Gracious Jesus 44:True Greatness
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Who are those who rock the world? The greats of our time and the past. Jesus rhetorically highlights the characteristics of true greatness giving us an example of John the Baptist.
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Gracious Jesus 44:True Greatness
- 2. GRACIOUS JESUS (MATTHEW’S PERSPECTIVE WITH GOSPEL PARALLELS) 1. Presenting the King (Matt 1-4) 2. True Blessedness (Matt 5:1-12) 3. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 1 (Matt 5:13- 48) 4. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 2 (Matt 6) 5. Kingdom Lifestyle – Part 3 (Matt 7) 6. Master Strokes (Matt 8) 7. The King Calls (Matt 9) 8. The King Commissions (Matt 10) 9. Signs, Sinners and the Saviour (Matt 11) 10. Power Games and Names (Matt 12) 11. Hidden Wisdom (Matt 13:1-43) 12. Hidden Treasures (Matt 13:44-14) 13. The Gall and the Glory (Matt 15-17:9) 14. Winning Others Over (Matt 17:10- 18:35) 15. Kingdom Values, Kingdom Wealth (Matt 20) 16. The King Enters Jerusalem (Matt 21) 17. The Chosen Few (Matt 22) 18. The King’s Glorious Coming (Matt 24:1-44) 19. The Final Countdown (Matt 24:45 – 25:46) 20. The King’s last days (Matt 26) 21. Desertion (Matt 26:36-75) 22. God’s Lamb Sacrificed (Matt 27: 1-50) 23. The King Conquers (Matt 27:51-28)
- 3. GRACIOUS JESUS 9. SIGNS, SINNERS AND THE SAVIOUR 1. Signs of the Messiah 2. True Greatness 3. Children of Wisdom 4. When Profanity Surpasses Piety 5. Wisdom of Children 6. Soul Rest
- 4. SIGNS OF GREATNESS BIBLE PASSAGE Matthew 11:7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
- 5. TRUE GREATNESS BIBLE PASSAGE Matthew 11:11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
- 6. PRESENTATION OVERVIEW Bible Passages - Matt 11:7- 15; Luke 7:24-35; 16:16 The Great The Greater • Brand Ambassador • Blazing Trails • Better than Elijah The Greatest
- 7. OBJECTIVES To understand: • Greatness in the eyes of Jesus • How John the Baptist blazed trails of glory
- 8. THE GREAT Matthew 11:7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written: “‘I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.’
- 9. THE GREATER Matthew 11:11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
- 10. THE GREAT Jesus dramatically introduces John in a manner replicated by the introduction to superman “Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! it’s superman!!”
- 11. THE GREAT A “reed shaken by the wind?” Reeds in Christ’s time looked externally feeble but were strengthened by many roots.
- 12. THE GREAT To some he is Captain Caveman, to others a prophet.. Jesus endows him with greater credentials than all great men of the past
- 13. THE GREATER Why was he greater? In addition to having the qualities of the greats that walked earlier, he had a personal encounter with Jesus.
- 14. THE GREATER He was: • Better than Elijah • Brand Ambassador • Blazing Trails
- 15. BETTER THAN ELIJAH Why does Christ say that John is “Elijah who is to come”? Mal 4:5-6 In what ways are they comparable?
- 16. BETTER THAN ELIJAH He is similar in • Attire • royal connections • wilderness life • Forceful messages, etc.
- 17. BRAND AMBASSADOR Definitely not our stereotype, yet far more powerful.
- 18. BLAZING TRAILS The “violence” in vs. 12 can be explained via the Luke parallel – implying the kingdom of God is powerfully advancing Luke 16:16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.
- 19. BLAZING TRAILS What did John do differently to other religious leaders in his time and our time? What can we learn from this?
- 20. THE GREATEST Matthew 11:11b yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. Matthew 11:15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.
- 21. THE GREATEST Why are subsequent followers of Jesus greater than John? John’s was a physical encounter, ours is Spiritual – post Christ’s death, we have the privilege of being cleansed by His blood
- 22. CHRIST’S HIERARCHY OF GREATNESS Prophets John the Baptist Believers
- 23. TRUE GREATNESS - RECAP The Great – prophets, nobles, etc The Greater – John was greater than all those who came before. Yet so humble he did not project he was Elijah who is to come • Brand Ambassador • Blazing Trails • Better than Elijah The Greatest – A believer washed and cleansed by the blood of Christ has an even higher status in God’s sight.
- 24. TRUE GREATNESS DISCUSSION 1. Why does John deny he is Elijah? (John 1:21) Does this conflict with Christ’s affirmation (Matt 11)? 2. What do we learn from Christ’s hierarchy of greatness? 3. What practical steps can we take to achieve true greatness?
Editor's Notes
- A reed shaken with the wind? This may either refer to John's gesture in preaching, who might wave to and fro as a reed does, when shaken by the wind; and Christ's question is, did ye go out only to see and observe the preacher's gesture, to see him move his body to and fro? Was it not to hear his doctrine, and receive benefit for your souls? And did you not? Wherefore, you ought still to retain a valuable respect for him. Or this may regard their opinion of him; and the sense of the interrogation is, when you first went out to him, did you take him to be an unstable, inconstant man? Like a reed shaken with every wind! If you did, you were mistaken; he was firm and stable in his sentiments and ministry, his preaching was not yea and nay, his doctrine was all of a piece; he stood to it, that he was not the Messiah, but his forerunner; the testimony he bore was always alike, consistent with himself, and he is the same man now he ever was. The Jews use this comparison of a man to a reed, in a sense just the reverse, and make it to signify constancy, and not inconstancy, as well as tenderness, in opposition to roughness, severity, and stubbornness. ``Let a man (say they F23) be always (hnqb Kr) , "tender as a reed", and let him not be hard and stubborn as a cedar: when the four winds of the world go out, the reed goes and comes with them; and when the winds are still, the reed stands in its place.'' So they observe F24, that it is said, that "the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed shaken in the water", ( 1 Kings 14:15 ) which they interpret by way of blessing. ``As a reed (say they) stands in a place of water, its body waves about, and its roots are many; and though all the winds in the world come and blow upon it, they cannot move it out of its place, but it goes and comes with them; and when the winds are still, the reed stands in its place.‘’ John Gill’s exposition of the bible
- Breaking tradition – reed – clothes, actions and words, baptism Brand ambassador – fine clothes Trail blazer – prophet – kingdom of God powering itself Better than Elijah – not only prophecied but encountered personally, wilderness, attire, preaching Past greatness – prophets Present greatness – John Future greatness – apostles and believers
- Is he Shaken by the elements? No.. Seasoned by the elements. Is he a Stage personality? No…Cave personality? Captain caveman Is he a Prophet? More…
- Is he Shaken by the elements? No.. Seasoned by the elements. Is he a Stage personality? No…Cave personality? Captain caveman Is he a Prophet? More…
- Hi attire, royal connections, wilderness life, etc. “Malachi 4:5-6 offers an intriguing prophecy: “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” To this day, Jewish Seders include an empty chair at the table in anticipation that Elijah will return to herald the Messiah in fulfillment of Malachi’s word. According to Malachi 4:6, the reason for Elijah’s return will be to “turn the hearts” of fathers and their children to each other. In other words, the goal would be reconciliation. In the New Testament, Jesus reveals that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy: “All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:13-14). This fulfillment is also mentioned in Mark 1:2-4 and Luke 1:17; 7:27. Specifically related to Malachi 4:5-6 is Matthew 17:10-13: “His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. . . .’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.””
- Hi attire, royal connections, wilderness life, etc. “Malachi 4:5-6 offers an intriguing prophecy: “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” To this day, Jewish Seders include an empty chair at the table in anticipation that Elijah will return to herald the Messiah in fulfillment of Malachi’s word. According to Malachi 4:6, the reason for Elijah’s return will be to “turn the hearts” of fathers and their children to each other. In other words, the goal would be reconciliation. In the New Testament, Jesus reveals that John the Baptist was the fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy: “All the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come” (Matthew 11:13-14). This fulfillment is also mentioned in Mark 1:2-4 and Luke 1:17; 7:27. Specifically related to Malachi 4:5-6 is Matthew 17:10-13: “His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. . . .’ Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist.””
- To be sure, this is one of those verses that scholars debate over and translators agonise over. The problem stems from the word βιάζεται (biazetai) which is usually translated as “suffers violence”. The word “biazetai” means “to use force or violence”. The problem is that Greek verbs have different “voices” – the active, passive and what is called the middle voice (sometimes called the “aorist”). In English we are used to the active and passive voices. So “He will be killed” is a passive form of the verb “kill”. In English, the voice is determined by other parts of speech. In Greek, the voice is determined by the conjugation of the verb, in the same way that the tense in English is conjugated as part of the same word, eg. kill, killed, kills, killing. They’re all one word. So in Greek, you get one word “biazetai” (βιάζεται) and you will need to look at the conjugation to determine the voice, and hence the correct translation. In this case, βιάζεται is the third person, singular, masculine, middle, indicative form. It is masculine because in the Greek, heaven is “masculine” so the verb associated with it is also masculine. It is the third person, for obvious reasons, when referring to the kingdom of heaven. The real problem comes when we get to the voice – the aorist middle voice. Middle voices are neither active nor passive, and is usually reflexive – acting on itself. In English, you might translate this literally as “the kingdom of heaven is violencing itself” – which is how many translators have translated it, more smoothly albeit. That, however, isn’t the only way of translating this. It is also possible to translate the reflexivity as “the kingdom of heaven is operating forcefully” [Rudolf Otto, “The Kingdom of God and the Son of Man”, pg.78], or as “the kingdom of heaven operates through force” [Reza Aslan, “Zealot”, pg.256]. These two translations are, for me, more sensible in the context of the passage. The verse (Mt 11:12) says that since John the Baptist, which isn’t very long before Jesus said those words, the kingdom of heaven has been advancing forcefully, or operating forcefully. (I prefer “spreading powerfully” here.) Some have chosen “suffers violence” in the light of John the Baptist’s beheading by Herod Antipas (or Antipater). If so, the “violent men” are bad people who abuse God’s people. Fortunately for us, we have more than just one gospel. This same verse is reproduced for us http://www.tsebi.com/
- He followed the spirit of the law and the holy spirit and not the letter of the law. Jesus went to him for baptism to lead the way for all of us in the new sacrament. He challenged world leaders to live holy lives (Herod) and lost his life for it… He operated on near zero funding and resources, other than those nature had to offer..he was ready to lose his following so that Jesus could gain more following, to become small, so that Jesus stands tall,…and many others..
- We are cleansed by the blood of Jesus…
- This refers to the level of greatness while living. After death, the prophets scale will go up as they too will be covered by Christ’s blood posthumously.
- Breaking tradition – reed – clothes, actions and words, baptism Brand ambassador – fine clothes Trail blazer – prophet – kingdom of God powering itself Better than Elijah – not only prophecied but encountered personally, wilderness, attire, preaching Past greatness – prophets Present greatness – John Future greatness – apostles and believers
- They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No.“ John 1:21 He is literally not the same prophet who returned and was probably too humble to realize he was the subject of Malachi’s prophecy till Jesus confirmed it. Jesus always makes us out to be far greater than we really are. 2. All about christ 3. Seeing him in everything..