Greater Than

Scripture

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist has appeared, but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

~Matthew 11:11, CSB

Quote

The least in the Gospel stands on higher ground than the greatest under the law.

~Charles Spurgeon

I’m currently reading Ezekiel in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New. I understand very little of what I read in Ezekiel. You might say, “I am at the mercy of God, if He doesn’t reveal the truth to me, I’m not going to get it.” Today I turned to the NT and read Matthew 11 which ends beautifully with something I do understand but in the middle of the chapter, there is an enigma and one that has puzzled me for decades. Why didn’t Jesus do a miracle in John’s behalf? Why didn’t He at least, give him a sign because it is clear that John was having doubts. Jesus gives John only His word. Perhaps Jesus did this with you and I in mind. We long for the sensational and the dramatic but the only thing we have is HIS WORD. I don’t know about you but with me, feelings come and go, they are not reliable. The one constant in my life is HIS WORD and I thank Him for the holy scriptures. As to Jesus statement about John, I can grasp the first part … I tell you, among those born of women no one greater than John the Baptist….but the last part…but the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he…but the last part puzzles me. I have a deep admiration for John. He has always been my hero. I have emulated him in manner and attire. I’ve never been a suit and tie man. In no way do I feel superior to John. His humility was off the charts but Jesus said the “least” in the kingdom is greater than John. Who is the least? Paul believed at times that he was the least. In I Corinthians 15:9, Paul said, For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. I don’t think Paul was the least but it is possible that I could be. Personally, I think it is a tie between me and David but Michael may be in the running. 

How can we be greater than John the Baptist? I don’t think Jesus was talking about character or statue. He certainly was not referring to our calling. John was the forerunner; the man who had the privilege of introducing Jesus to the world. I accidentally came across a series of video’s about Nick Saban this past week and I listened to them as I drove to hospitals. Saban is a good motivational speaker which is something I did not know. I can say this, I would be more than honored to introduce him. We would have to multiply this privilege by an infinite number to gain John’s status. He introduced Jesus, the LAMB of God. Wow! I am getting goose bumps just thinking about it. So how can the least of us be greater? Perhaps Jesus was speaking of privilege. The New Testament or the New Covenant is quite different from the old. Abraham, Moses, David and even John in a sense did not have Jesus as their HIGH PRIEST. They did not have the privilege of praying in Jesus name. They did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit nor did they have the written word, at least not in bible form. To them the CROSS was a dim and distant shadow but to us it is a graphic picture, a certain historical reality depicting our sin and depravity and Christ love for us. We have Jesus as a friend and guide. We all walk by faith, whether old or new, we are all saved by grace, old or new but Jesus death and resurrection has given us knowledge and privileges that they did not have. This is just a thought and I could be wrong. It is hard to be dogmatic when dealing with an enigma.

  • I do have one antidote that is related to the blog. A man was helping me in revival and we were eating in the home of one of our church members. The subject of Gray Allison came up. Allison was Bro. Inman’s Evangelism teacher in seminary and I knew him through listening to Bro. Inman’s tapes. The man preaching our revival was a personal friend of Dr. Allison. I simple said during the conversation, “I would like to have him preach a revival for me.” The other guy quickly retorted: “He would never work with you.” Everyone at the table was a bit stunned and so I said, “Why?” He said, “Because you don’t dress like a preacher. He doesn’t associate with preachers who do not wear a suit and tie.” I said, “Then he wouldn’t work with John the Baptist or Jesus, would he?” He paused and then said, “I’ve never thought about that and yes, I suppose you are right.”
  • BLOCK PARTY II for ROCKYFORD is today {October 13} at 4:00. If this weather holds up, it will be perfect. This BP is about Ray Edwards primarily: he wanted me to do it and he is helping us with the cost. If you know and love Ray, you need to come. You need to trust me on this one: do not miss the opt.
  • I don’t know if I should do picks this week or not since I missed more than I hit last week but here goes: I will take Bama but I do believe Missouri will challenge us. My upset special will be the Hogs over Ole Miss. Auburn will beat Tennessee. I think Georgia will beat LSU but not by more than 10, A & M over SC, Florida over Vandy in a close one, Kentucky and State will not lose. I know I missed at least two last week, maybe three but perhaps I will have a better week. I love FALL and football. June has made me some delicious beef stew and I love to dice pickled okra and put it in the stew: it is good!
  • We hope you have a great weekend. God bless and thanks for reading the blog.

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