The Privilege, Promise, Power & Peril of Doctrinal Preaching

by Thomas J. Nettles

But greater than John is he who is least in the kingdom of heaven. In other words, those who are not offended in Christ (Matt. 11:6), those to whom the Son has revealed the Father, who have come to Christ to find rest, who see and believe the fulfillment of the sign of the prophet Jonah (Matt. 12:39), who recognize that a greater than Jonah and a greater than Solomon is here (Matt. 12:41, 42), and who are able to point to the crucified and risen One as the sole way of salvation are greater than John the Baptist. Their greatness is measured in terms of their knowledge of Christ’s completed work, their submission to it, and their clarity, faithfulness, and persistence in proclaiming it.