Bible Text: Matthew 11:2-11 | Preacher: Pastor Christian Preus | Series: Advent 2020 | Among those born of women there has arisen none greater than John the Baptist. If St. Paul can say, I am not aware of anything against myself, John the Baptist could say it a thousand times over. He is of that class of people we usually find annoying, people who seem practically perfect in every way. Most of us know that whatever front we put off in public, if people were to peer into our homes and what we do and say in private, they’d see plenty to blame. But there are those who are what they seem to be. They work hard, they care for one another at home, they never speak poorly of others, they don’t drink too much, they read their Bibles and say their prayers, the wife happily submits to her husband and the husband happily cares for his family, whatever disagreements they have, they resolve in a Christian way, by discussing and forgiving, they don’t think too much of themselves, they’re generous with their money, their kids are well behaved, they are simply happy people because they simply try to do what the Bible tells them to do. We shouldn’t be annoyed at such people. It’s sinful human nature to judge people no matter what. If they have faults we point out their faults and gossip about them. If they don’t have faults, we imagine they’re hiding something or we criticize them for being too perfect. But when Jesus says, “Among those born of women there has arisen none greater than John the Baptist,” he is praising John and giving him to us as an example. And Jesus does so elsewhere constantly. He praises Mary for not worrying so much about the cares of this life and instead sitting and listening to His Word. He praises the women who bring their children to Him. We aren’t to envy these people. We’re to emulate them, copy them, strive to be able to say with Paul, “I am not aware of anything against myself.” So long as we follow those words with, “But I am not thereby acquitted.”
John the Baptist was the greatest prophet, greater even than a prophet, Jesus says. He prepared the way for the coming of God in the flesh. And he did so practically perfectly. He gave up his comfort for the Lord Jesus. He lived out in the wilderness instead of in a cozy home. He practiced exemplary self-control. If you want to list the virtues of a courageous Christian pastor and even a courageous Christian person in general, John has them all. He is convicted, bold, orthodox, willing even to lay down his life for the sake of the gospel. He spoke God’s Word to kings and he paid with his head. And he did so without complaint. His is the courage we need as persecution comes against the Christian church. It’s the courage we pray for. Let them take everything I own, let them rob me of my comfort, my treasure is my Lord Jesus, and for His Word I will sacrifice all earthly comfort. I can think of nothing more glorious, no honor greater, no pleasure more satisfying, than to be a Christian, to know the God who has become my Brother and reconciled Himself to me by His own blood, and so to live by His Word.
But in fact it is not John’s great qualities, his impeccable character, his orthodoxy, his boldness, that Jesus commends above all things. Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” This is to say, take everything that belongs to your own virtue, your upstanding life, however perfectly you’ve lived it, however much both man and God Himself praise it, even if you were as great as John the Baptist, yet it still came from you, and you, even if you are unaware of anything against yourself, you are not thereby acquitted. It’s as Jesus says so beautifully to his own disciples, when he tells them to live the Christian life, to be practically perfect in all their dealings with one another, he ends by saying, “And after you have done all these things, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have only done our duty.’”
Even the beautiful things that God causes to come from Christians, and they are beautiful, happy homes, Christian virtues of all kinds, courage, self-control, contentedness, forgiving hearts, these can never become our trust, never become our boast. Instead, we take Jesus at His word – he who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than the one who embodies all virtue and all good works and all obedience.
And here, Jesus is teaching us that if we want to strive to be like John the Baptist the courageous and live the virtuous Christian life, we had better learn first, day after day, to be like John the Baptist the humble who is sitting in prison, who seems to have lost all courage, all strength, who isn’t preaching loudly to the crowds, but needs someone to preach to him, who doubts and feels wretched and miserable, and so sends his disciples to Jesus so that he can get a word of comfort from Him, so that his doubts and fears can be answered, because the devil is tempting him and his sinful flesh is burdening him, and he has no power in himself to overcome it or to fight it. He needs to hear from Jesus because left alone in that prison he has nothing to lift him up, no strength, no virtues, no courage, nothing. He needs to hear again that Jesus is the Christ, who has come for him, who will die for him, who will be there with him as he suffers, who will not leave him even as he walks through the valley of death, who will forgive him even his secret faults, who will commend him and praise him to the Father, not because of anything John’s done, but because of the blood of the Lamb that makes him and every sinner precious before God in heaven.
Do you find it hard to identify with John the Baptist the courageous? Then identify first with him as he lies humble in that prison stall. He is like you. He has seen no miracles. He was put in prison before Jesus first turned water into wine in Cana of Galilee. He has not seen the list that Jesus recounts, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up.” He’s seen none of it and he won’t see it either before his death. He sees the dank and dark walls of a dungeon. Contrast the happy scene John’s disciples see. They find Jesus surrounded by crowds. Jesus points to what they can see in the shining sun – the blind seeing, the lame walking, lepers cleansed, people rejoicing all around. But John can see none of this. Instead he has to wait only for the word of Jesus, while his eyes see depressing things.
This is what it means to be least in the Kingdom of heaven. John doesn’t ask Jesus to break him out. Doesn’t ask for a sign from heaven. Doesn’t complain to Jesus that he’s let him suffer so much. He doesn’t tell Jesus what he’s done, how much he’s sacrificed for the church, how well he’s lived his life and expect some praise. No, he doesn’t want to be the greatest of those born of women, he needs to be least in the Kingdom of heaven. So he asks for Jesus’ word and with this he’ll be content, more than content, overjoyed. He who shouted out, Comfort, comfort, ye my people, now does something far greater, or has something far greater done to him; he asks for comfort and Jesus gives it with His word. The last thing Jesus says to prove that He is the Christ is, “and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Those words were for John and they’re for us. They are the words that rejoice the heart of the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the good news John needed to hear – your warfare is ended, your iniquity is pardoned, you have received from the Lord’s hand double for all your sins. And with that you can be content and rest in your Savior. In fact, if we were to keep reading Jesus’ speech, he’ll say exactly that. He complains that despite all the miracles he does people still don’t believe in him, they get the stuff they want from him, and they leave him and live their life without him. And then he breaks out in thanks to His Father in heaven for the little ones who do believe in him, the people like John who now must believe like a little child and trust his Savior, “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
And John, who so often preached, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” is not ashamed to hear these same words spoken to him. He doesn’t grow tired of the message. He doesn’t hunger for greater things. Here is the greatest thing imaginable, here is something more splendid than all the virtues of all the great men ever born from women. Here is the privilege of the new birth by water and the Spirit, the honor of living in God’s kingdom, that Jesus would speak so tenderly to us and tell us that it is for sinners such as us that He has come into the flesh and for whom He suffers and dies and rises again, that no evil of this world can ever do us real harm so long as we are His and He is ours.
And then courage comes, then the strength to live the Christian life, then the good works for which all Christians strive and on which our Father in heaven smiles. John in prison got what he needed. And there’s no doubt he had his disciples preach those words of Jesus to him again and again. And by that Gospel he continued in the strength of the Holy Spirit until death, confessing before kings His Lord Jesus. So let’s learn from him. The Christ has come. He has done marvelous things. He has rescued the world from hell’s punishment and raised Himself from the dead after answering all your sin and your death on the cross. And this good news He preaches to you who know you need it. Build everything in life on this foundation. Remember John’s preaching, “All flesh is grass and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” The whole Christian life is built on this. Know thyself. All the things that compete with the Gospel in your heart will pass away. But Christ and His Gospel remain forever, to forgive you now and bring you to everlasting peace in the resurrection. Build on this foundation, at home and in your heart, and you will be likened to a man who built his house on the rock, and the wind and the waves came, and they beat at that house, but it didn’t budge, because it was founded on the Rock. Christ keep us faithful Christians. Amen.