But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say to you, and more than a prophet
John sits in prison, shaken by doubt. The Lord has just answered him, and now He turns to the crowd to speak about him. Was it a prophet they went out to see? Jesus answers that question Himself, and His answer sets John above every prophet before him.
John's witness looked its weakest here. That is the moment the Lord chose to praise him in front of the crowd.
The imprisoned forerunner is discouraged for a moment and lets go of his testimony. Meanwhile the Lord Himself bears witness to John before the crowd. What grace! What divine delicacy in choosing such a time to restore John, whose doubts had lowered him as a prophet in everyone's eyes!
The Lord had two audiences here, and He said different things to each.
He has sent a little rebuke to John privately through his disciples. But before the crowds He clothes him with honour.
Before naming what John was, Jesus rules out two things he was not. A reed bending in the wind pictures a man moved by pressure; soft clothing points to comfort and status.
John had not been carried about by every wind of doctrine, giving way to superior power like a reed before the wind. He had not been clothed in soft clothing. No splendid clothes adorned him to catch the eye of the crowd.
The place itself made the point. Nobody seeking applause chooses a desert.
People who want to attract attention do not go to the wilderness. They look for whatever caters to the flesh, such as kings' courts, where they can show themselves off amid the glitter and tinsel. Yet people were drawn to go out into the wilderness — to see what? A prophet? Yes, the Lord says, "and more than a prophet."
Prophets spoke of things still to come. John was himself one of those things. That reversal is the heart of the phrase.
"A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet," because John had a special place and honour given to no other prophet. He was to be the immediate forerunner of the Lord, the herald of the Messiah Himself. John was not only a prophet; the prophets prophesied of John.
Commentators are careful about where this honour comes from. It was not something in John himself.
John had the high honour of being the only servant of God, apart from the blessed Lord Himself, whose ministry was directly and specifically foretold in the Old Testament. This was not because of any greatness in John himself, but because of his nearness to Christ as His forerunner and herald.
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His position also differed from the prophets before him. They spoke inside the nation; John called the nation out to him.
John the Baptist was a prophet. But even as a prophet, his position and ministry went beyond those of the older prophets. They prophesied at Jerusalem, in Israel, or among the captive or returned people. John the Baptist separates himself from the people; he lives in the desert.
The message matched the place. His call to repent rested on a different footing from theirs.
John's appeal rested on ruin that could not be undone, while the appeal of the older prophets always assumed the people could still return to the Lord as a nation. Like them, John the Baptist had certainly preached repentance, but a repentance founded on ruin beyond remedy.
One writer draws a careful line. John's greatness came from the job he was given, not from the man he was.
John's greatness, however, was relative, not absolute — official, not personal. He was a light-bearer (John 5:35), but not the Light itself, though he bore witness to the Light. Still, he stood above all the prophets and messengers of God since the world began, because he alone among them saw his own predictions about the Messiah fulfilled, and as the great forerunner he could say of One standing in front of him: "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Two verses later the Lord says the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. The comparison is about position, not merit.
He certainly is not speaking of any public display of greatness in the eyes of the world, for John had none of that. Nor is He speaking of moral greatness, though John's moral character was no doubt exemplary. He speaks rather of the greatness of the place John was given as the forerunner of the Messiah. This also explains His last statement, that a lesser one in the kingdom of heaven was greater than John. He means the greatness of the position believers are given today, compared with any position that was possible before Christ was presented to Israel in grace.
- Nearness. John's greatness came from one thing — how close he stood to Christ as His immediate forerunner.
- Not a reed. The wilderness proved it. A man after attention goes to kings' courts, not a desert.
- More. Other prophets foretold the Messiah; Malachi foretold John. He alone lived to see his own predictions fulfilled.
- Office, not self. His standing was official rather than personal — a light-bearer, never the Light.
- Surpassed. Position, not merit: the least in the kingdom of heaven now stands greater than John.
this is he of whom it is written, Behold, *I* send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.
John sat in prison with his confidence shaken. He had just sent his disciples to ask whether Jesus was the coming One. The Lord answers the crowd by reaching back to Malachi's prophecy about a messenger sent ahead. That verse says as much about the One announced as about the man who announces Him.
John's weakness did not cost him his honour. Jesus handled correction and praise in different settings.
He sent a little rebuke to John privately through his disciples. But before the crowds He clothes him with honour... "A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet." This was because John had a special place and honour given to no other prophet. He was the immediate forerunner of the Lord, the herald of the Messiah Himself. John was not only a prophet; the prophets prophesied of John.
Many men carried God's word to Israel. Only one man held the role this verse describes.
He was the immediate forerunner of the Messiah. God put singular honour on him. There were many prophets; there was but one John, but one who could be the messenger before His face.
In Malachi, God speaks in the first person, using His own name, Jehovah. He promises to send a messenger ahead of Himself. In this verse the pronoun changes: the messenger goes ahead of Jesus.
Jehovah's word to Malachi is, "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me." The Spirit applies these words to Christ. He says, "Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way." Jesus of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the Old Testament.
The words come from Jesus, not from John.
The Lord Jesus refers to the same passage when He bears witness to His devoted servant. He quotes it in the same way, even at a moment when John's faith seemed to have passed under a cloud. John never applies it to himself.
Two prophets spoke of John, and he and his Master each used a different one.
He was the "prophet of the Most High," and indeed much more than a prophet — the immediate forerunner of the Lord, going before His face to prepare His way. But it is well to see that while he humbled himself in line with the prophecy of Isaiah (John 1:23), the Lord exalted him in line with the prophecy of Malachi.
Jesus quotes only the first part of Malachi 3:1 and stops. He does not carry the rest of the prophecy over with it.
The Lord, in Matt. 11:10, warrants our personal application of Mal. 3:1 to the Baptist, stopping short of the verses that follow, which await His coming again.
Being the forerunner puts John at a boundary line.
John was the "Elijah" of the first coming, and he marked the end of an era. The age of law and prophets ran up to him. From his day onward the kingdom of heaven was open, if there was the "violence" or vigour of faith to get in... Still, the least person inside the kingdom would have a position greater than this great man. He prepared the way but did not live to enter it himself.
- Sent — John's greatness lies in his commission. He is the one messenger the prophets foretold, sent ahead of the King Himself.
- Face — Malachi's "before Me" becomes "before your face" in the Lord's words about John. Commentators read this as Scripture identifying Jesus of the New Testament with the Jehovah of the Old.
- Prepare — his whole task was to make the road ready for Another. John used Isaiah's words to humble himself; the Lord used Malachi's words to honour him.
- Vindicated — Jesus praised John at the very moment John's faith wavered in prison. The rebuke stayed private; the honour was public.
- Surpassed — John closes the old order as the greatest of those who prepared the way. Yet the least person inside the kingdom holds a greater place than he did.
Verily I say to you, that there is not arisen among [the] born of women a greater than John the baptist. But he who is a little one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.