Children in the Market - Matt 11:7-19; Luke 7:24-35

The people who surrounded Jesus might have been surprised by the questions ask by John the Baptist’s disciples, as surely many of them began as disciples John. They might have asked themselves if John had begun to doubt Jesus, and if John had begun to doubt, then maybe they should reconsider as well. For whatever reason, because he perceived their thoughts, because he recognized how it might have sounded to the rest of the crowd, or just because he loved and respected John so much, Jesus takes a second to reflect on John and his strength. What I find interesting is that John’s questions didn’t cast any doubt on himself as unauthentic, but possibly only making some question Jesus. Jesus didn’t respond by talking about how amazing he himself is, he answered their question by performing miracles and by praising John in from of others. There was no self aggrandizement, there was no lecture, or accusations of doubt, there was only the power of God and uplifting of another person’s character.

 

The group surrounding Jesus indeed must have started out as disciples of John because the Savior asks what they went to see when they searched out John in the wilderness, “a reed shaken with the wind?... A man clothed in soft raiment?... A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.” John is no stranger to hardship, John’s testimony was not born out of a comfortable relationship, Jesus is telling these people that John did not shirk his testimony because of some time spent in prison. He teaches that John is the fulfillment of the prophecy, “Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.” JTC comments, “After the envoys had departed, Jesus addressed Himself to the people who had witnessed the interview. He would not have them underrate the importance of the Baptist’s service… they had found him to be no reed, shaken by the wind, but a firm and unbending oak… What stronger testimony of the Baptist’s integrity is needed? Other prophets had told of the Messiah’s coming, but John had seen him, had baptized him, and had been to Jesus as a body servant to his mater.”

 

Jesus makes a very difficult to understand statement that uses words and phrases that seem contradictory. He says, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heave is greater than he.” The first sentence seems to be pretty straight forward, no person is greater than John the Baptist. But wait, isn’t Jesus greater than John the Baptist? Of course he is, John’s great and all, but Jesus is our Savior. But Jesus doesn’t come out and say, “No one is greater than John… No one except me.” That would be kind of off putting to those who genuinely love John and might still be questioning their allegiance to the Savior. Jesus does of course have to make that distinction, but he does so in a way that acknowledges his own superiority without being a blowhard about it. That’s where the second sentence comes in. Yes, Jesus is greater than John the Baptist, but he is not cocky about it. I’m going to replace the word “notwithstanding” with “however” because that makes more sense to me, and because they mean similar things in this instance. Jesus says, “Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: however, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

 

This statement begs the question, who is the least in the kingdom. Surely with the Pharisees and scribes standing around, they would cast one of the lowest members of their Jewish society as the “least in the kingdom.” But Jesus puts himself in that role, thus reminding everyone of his superiority to John, but also doing so in a way that emitted humility. Another perspective is offered by the IM which says, “Jesus Christ referred to Himself when he spoke of ‘he that is least in the kingdom of God,’ as the Prophet Joseph Smith explained: ‘Whom did Jesus have reference to as being the least? Jesus was looked upon as having the least claim in God’s kingdom, and (seemingly) was least entitled to their credulity as a prophet; as though He had said- ‘He that is considered the least among you is greater than John- that is I myself.’”  

 

Jesus continues to explain the difficulty of teaching some of the people these concepts saying, “Whereunto then shall I like the men of this generation? And to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! But wisdom is justified of all her children.” This makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. The IM quotes Elder Bruce R. McConkie as “paraphrasing these verse: ‘What illustration can I choose to show how petty, peevish, and insincere are you unbelieving Jews? You are like fickle children playing games; when you hold a mock wedding, your playmates refuse to dance; when you change the game to a funeral procession, your playmates refuse to mourn. In like manner you are only playing at religion. As cross and capricious children you reject John because he came with the strictness of the Nazarites, and ye reject me because I display the warm human demeanor that makes for pleasant social intercourse.’”

 

Jesus is commenting on the fact that they rejected all of the ways that the gospel has come to them, both ends of the spectrum. John’s strict adherence to the law would rival that of the Pharisees, but they rejected that. Jesus’ compassion and teaching was the embodiment of the law and the prophets in the scriptures that they confessed to hold so dear, and yet they rejected him as well. He’s saying that they are playing with eternity, treating their religion with the same regard they give to toys. He’s warning them about not living the religion that they profess.