Matthew 11:7-19 / Luke 7:24-35…
Greater than the greatest…
John was no weak minded, immature believer. He was the most confident man ever. He was fearless against the religious establishment (Matthew 3:7). Jesus said he was not a reed shaken with the wind; that is, he was not tossed about by circumstance. He was a rock, he stood up to Herod and that is why he was imprisoned. He lived in the wilderness, not delicately, and had camel’s hair as clothing, not soft raiment (Matthew 3:4). John the Baptist was used to and prepared for hard living, even the dungeon. John wasn’t weak, and in fact, Jesus said he was the greatest man who had ever lived.
So why does Jesus say that the least in the kingdom is greater than the greatest? From a vocational standpoint, John the Baptist had the greatest calling, but from a spiritual standpoint, we are greater in the sense that salvation is greater than vocation. Now we have the greatest job, proclaiming that the king is coming again. Fellowship with God, with each other, and triumph over sin will all be complete in heaven. The one thing we do here that we cannot do in heaven is telling people about Jesus. How do you “tell” people? You live for Christ, win others to Christ, and edify your brothers and sisters in Christ. To reject this wisdom is to become as a Pharisee or a selfish child.
Still, when you get frustrated, and fail, and fall; when you have doubts, despair, and depression; Jesus doesn’t call you a failure, He doesn’t call you weak, He calls you great. Even when you feel like the least Jesus says you are greater than the greatest. We can fail but He hasn’t so we don’t ultimately. Instead of thinking “I have to do something great for God”, realize God has done something great for you. This is the gospel; this is our peace, our joy, our safety, our satisfaction, our rest. We don’t have to be the greatest for Jesus to give us the greatest love of all.
3 comments:
In the course of one year we will read
• Every Verse
• Every Passage
• Every Gospel
We welcome your comments. We are not looking to be copying and pasting previous material...we are coming at this with a fresh look, each day, and going with whatever we see. We can send you a copy of the reading schedule (primesoul@hotmail.com). You can check www.voiceofvision.org for each day’s reading, or go to www.voiceofvision.blogspot.com to leave a comment. God bless you as you join in the walk with us...
Thank you Lord for giving me the greatest love of all..... especially since I know I don't deserve it but because of Jesus Christ and him paying my penalty I have it. Hallelujah!
You are great to me, honey, but Jesus is greater, thank God.
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