Least in the kingdom

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

LEAST IN THE KINGDOM

Matt 11:11-15

11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 He who has ears, let him hear.

NIV

How can someone who is least in the kingdom be greater than John the Baptist? What did Jesus mean by this? Surely the prophets spoke about John the Baptist. They spoke of the one who would be the messenger proclaiming the Messiah.

Isa 40:3

3 A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.  

NIV

Mal 3:1

3:1 "See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.

NIV

Yet the prophets did not see the kingdom of God as we do. John the Baptist did not see the kingdom of God as we do. Although he introduced Jesus to the world, proclaiming him to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, he did not get to see Jesus do that on the cross. John did not get to see Jesus die nor get raised from the dead. John did not get to see Jesus ascend, however he did get to see Jesus when he arrived in heaven, if we believe to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  However, if we believe we are asleep in Christ until the final resurrection of the dead and those that still alive, are catch up in the air to meet our Lord, then John has not seen Jesus in all his glory. However, the point is that John did not see the kingdom of God in its fullness as the least in the kingdom can. What Jesus said about forcefully been taken by forceful men has to be taken in conjunction with what Luke recorded. The idea was that the tax collectors, such as Matthew and his friends, and even the pagans seized upon the truth of the gospel, took hold of it, but the Pharisees and scribes who were supposed to be the teachers and spiritual leaders of the people rejected Jesus as the Christ. The common people and even the tax collectors had been baptized by John and were ready for Jesus, but not the Pharisees nor the teachers of the Law. Jesus makes another astonishing statement about John being the Elijah who has come. According to the gospel of John the Pharisees sent priests and Levites to ask who John was, they asked if he was Elijah and he confessed he was not, Yet Jesus said he was. How could this be? Again what did Jesus mean? He said that if we can accept it, John was the Elijah. Certainly John the Baptist came in the power and spirit of Elijah and perhaps that was what Jesus was referring to.

Mal 4:5

5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.

NIV

It is not sure this is what he meant, however we can be sure of one thing. John the Baptist came, introduced Jesus and now Jesus has brought the kingdom of God to earth for all of us who have an ear and have heard his call. We may be the least in the kingdom. We may not have much fame and fortune. We may not be some great prophet or famous preacher. We may not be a formidable witness for Christ. We may not be recognized by others as a great servant in the church, serving in some special way. We may not be seen as a big giver, or hold a prominent place in the body of Christ. But what we are is the least in the kingdom of God and are greater than John the Baptist, for we have seen Jesus die, raised from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God. We have his record of all this, we know it within our heart to be true. The other truth is that it does not matter our position in life or in the body of Christ, what type of service we do in the church, we are all sinners saved by grace. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. God shows no favoritism. No one is better than the other, for because we came after John the Baptist and after Christ died on the cross for our sin, and was raised from the dead, to give us victory over death, and ascended into heaven, to prepare a place for us, so that where he is we will be also, we all are the least in the kingdom.