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Title: The Mystery of the Master Teacher
- Jesus’ Three Questions
Jesus begins this discussion with the masses by asking three questions of John.
- Did you go out to see a reed shaken by the wind?
John preached and baptized at the Jordan River. Reeds are very common to this day at the banks of the Jordan River. To see a reed shaken by the wind would not have been an unusual or exiting event. It would have been very, very ordinary.
So Jesus’ question is rhetorical. He’s essentially asking: Did you go out to see something common? Or did you have some special expectation?
- Did you go to see a man clothed in soft garments?
Here, Jesus is referring to the fact that John was not a noble. He was not a celebrity in the usual sense. He was a freak show, not royalty. People were drawn to him out of curiosity, not out of awe and respect. Jesus uses an interesting play on words here when he then says, “Those who wear soft clothing are in king’s houses.”
What is Jesus saying? He’s saying: John isn’t living in the Kings house. He’s in the King’s jail as we speak. So you did not go to see a diplomat, a dignitary, a friend of the government, you went to see an outcast, dressed in camel’s hair, eating locusts and honey, who is now in jail.
- Did you go to see a prophet?
Finally, Jesus gets to the real question at hand. He asks the multitude, did you go to see a prophet? Now, remember that the prophets have been silent for almost 400 years during the intertestimental period. Most believe chronologically that Malachi was the last O.T. prophet to speak, and that about 400 years pass between his words to Judah and John the Baptist appearing outside Jerusalem.
So, if you were a Jew, and you heard that one who looks and sounds like Elijah was preaching down by the Jordan River, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and baptizing people, this was, potentially a big deal. We now see what Jesus is getting at.
He asks, “Were you going to see something common?”
“No.”
“Okay, then how about someone famous, a celebrity, someone royal?”
“No.”
“A prophet? A word from God? The potentially forerunner to the Messiah?” “Yes!”
- John was MORE than a prophet
Jesus then qualifies John as “more than prophet” and in order to do so, whom does he quote? The last prophet that the Jews heard speak: Malachi!
“Behold I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you” is a quote ofMalachi 3:1.
Then Jesus says something very startling, that got the audiences attention, I’m sure. He tells them, among those born of women, John the Baptist is the greatest of them all.
Greater than all the Patriarchs: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses. Greater than all the Kings: Saul, David, Solomon, Josiah. Greater than all the prophets: Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, Malachi.
But….but…
He who is the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than John the Baptist.
What is Jesus saying here? (Take answers)
Here’s my take: As great a man as John was, and Jesus calls him the greatest man born by “natural” means. (Essentially, greater than all but Christ himself), but then says John is not as great as the “least” in the Kingdom presently.
What is the difference between these two positions? John, as great an earthly man as he was, was still with sin. Grace had not had its final redeeming work and sin had not been destroyed in him forever.
But for the least of these in Heaven, sin is no longer an obstacle between man and his Maker. The one in heaven is able to realize their full, unobstructed ability to rightly bring glory and praise to God without the encumbrances of sin.
Jesus essentially says to this crowd two things, that lead to a third.
- John is the greatest man who ever lived
- You, once in heaven, are greater than him.
- (What’s the unasked question?) How do we get to heaven?
- The Answer to the Third Question
So by this time, the crowd has to hanging on Jesus’ every word, each one of them wondering, “Okay, then how do I get to heaven? Is it through you, Jesus? Are you the promised Messiah?”
And Jesus answers this question in the most unusual way.
- From the days of John until now the Kingdom suffers violence.
The world is violent against my kingdom. John is in prison, soon to be beheaded. I, myself, will suffer violence at the hands of men. I will be killed by them. You will be my disciples, you will be asked to lay down your lives for me. Being a believer means going against a world that will be violent toward you because of me.
- For all the prophets and law prophesied until John showed up.
And what did the law and the prophets point to? The Law showed us how sinful we are, the prophets pointed to a Messiah. And then John showed up and said what? “The Kingdom is here.”
- If you are willing to receive it, he is (like) Elijah
What is Jesus saying here? What is the connection between John the Baptist and Elijah? We know that John must have reminded the Jews of Elijah in appearence and how he spoke because in the Gospel of John the Pharisees directly ask him, “Are you Elijah?”
Also, Chuck Smith in his commentary reminds us that when Zechariah the priest was fulfilling his ministry in the temple, the angel Gabriel came to him and told him that his wife Elizabeth, who had been barren, was in her old age, going to bear a son, and he was to call his name John. And the angel told him, “He shall go forth in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the children unto their fathers ” (Luke 1:17).
John the Baptist’s word is as trustworthy as Elijah’s was.
- He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
We see Jesus say this over and over again after a difficult teaching. What doyou think Jesus is saying? (Take answers)
I will tell you point blank, if you don’t believe that God is totally in control of your salvation, this is a very difficult statement to explain. If you do believe that God is totally in control of your salvation, this is a laughably easy thing to explain.
If you understand what I’m saying, embrace it! (And there is ZERO advice for those who don’t understand.)
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