Matthew 11:11-13

¹¹Truly, 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. ¹²From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. ¹³For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.

¹¹ Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν· οὐκ ἐγήγερται ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν μείζων Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ· ὁ δὲ μικρότερος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν μείζων αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. ¹² ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ἕως ἄρτι ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βιάζεται καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν. ¹³ πάντες γὰρ οἱ προφῆται καὶ ὁ νόμος ἕως Ἰωάννου ἐπροφήτευσαν·

John the Baptist performed a very unique role in the history of redemption.  He was the final prophet of the Old Testament era and ushered in the new redemptive age that came with the life, death, resurrection and ascension of the anticipated Messiah.  With full indebtedness to Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. at Westminster Theological Seminary through the teaching of his course Acts & Paul, here are a few thoughts about this passage.

Verse 11 says that among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.  He was the penultimate prophet who was raised up for the unique purpose of announcing the coming kingdom of the Messiah.  But doesn’t this statement contradict what we find in the next sentence?  The one who is the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  Aren’t those born of women ushered into the kingdom?  Surely, but citizenship in the kingdom of heaven “trumps” being born of woman.  We are now born of God and have Him as our Father through adoption.  The one in the kingdom is greater than John, because in his function, he is outside and prior to the kingdom.

John stood at the end of the Old Testament era of types and symbols and announced the coming of Messiah and His eschatological kingdom.  It is important to note that Jesus is making a redemptive-historical point.  He is referring to John in his function.  John was not outside the kingdom in the sense of not believing in Jesus the Messiah.  He is outside in redemptive-historical terms, not ordo salutis (or application of redemption) terms.

Matthew 11:11-13 does nothing less than present the dynamic of the already/not-yet – the interchange between this age and the age to come.  Dr. Gaffin speaks about redemptive history being elliptical.  An ellipse is a geometric figure (sort an egg-shape) defined by two points.  Redemptive history is defined by the two points of Christ’s death/resurrection and his return.

In this present day, we stand in between the two points.  We live in an time when Christ has come and earned redemption.  He sits and waits for his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet.  He awaits for death to be conquered for his people.  He does not need to return to set up his kingdom, rather the kingdom is inaugurated – it has come.  John foretold it and Jesus continually announced it.  Rather, we wait for our King, who already reigns on high, to return and usher in the consummation of the kingdom in the new heavens and new earth.