Hi Pastor John
In Matthew 11:11, it says, “I tell you truly, among those born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the baptizer; yet, he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater that he.” What does this mean: “He who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he”?
Thank you!
God Bless,
Michelle W
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Hi Michelle.
Jesus was saying that anyone who receives the holy ghost is greater than John the baptist because when a person receives the holy ghost, he enters the kingdom of heaven and becomes a born-again child of God. The “kingdom of heaven” in Matthew is the same thing as the “kingdom of God” in other New Testament books. Paul said, “the kingdom of God is … righteousness, peace, and joy in the holy ghost” (Rom. 14:17). Without the holy ghost, as Paul said in Romans 8, a person does not belong to God; that is, without the holy ghost, a person is not in the kingdom of God (the “kingdom of heaven”). But with the holy ghost, a person is in God’s kingdom and is greater than John. John was not born again; he was not in God’s kingdom because did not have the holy ghost; he was not “born again. Nobody was born again, not even the greatest Old Testament men and women of God, until the day of Pentecost. And to be born again is greater than anything that anyone experienced before the Spirit came.
Pastor John
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I thought John received the holy Ghost in his mothers womb.
God Bless,
Michelle W
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Before God gave His Spirit to men, in Acts 2, various phrases were used by men and women of God to describe their experience with the Lord. For example, Micah said, “Surely, I am full of the Spirit and power”, and there are other such phrases found in the Old Testament. When John was in his mother Elizabeth’s womb, we are told that he was “filled with the holy spirit”, but that was only in an old testament sense. The Spirit was not yet given to men in a new testament sense “because Jesus was not yet gloried” (Jn. 7). You will remember that Jesus told his disciples that “If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come.” What Jesus did had to precede men receiving the holy ghost so that they were born again.
So, no, John did not receive the Spirit as Jesus’ disciples did on the day of Pentecost and as believers have since that day. He could be touched by it, overwhelmed by it, and anointed by it, but he could not have received it into his heart because Jesus had not yet paid the price for men to have the Spirit that way.
Thanks for the question.
Pastor John