Least of Heaven vs Greatest of Earth (Matt 11:11)

Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. - Matthew 11:11

Jesus exalts John the Baptist as the greatest man to have ever lived.

To the ears of His Jewish listeners, this must have come as a shock. Jesus was declaring John to be greater than Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Elijah.

He was declaring him to be greater than the glorious King David.

And he was exalting him above even Moses, the greatest of all Hebrew old testament figures, the one who gave Israel the Law at Mt. Sinai.

But just as quickly as Jesus declares John the greatest man to have ever lived, He declares him lower than even the least of anyone in the Kingdom of Heaven.

In other words, as great as John was – and he was great – he could not stand a chance compared to anyone who had undergone spiritual rebirth.

Being born of the earth and being born of heaven are two totally different paradigms of existence.

Each one of us is born of the earth. But there is a second birth that did not become available until Jesus Christ defeated death and rose from the grave. It is this second birth that makes us citizens of heaven, children of God, and and co-heirs with Christ.

There are two ways to be greater than John. The first is to exceed him in righteousness according to our own effort and virtue. The second is to die to this world and our flesh and be re-born of the Spirit.

The first method has no hope of success, and the second method has no chance of failure.

To become greater than the greatest man ever born before Christ, all we must do is stop trying to be greater than him and realize that we can't. And in this realization that we cannot make ourselves righteous, we must go to the only One who can.

The greater we humble ourselves, the greater Christ's righteousness will be able to shine through us.

If we want to be great, we must make ourselves nothing.

But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Matt 19:30