Posted by Fr. Sunny Methew
Mt 11:11: “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist; Yet, the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”.
As every other verse in the Bible, this verse also shall be analyzed in its proper background and context to understand its proper meaning. Jesus said this verse to point out the greatness of the members of the kingdom of heaven. It was not meant to compare / contrast the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Baptist.
We analyze this verse in its two parts:
1. “Amen, I say to you, among those born of women, there has been none greater than John the Baptist”.
The kingdom of heaven is at its fullest realization in the person of Jesus. He is the kingdom of heaven. All those who were born before the time of Christ lived in prayerful expectation and promise of the kingdom. They could not see the Messiah / Kingdom directly. “Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Mt. 13:17). It was a time of expectation, and not realization. This is true of all prophets and righteous men and women of the Old Testament. (It is also true of all great men and women of the New Testament period, who fail to accept Jesus). Among all these prophets and righteous, yet, John was the greatest, because he came to ‘make straight the way of the Lord” (Jn. 1:23). John had a unique place as the forerunner of Christ. In so far as he was destined to point out the Lamb of God, he was greater than anyone else born of women.
2. “Yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he”
With Jesus, however, the kingdom of heaven has a definite break. It exists no more in terms of promise and expectation, but as a reality. Therefore, whoever accepts Jesus is already in the kingdom of heaven and experiences the salvation prepared before all ages. Since the members of the kingdom of God partake in the definite and fullest realization of the kingdom of heaven dawned in Jesus, even the least of those members is certainly greater than John the Baptist. If John lived in the time of promise and expectation the believer in Christ experiences the realization of the kingdom. And the member of the kingdom of God is not simply born of woman / man, but of spirit. “What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).
