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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: Thanks for your reply, I agree with every word you said! But exactly for this reason, Christ spoke in the present tense of 'the least in the kingdom of God' ('is' - as far as I know, the Greek 'estin' can not be understood as 'will be' - but maybe we'll need to ask someone more knowledgeable about this)... At the time He was speaking, while on earth, He was the least in the kingdom of God, wasn't He...? I mean, He ate, and drank, and slept, and wept, suffered and died, even prayed as a fully human person... Of course He was fully God as well, but becoming a human at all was just far beneath His dignity to say the least! (Please read also my replies to Emmaus.) In His resurrection, He was glorified, and now He is the greatest in all of heaven and earth... Of course. He sits on the right hand of God and He will come back to judge all the earth... :-) If He hadn't been the Greatest, He wouldn't have been able to defeat satan (who, thanks to Jesus, doesn't even deserve the capital letter any more). This passage really touched me some time ago and since then I appreciate the sacrifice He made for us more than ever. And I am ever so glad to have such a wonderfully loving Lord. :-) Blessings, Zsuzsi |