“Truly I tell you, among those born
of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist...” Matthew
11:11
In a truly honouring moment of his cousin John the Baptist,
Jesus declares John to be the greatest person to have ever walked on the
planet! Jesus goes on to say what we can do to be greater than John but that is
for another blog. For now let’s look at why Jesus could possibly say that John
was in fact greater than people like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, David, Isaiah and
other greats of the Old Testament.
1.
John knew who Jesus truly was
In an extraordinary prophetic declaration,
John sees Jesus coming towards him and immediately turns to tell everyone
“Look, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29b
John knew that Jesus was the promised
messiah and was going to deal with the sin issue of humanity. Knowing Jesus as your personal Lord and
saviour is crucial if you want to be great in God’s eyes!
2.
John was fully committed to the call of God on
his life
“A
voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the lord, make
straight paths for him” Matthew 3:3b
God had called John to prepare the way for
Jesus to come. He devoted his life to calling people to repent and turn back to
God.
3.
He made disciples and released them as leaders
John had an ability to see where his young
leaders were and where God was wanting to take them. John 1:36, 37 says ‘When
he (John) saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” When the two
disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.’
Those two disciples were Andrew and
probably John, two of the 12 that Jesus selected to be His disciples. John
could have kept those two young men and would have probably done a great job
with them but he had the security and vision to point and release them fully
into the things God had for them. Both went on to be instrumental in the
foundation of the church with John writing 5 books in the New Testament.
Leaders have the privilege and responsibility to point and release the young
leaders they serve to heights and places that go beyond where they are able to
go!
4.
John was about Jesus, not himself
John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing
unless it has been given to him from heaven... He must become greater; I must
become less” John 3:27, 30
In an incredible act of humility and
security John does something absolutely remarkable: he fades into the
background. At probably about the age of 30, merely 6 months older than Jesus,
John was at the height of his ministry. People were coming from miles to hear him
speak. Thousands of people were turning from sin to God and showing it by being
baptised. He was the most influential man in God’s Kingdom at that time! Today
people would have been listening to his podcasts, reading his blog, and jumping
on planes just to hear him speak. Things were going very well. But in one
moment he goes from the heights of ministry to taking a seat in the back as
soon as Jesus appears. John’s role was to prepare people for Jesus and when He
appeared John’s ministry was no longer required. John graciously steps back to allow another
to become prominent. Now John continued to follow Jesus and point people to Him
but with much less influence and he was 100% okay with that!
