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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: Hi Emmaus, Thanks for your replies... Yes, this is the interpretation that I have found most often. But I must admit that this is very hard for me to accept! Here are my reasons: 1) VictorA was actually faster with making this point, but let me repeat it: did John get to the kingdom? If he did, then Jesus' statement does not make sense; if he didn't, what about Lk 13:28 and Mt 8:11 where He states that all the great prophets would enter the Kingdom? (See my reply to Victor A) 2) Do you distinguish between the kingdom of the New Covenant and the kingdom of the Old Covenant? Are born AC people really more priviliged or blessed than born BC people in this sense? (How is that in agreement with God's justice?) 3) To me that interpretation does not seem to fit well into the contexts of Luke 7 and Matt 11, into Jesus comparing Himself with John. John notes in Luke 7:29-30 that "...even the tax collectors.. acknowledged God's justice... But the Pharisees ... rejected God's purpose for themselves" According to this interpretation, how does God's justice come in here, and what is God's purpose for the Pharisees and experts in the law? Also, In Matt 11:12, Jesus states: "From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force." What exactly does He mean by this? 4) Fourthly, the Greek 'mikroterov', i.e. 'smallest/least' is interpreted in a negative way, but it actually carries a positive meaning ('humble')... Jesus uses the same word (its noun form) for the little ones He loves so much, for example in Mt 18:6, and He prefers to use 'elaxistov' with its definitely negative sense for 'the least in the kingdom of heaven' in Mt 5:19... If we take that Jesus was referring to Himself, the rest of these two chapters is also more easily understood: first He confirms that He is the Messiah, then confirms the greatness of John, even telling that John is greater than a prophet; but He explains that John is only a forerunner of the Messiah! Although John is the greatest human ever born, the Son of Man is greater than him, even if He has now 'made Himself nothing' (Phil 2:17), becoming the least in heaven and came to earth as a fully human person to suffer and die for sinners. This is why the Kingdom 'suffers' (c.v. "The kingdom of God is within/among you" Lk 17:21).. John's disciples testified of God's Truth, for John himself had told them long ago: "The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all." (Jn 3:31), but the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God's purpose for themselves, which was to believe that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. (This is usually the very thing in Jesus' teachings that the Pharisees did not want to accept!) It took the utmost, ultimate sacrifce and supreme humility of Jesus to become a human like us and submit to suffering and death! Remember how He humbled Himself when He was baptized by John (Matt 3:13-15)? And that He even washed the feet of His disciples? "Do you understand what I have done for you?" (John 13:12) - His question is the same to us! Please read Phil 2:6-11 (I have quoted it to Angel as well), I believe it summarizes my viewpoint very well. Hope this explains my thoughts about this... God bless you, Zsuzsi |