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NASB | Matthew 11:11 "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 11:11 "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater [in privilege] than he. |
Subject: "Least in the kingdom of God"? |
Bible Note: Emmaus... :-) This is so Catholic... :-) I was brought up in an environment which encouraged me to 'mortify' myself... The Lord took pains to teach me that the point in sacrifice is not to cause great suffering to ourselves (that would be masochism, not Christianity) or to try to 'save' ourselves (or anyone else) instead of humbly and thankfully accepting what Jesus has already labored for, but to unite ourselves with the Savior in all ways, including suffering. Their love for Jesus kept even the most dedicated Catholic saints going, not any commandment they received or any desire they had to suffer... Too many people teach today that you need to say 'NO' to yourself in order to say 'YES' to God - I believe that by being reborn, our whole inner nature changes: in our inner being we actually delight in God's law (Romans 7:22) - what we need to struggle with is our yet unredeemed flesh. If we give way to our sinful fleshly desires, we grieve the Holy Spirit within us, i.e. we grieve our own inner selves. Yes, I do not deny the need for personal discipline. Through sacrifices we also learn to appreciate what Jesus went through for us. But that does not mean unnecessary morbidity... We do fast, to let ourselves know, from time to time, that the Giver is more satisfying than the gift - but we don't do it constantly, that would be anorexia; we do stay up late at night in prayer, because we love spending time with Jesus more than we love sleeping - but we don't do it constantly, that would be suicide... I cannot imagine it is pleasing to God to keep life in a person who tortures his/herself for no reason: Jesus has already died for all of our sins! I had to be reminded that 'Do not kill' is a commandment: even we ourselves are those whom we are trying to kill. As for 2), Jesus said we should not fear those who kill the body, for only Satan can destroy the spirit and the body (Luke 12:4-5); and I do not identify Herod or any Jew with Satan.. But these are intriguing interpretations indeed, thanks for sharing them with me. Zsuzsi |