Luk 7:28 | KingComments | STEP | After the message the Lord has for John, He has a word about John to the crowds. The crowds should not think that John is a doubter who has called anything and now has lost faith in his own message. The Lord addresses the crowds in their conscience. When they went to John in the wilderness, why did they do that? What did they want to see? Did they see a doubting man, a weak man, who once said this and then again something else? A man who lets circumstances dictate his words, just like a reed bends to where the wind is blowing? Hadn’t his preaching been powerful? And what have they done with it? Or did they think they went to see a man who looked beautiful, impressive as an appearance because of the shine of his clothes? If they had thought so, they should not have gone to the wilderness, but to a palace. The preaching of John and his whole performance testified of great power and sobriety. But what were they going to see? A prophet, right? Well, they have seen him. But that should not have been the end of it all. Above all, they should have listened to his preaching and acted accordingly! The man they have seen in the wilderness is a special prophet. The Lord wants to forcefully remind the crowds of the reality of John’s performance, for He wants to reach their conscience so that they will accept Him . John is not just a prophet. His performance is foretold in Scripture. It has been written about him that he was sent out as messenger ahead of “ You ”, that is Yahweh , that is the Messiah, to prepare His way. Do the crowds know that? And did not John designate Him as the Messiah, and did He not prove in His words and deeds that He is? And what do they do with Him? Do they accept Him as Messiah through conversion and repentance, as John preached, or do they just want to take advantage of His goodness? After the Lord has shown how special John is that he was announced as a prophet in the Scriptures, He says that never a greater prophet was born than John. John surpasses all previous prophets. All have announced the coming of the Messiah, but only John has been able to point out to the Messiah with his finger and say: He is the One. Of all the prophets he is the only one who has been able to preach that the kingdom has come near . Then the Lord compares John the baptist with all who are in the kingdom of God and says that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than this greatest prophet ever born of women. How is that possible? We can only understand this if we consider that this is not a comparison between persons , but a comparison of position . It is about the contrast between the position of the believers in the Old Testament and that of the believers in the New Testament. “Greater” has nothing to do with the person, but with the position. If it were a comparison of the person, which member of the church would dare to compare himself with John the baptist? All the prophets and the law prophesied until to John ( ), for with the coming and rejection of Christ a new era has dawned. The kingdom of God was not established in power and majesty, but in a hidden form. Every man who converts, joins a Christ rejected on earth and is connected to a Lord in heaven. This is the part of the church. The church is not like John the friend of the Bridegroom ( ), but the bride. Everyone who belongs to the church is greater than he is. John did not belong to the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom God establishes and over which He appoints a Man, the Son of Man, as Head. This could only happen after the Son of Man had taken His place in glory. Therefore the kingdom was not there before that time. All the Lord’s words about John the baptist find agreement with all who were baptized by John. They justify God, that is to say, they speak right of God and acknowledge the righteousness of God in the performance of John. They justify God in His judgment of them. That is why they were baptized by John. Luke mentions the tax collectors separately. For this class of people, the Lord’s words about John are a great encouragement. They must go against the flow in two respects. They are hated for their profession and now they also have openly joined the Messiah. The wise and intelligent, however, the learned and great ones, the Pharisees and scribes, have rejected God’s purpose for themselves. They refuse to accept the preparatory work of John the baptist.

‏ Luke 7:28

The Lord Speaks About John

After the message the Lord has for John, He has a word about John to the crowds. The crowds should not think that John is a doubter who has called anything and now has lost faith in his own message.

The Lord addresses the crowds in their conscience. When they went to John in the wilderness, why did they do that? What did they want to see? Did they see a doubting man, a weak man, who once said this and then again something else? A man who lets circumstances dictate his words, just like a reed bends to where the wind is blowing? Hadn’t his preaching been powerful? And what have they done with it? Or did they think they went to see a man who looked beautiful, impressive as an appearance because of the shine of his clothes? If they had thought so, they should not have gone to the wilderness, but to a palace. The preaching of John and his whole performance testified of great power and sobriety.

But what were they going to see? A prophet, right? Well, they have seen him. But that should not have been the end of it all. Above all, they should have listened to his preaching and acted accordingly! The man they have seen in the wilderness is a special prophet. The Lord wants to forcefully remind the crowds of the reality of John’s performance, for He wants to reach their conscience so that they will accept Him.

John is not just a prophet. His performance is foretold in Scripture. It has been written about him that he was sent out as messenger ahead of “You”, that is Yahweh, that is the Messiah, to prepare His way. Do the crowds know that? And did not John designate Him as the Messiah, and did He not prove in His words and deeds that He is? And what do they do with Him? Do they accept Him as Messiah through conversion and repentance, as John preached, or do they just want to take advantage of His goodness?

After the Lord has shown how special John is that he was announced as a prophet in the Scriptures, He says that never a greater prophet was born than John. John surpasses all previous prophets. All have announced the coming of the Messiah, but only John has been able to point out to the Messiah with his finger and say: He is the One. Of all the prophets he is the only one who has been able to preach that the kingdom has come near.

Then the Lord compares John the baptist with all who are in the kingdom of God and says that the least in the kingdom of God is greater than this greatest prophet ever born of women. How is that possible? We can only understand this if we consider that this is not a comparison between persons, but a comparison of position. It is about the contrast between the position of the believers in the Old Testament and that of the believers in the New Testament.

“Greater” has nothing to do with the person, but with the position. If it were a comparison of the person, which member of the church would dare to compare himself with John the baptist? All the prophets and the law prophesied until to John (Mt 11:13), for with the coming and rejection of Christ a new era has dawned. The kingdom of God was not established in power and majesty, but in a hidden form. Every man who converts, joins a Christ rejected on earth and is connected to a Lord in heaven. This is the part of the church.

The church is not like John the friend of the Bridegroom (Jn 3:29), but the bride. Everyone who belongs to the church is greater than he is. John did not belong to the kingdom of God, which is the kingdom God establishes and over which He appoints a Man, the Son of Man, as Head. This could only happen after the Son of Man had taken His place in glory. Therefore the kingdom was not there before that time.

All the Lord’s words about John the baptist find agreement with all who were baptized by John. They justify God, that is to say, they speak right of God and acknowledge the righteousness of God in the performance of John. They justify God in His judgment of them. That is why they were baptized by John.

Luke mentions the tax collectors separately. For this class of people, the Lord’s words about John are a great encouragement. They must go against the flow in two respects. They are hated for their profession and now they also have openly joined the Messiah. The wise and intelligent, however, the learned and great ones, the Pharisees and scribes, have rejected God’s purpose for themselves. They refuse to accept the preparatory work of John the baptist.