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Jesus says, “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.” You may be seated.
Dear Brandon, and to all the lords baptized, we are part of the kingdom of God that Jesus is preaching about. This text is so wonderful. It’s a kind of tough text, but it’s so wonderful because so many things are different than what we expect. We’re used to seeing John the Baptist preaching by the Jordan River, railing against sin and baptizing people, calling them to repentance. But today he’s locked up in the dungeon of King Herod. We’re used to hearing John preach about Jesus: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” But today we hear the other. We hear Jesus actually preaching about John. It’s an amazing sort of reversal.
We’re used to seeing John with great boldness, but today he sends his disciples saying, “Go and ask Jesus, are you the one? The one.” And in fact, the text ends with this beautiful riddle that the Lord gives us. In fact, I want to think about this for most of the sermon, this little riddle where Jesus says, “I tell you that among those born of women, none is greater than John the Baptist, and yet, and yet, the least in the kingdom of God is greater than him.” What does that mean? It means that none is greater than him. And the Bible all the time, just as maybe a little aside, the Bible all the time is giving us these riddles because they’re so helpful in these words being able to stick into our imagination and so that we can think about them and we can reflect on them and we can leave this place and be wondering, what does Jesus mean by these words?
How in the world is John the greatest of all and yet the least in the kingdom is in fact greater than him? And what does the Lord mean by that and how are we to understand it? We’ll do a little work on this in the sermon, and maybe to do so we’ll get the background. Because Jesus is not locked up. John’s locked up. Jesus is free, and he’s doing all these miracles, and John is hearing about it in prison.
In fact, just before our text, it told us in Luke chapter 7 that Jesus and his disciples had gone into the city of Nain, and coming out of the city was a widow in the funeral procession of her son. And Jesus stopped that procession. A young man, the funeral, the casket, and he put his hands on him and he raised him from the dead and gave the young boy back to his mom. And the news of this was spreading throughout all of the region, including getting to John. In fact, the very first verse of our gospel lesson is about that. The disciples of John reported all these things to him.
And so John is there in prison and he’s hearing about all the miracles that Jesus is doing, all the mighty works that he’s doing, all the wonderful things that he’s saying. And he’s hearing about all the miracles that he’s doing. And still, in the midst of that report, he sends his disciples to say, “Is this the one?” Now, there’s a question about this. Some people say, well, John was really doubting his own preaching and his own conviction. He was just in that dark night of the soul and wondering if it was the case that, “Are you the one or are we waiting for another?” He needs that reassurance from Jesus. Some people say that, no, John is sending his disciples to—John knows, but he wants the disciples to hear it straight from Jesus, and in this way, he’s kind of shifting his disciples over to Jesus.
I think there could be a little bit of both in the text, but I think that there’s something else going on. If you’re really hungry, you know how you think about all those Bible passages where the Lord feeds the hungry? You might not think about them as much when you’re full, but you think about them when you’re hungry, right? Or when you’re having trouble sleeping at night, you remember those Bible passages where it says, “The Lord gives to his beloved sleep.” Or when you’re surrounded by your enemies, you remember all those passages where the Lord promises to deliver us from his enemies.
I think the same thing is probably true when you’re in prison. You start to reflect on all those verses that talk about how the Lord is going to set the prisoners free. And I don’t wonder specifically if John in prison was meditating on Isaiah 61. Here’s what the text says: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me.” This is the Messiah himself talking, Jesus, before he’s named Jesus, the Christ, the coming one. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Amen. And the day of vengeance to our God to comfort all those who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,” and so on and so forth, this beautiful passage.
Now, I just think that John the Baptist is wondering about this passage and saying when he sends his disciples to Jesus, “Are you the one we’re waiting for?” In other words, “Are you going to bust me out of here? Are you going to set the captives free? Are you going to be the one who opens the prison for those who are bound?” And here comes, I think for us, the chief benefit of this text. Is that what do we do when the Lord is answering people’s prayers all around us, but not answering ours? What do we do when we see the people around us rejoicing in the Lord’s promises, and we’re still waiting for them? Amen.
John the Baptist is in prison and he’s hearing how Jesus is raising the dead and healing the sick and doing all of these great works for other people. But what about, John is asking, but what about me? When are you going to do those great works over here? Are you the one we’re waiting for or is another on the way? I think this is important for each one of us. I’m thinking a lot about this. Here’s one example of the way it works out. What if we’re a couple that’s waiting for children and praying that the Lord would give us children, and we see everybody else around us getting pregnant, and the Lord is not giving that gift to us? Or what if we’re longing for a spouse and praying that we could rejoice in the Lord’s gift of marriage, and the people around us are hearing that great, good gift of marriage, but it’s not coming for us?
Or what if we even hear in our family or our friends that a big Christmas bonus came and we’re sitting there trying to figure out how it is that we’re going to pay the rent? Or whatever else it is. It could be spiritual things. It could be physical things. We see people being delivered and we’re waiting for that deliverance ourselves. What do we do when Jesus is raising the dead over there and we’re still in prison? You see the question? Are you the one? Are we going to wait for another?
And so Jesus receives this question from the disciples of John and sends them back with some wonderful words. John the Baptist. Two disciples come. And they find Jesus. Look at what it says. “In that hour, he healed many people of their diseases and plagues and evil spirits. On many who were blind, he bestowed sight.” I mean, there’s another example. You know, we’re wondering if we’re blind and the Lord is giving sight, why not to us? Or if we’re deaf and the Lord is giving hearing, why not to us? Or whatever affliction, why not to us? And Jesus, he receives these two disciples and he says to them, “Go and tell John what you’ve seen and heard.” And here’s the list. First from Isaiah 35: “The blind receive their sight. The lame walk. The lepers are cleansed. The deaf hear. The dead are raised up.”
And then Jesus quotes Isaiah 61: “The poor have the good news preached to them.” Vicar Kruger is going to preach on that particular part of this text this Wednesday. It’s wonderful. But I think here in our context, as we’re thinking about it, the Lord Jesus lets these disciples of John and us know, “John, I understand what you’re asking. I know you’re thinking about John 61. I know you’re wondering if I’m going to do this for you. I am the one who is coming.” But then he says, “Blessed is the one who’s not offended by me.”
And by this, I think our Lord Jesus indicates to John the Baptist that you’re going to stay in prison. Right? That I, Jesus is saying, “I am the one who sets the prisoners free, but I’m not gonna set you free.” And John is able to, by the way, receive this word. I think, maybe not with joy, but at least with comfort, and it’s able to carry him through the afflictions that were waiting for him in the weeks that followed until at last Herod asks for John the Baptist’s head to be delivered on a platter, and he, in fact, gives up his life in his confession of the Lord’s truth.
Sometimes the Lord makes us wait, and sometimes the Lord answers our prayers wrong, only in death or in the resurrection. Now, we want to hear these words from Jesus clearly: “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” The Lord is taking care of each one of us. The Lord is taking care of each one of you as a good, holy, heavenly Father, giving you what you need and keeping back from you what you don’t. He sometimes sends times of joy and peace and abundance, and he sometimes sends times of affliction and sorrow and waiting and longing. Sometimes we’re with Jesus on the plane when the lame are leaping, and sometimes we’re with John the Baptist in prison: blessed is the one who’s not offended by him.
But Jesus is indicating to John that he would die today, as the last of the Old Testament prophets. As far as I can tell, John the Baptist is the only person in the entirety of the ministry of Jesus that Jesus lets stay dead. Ha! I mean, we just had the healing just before this passage in Luke chapter 7, where Jesus raised the boy in the casket. We hear the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. And anyone else who dies in the proximity or even in the earshot of Jesus, he goes and he raises him from the dead. But that’s not for John the Baptist. The Lord lets John the Baptist die.
And in John the Baptist’s death, the last page of the Old Testament is turned, and we get to the New Testament. John has to die like the rest of the prophets, waiting to see the things that he promised come to pass. And so with these words, Jesus is telling John that you will have to, like all the prophets, see the things that you promised from a distance. You will have to be content knowing that I am the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world without seeing it come to pass in my death and in my resurrection. You’ll have to watch it from the bleachers in heaven. You’re not going to get to see it on earth.
And in this way, I think we can get a little hint at what Jesus is talking about in the riddle. Among those born of women, none is greater than John, and yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. What is the difference? What’s the difference between the least in the kingdom and John? What’s the difference between all of us and John the Baptist? The answer is John died without seeing the death and resurrection of Jesus. That is the difference.
And it turns out, you know how I mentioned that Jesus is here preaching about John the Baptist, but in fact what he’s really preaching about is you. And Jesus in this text is saying that you are greater than John the Baptist. Right? And this is the difference, that you know how salvation happens. You know how it occurs. You know how the Lord accomplishes it. You know the death and the resurrection of Jesus. It’s quite marvelous.
And this is our greatness. This knowledge and this faith is our glory. It is our hope. And if the Lord is giving or the Lord is taking away, if we’re waiting and trusting that the Lord is going to answer our prayers, no matter where we find ourselves in this life, walking around shopping for Christmas presents or in the dungeon of King Herod’s prison, the Lord is with us. His kingdom has come to us. And we are His own blessed children. Blessed are we who are not offended by Him. May the Lord grant us that faith. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
