Luke 7:24-28

Posted by DJL on May 2, 2013 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Whatever misgivings John the Baptist may have had about Jesus, Jesus has none about John. Jesus’ affirmation of John’s place and role in God’s history of salvation is astounding: John is a prophet, like the prophets of old. And yet John isn’t just any prophet, he’s the prophet, the one Israel’s prophets foretold would come to herald the advent of God’s messiah (Malachi 3:1). For this reason, as Jesus says, no one born of woman was ever greater than John.

There is a double thrust to Jesus’ declaration, of course. Part of what he says is about John – John is the greatest of the prophets. And part of what he says is about himself – he is, indeed, the messiah whose arrival John was sent to announce.

But then Jesus goes on to say what may be the most astounding thing in this passage: yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

How can he say that? What does he mean?

To get at these questions, we need to go back to Luke’s sense of history. For Luke, as we’ve said before, there are three periods of history in which and through which God is renewing and redeeming creation. The first is the age of Israel, where God related to the people through covenantal promises and the gift of the law. The prophets – of whom John is the greatest – reminded people of God’s covenant and called them to follow the law.

The second age is the age of Jesus, the one God sends to usher in the kingdom of God. This introduces, as Jesus will say at the Last Supper, a new covenant, where God relates to the people not only or primarily through law but through the new covenant of forgiveness that grants all people direct access to God (as symbolized by the tearing of the curtain in the Temple – Luke 23:45).

The third age is the age of the Church, sometimes called the age of the Spirit (that gives birth to and animates the Church), where believers are drawn into the kingdom through their baptism in the Spirit. The kingdom they enter is both already present – because of Jesus’ death and resurrection – and also still coming in its fullness at the end of time.

With this in mind, I think what Jesus means is that while John was the greatest of this first era of salvation, he lives within the limitations of that period. All those drawn into the kingdom by the grace of God, belief in Jesus, and the power of the Spirit, however, do not know those limitations and so in this sense are greater even than John, the greatest of the previous age.

Which means that Jesus isn’t just saying something about John and about himself, Jesus is also saying something about us. We are destined for great things.

None of this is meant to diminish John. Far to the contrary, it is both to acknowledge just how important John is as well as to anticipate even greater things to come. So perhaps we could paraphrase Jesus’ words just a bit to get to the heart of the matter: “John was awesome, but you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

Prayer: Dear God, give us the confidence to believe that you have called us to great things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.