Matthew 11v11

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 heaven is greater than he.

In this mention of John the Baptist, Jesus shows how great someone is when in the kingdom of heaven. The contrast is between those born of women (and men) and those born (again) of God.

Implied by this statement of Jesus’ are some groups of people not as great than John. The list would include people such as the gentiles (non-Jews), descendants of Abraham (Jews), the priest class and the current High Priest, descendants of David, the other prophets etc. None of the people on this list are greater than John. Notice also that list would not include Adam and Eve, who before ‘the fall’ had a very special relationship with God that we even now can only dream of.

Jesus called John “more than a prophet” in 11v9 as He discussed John and his ministry. Those that are citizens of heaven however (ie the Christian, see Ephesians 2v6, John 1v51, Matthew 5v3, Mark 10v21, Luke 6v23 etc) are greater even than John the Baptist. Thus we as Christians are called to be greater than John the Baptist in at least the following areas that we know about John:

Exceedingly more than a prophet.
Bring more than a message of repentance and remission of sins. (for an explanation of the word “remission”, refer to section {18 })
Convict and minister to more than just the local counties / country.
Receive more of the Holy Spirit than started John’s ministry.
Have more direct communication with God.

This is a big challenge, and it applies to each and every Christian. Thank God that we have the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us along the way.