Baptismal meditation

Matthew 11:11, 13: “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he . . . . For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.

As we saw this morning, Jesus praises John as the last and the greatest of Israel’s prophets. Of all those who have been born of women, of all those who have served Yahweh and prophesied to Israel from Abel on, John is the greatest. His ministry initiates the kingdom of God, which unleashes the violent conquest of the kingdom, as God moves to triumph over Sin, Death, and Satan.

And his ministry unleashes the violent opposition to the tribulation, a time of lawlessness and false prophecy, as violent men seek to plunder the kingdom. John’s ministry divides history in two, between the period of the prophets and law, and the period of the kingdom.

What makes John greater than any other is his position in relation to Jesus. John is the prophet who brings in the climax of the covenant, and brings in the final stage of Yahweh’s restoration and salvation of Israel and the world.

This explains why Jesus can go on to say that the least in the kingdom is greater than John. It’s not that they achieved more than John. It has to do with one’s position in time. Those who come after John, who are in the kingdom, are greater than John because they are part of the actual restoration, the kingdom that has come in Jesus, and is being realized in the church.

This also explains the significance of this rite, the rite of Christian baptism. John also baptized, but he baptized in anticipation of what was to come. He baptized, but He didn’t baptize anyone into the kingdom, which arrives in its force and power with the coming of Jesus.

Because of where we stand in the history of salvation, because we are on the other side of the great divide that came with John, because we are on the other side of the messianic woes of the tribulation, e are in the kingdom of heaven, and Christian baptism baptizes us into a share of that kingdom, marking us as citizens of that kingdom, sons and daughters of that royal family. By virtue of being after John, we are greater than John.

Your son is among the least in the kingdom. He’s an infant; he has achieved nothing; he hasn’t lived long enough to achieve anything. But he is one of the greater ones in the kingdom of heaven. That is what the rite of Christian baptism means: Though the least in the kingdom, he is greater than John. John was the greatest of those born of women, but Jesus says that His kingdom is made of those who have been born not of flesh but of water and the Spirit.

This is what you must teach him about his baptism. Teach him that being in the kingdom means joining in the forceful conquest that Jesus began. Teach him that being in the kingdom requires him to be loyal to the conquering King. Teach him that because he is in the kingdom he can expect opposition and persecution from the violent men who seek to plunder the kingdom. Above all, remind him again and again of the privilege of belonging to the king, and that belonging to the king he is greater than John.