“I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” (Luke 7:28)
Do you know who said that about John the Baptist? Jesus himself. What possibly could have made Him conclude that?
John was a loner, living most of his life in the wild, eating locusts and wild honey. He dressed in nothing but camel hair tied on with a leather belt. He never drank wine nor strong alcohol. According to Jesus, he didn’t even eat bread. Kind of a weirdo, don’t you think? On top of that, what he said certainly does not seem loving, caring, and accepting. John was blunt and called important religious people a brood of vipers. To top it all off, he told people that they were sinners and needed to repent and prepare for what God had coming.
Does this seem like the kind of guy who would be put on the cover of Time magazine as Man of… well Man of All Time? As I see it, if you don’t see John this way, or to use a word you may not like but is a perfectly useful word, if your judgement is different than Jesus’, it seems there are only two options in how to assess this misaligned judgment. Either Jesus was wrong, or your judgment is.
To be honest, Jesus never went on to explain Himself about this. We then are left to ponder and guess (or we can ignore what Jesus said, too, I suppose).
I have my guesses as to Jesus’ reasoning, but I am just a kid from Millard, so my view isn’t better than anyone else’s. Therefore, I think I will keep it to myself… unless you ask. Or, you could just give me your take on it.
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For His Glory,
Jim