Who Is Greater Than John the Baptist?

All scripture is quoted from The New American Standard Bible, La Habra, California: The Lockman Foundation, 1977.

Least in the Kingdom of Heaven Jesus said that he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist (in Matthew's gospel, "the kingdom of heaven" is synonymous with "the kingdom of God" found elsewhere in the New Testament).  Who is least in the kingdom of heaven?  Jesus' answer to this question is found in Matthew 5:17-19, quoted below. Born of Women
Jesus qualified his statement concerning who is greater than John the Baptist when Jesus said, "...among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist" (Matthew 11:11).  John the Baptist and all who preceded him were born only of women, not of God's Spirit.  Being born of women is synonymous with being born of flesh, or being born of water, in which the human fetus is formed, and of which the human body primarily consists (humans bodies consist of more than 90% water).  To enter into God's kingdom, one must be born of Spirit.  The passage below from John chapter 3 explains how one becomes born of Spirit and subsequently enters into God's kingdom: In summary, the passage above says that to be born of Spirit, we must simply believe that the Messiah died for our sins.  Anyone born of Spirit has eternal life, is in God's kingdom, and is greater than John the Baptist (and greater than all those born only of women but not of Spirit).

Conclusion
A person in God's kingdom who teaches others to annul the least of the commandments in the Law (the first five books of the Old Testament) will be called "least in the kingdom of heaven", yet that person is greater than John the Baptist, who in his lifetime did not have the opportunity to be born of Spirit and enter into God's kingdom, since the Messiah had not yet died for the sins of mankind and risen from the dead. 


Home

Copyright 1998 by truthresearch@hotmail.com
1