joy of life. Even the humblest disciple who followed Jesus was so favored, because such a one witnessed His miracles and heard His teachings and comforting words. John did not share those experiences, for he was shut up in prison and then beheaded before he could see Christ's works in person or hear His teaching.

Those who accompanied Christ received fuller and clearer light by seeing and hearing Him for themselves. They heard Him teach in the temple, in the streets, among the crowds, by the sea, and at a host's table, as He taught, healed, comforted, and reproved each according to need. His teachings thus illuminated the prophecies and revealed truths about Christ and His mission that John had not been able to see.

John heralded the Messiah, saw Him, and presented Him as come, yet he did not witness Jesus' ministry in person. He did not fully or clearly understand the character of Christ's kingdom or the future immortal life offered through the Saviour. The sacrifices had only dimly represented Christ and His mission.

The comparison therefore turns on greater light and privilege in knowing Jesus' ministry, not on holding a greater prophetic mission or work than John's. Nor does it turn on John's guilt or worth.

Forerunner Pattern and Example

He came in the spirit and power of Elijah to announce the first coming of Jesus, and in that same spirit and power he represents those who announce the day of wrath and the second coming of Jesus. He was chosen by God to introduce Israel to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His ministry marked the return of prophecy at the close of the Jewish dispensation to usher in the Messiah.

He stood as the connecting link between the two dispensations. As a lesser light preceding and pointing to the greater light of Christ, he stood between the law and the prophets and the Christian dispensation and showed their relation to it. Promised and filled with the Holy Spirit from birth, he was ordained as a Spirit-filled reformer to prepare people to receive Christ by challenging confidence in tradition, recalling people to their sins, and calling them to repentance.

His greatness was shaped by Spirit-led education in the wilderness, apart from the corrupting influences of the city and from the teachings of the scribes and rabbis and the established schools and religious order. There, away from the flattering temptations of crowded cities, nature revealed God's character to him and God was his teacher, so that he could receive God's instruction and give the people pure truth as Christ's forerunner. His example shows that formal schooling in the established schools is not necessary, since a person wholly converted and taught by God can be equipped for the work of the Master.