“Faint words of praise?”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Saturday, October 21, 2023
Matthew 11:7-15 (Forward, p. 84) CEV p. 995
Jesus has some incredible words of praise to describe his cousin, John the Baptist—I think. I say that because Jesus’ remarks about John have a kind of ‘yes, but’ quality to them.
-First off, Jesus paints a couple of word pictures, contrasts really:
-He suggests that John was certainly not someone so common
or ordinary as the wind-blown reed grasses that grew along
the banks of the Jordan. And certainly, he was not subject to
any vacillations caused by those winds. John the Baptist was
anything but common or ordinary, and certainly did not bend to
the gusts of public opinion, safety or anything else.
-And He says that John was certainly not a courtier, the kind of
person, finely and elaborately dressed, that one finds in king’s
palaces. He certainly did not have the fine, flowery and
elaborate speech of a courtier, words designed to butter up
and please those in power and authority. Anything but.
-John was, in all certainly, a kind of prophet, for he was unique for his
times in listening to God’s voice & hearing it, and then, with courage,
boldness and passion, sharing it with the crowds;
-Jesus then goes on to describe John as being more than a prophet,
as indeed being that very messenger that the Hebrew Scriptures had
predicted as paving the way, preparing the way for the Messiah.
Indeed, He describes him as the new Elijah (v. 14) as predicted by
Malachi (Malachi 4:5)
-And, incredibly, Jesus says that no one ever born on this earth
is greater than John (verse 11a). So, what in the world can that
mean? Greater than He Himself? Another translation, the NRSV,
isn’t really much of a help: “among those born of women no one has
arisen greater than John the Baptist;
But, surely, Jesus is applying this in a past tense, meaning that
no one up until now has been greater than John, no one in all of
past history.
But then comes the ‘yes, but’ part: “Yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (verse 11b). And why might that be? Because John died prematurely: he was never privileged to take in the entire ministry of Jesus, never allowed to see the culmination of that ministry in Jesus’ death and resurrection. So, the salvation that we as Christians enjoy, we as friends and followers of Christ are privileged to be part of, was never something that John saw in his lifetime. Such is our incredible privilege!
John was never able to enjoy the fruits and privileges of that kingdom that he announced and inaugurated. He pointed the way, pointed the way beyond himself to something more wonderful and greater, but which he himself could never be part of. And such is his great glory. May God continue to use such people, people who will point beyond themselves to that greater thing that God has in store for all of us who believe.
Forward notes: “Let anyone with ears listen!” (verse 15).
“In my pastoral care class in seminary, we read a book that discussed the importance of listening. The book said that the Bible has more than 1,500 instances of the words listen, listened, hear, or heard.
“In a quick Google search, I discovered that speak, spoke, or speaking appear just over 1,000 times in the Bible. I’ve heard the saying that people should listen twice and much as they speak, and that’s why we were given two ears and only one mouth.
“In this passage from Matthew, Jesus is telling people to listen when John the Baptist comes because John will be delivering an important message. We must all find our own ways to hear God’s message for us and communicate it to the world so that we can take action. While we are often told to talk to God in prayer, maybe we should take twice as much time in our prayer lives to listen to what God wants to tell us. Listen for the message waiting to be revealed.”
Moving Forward: “What would your day be like if you spent twice as much time listening as talking? Try it!