Greater

Matthew 11:2-11:

When John the Baptist heard in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.” As they were going off, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine clothing? Those who wear fine clothing are in royal palaces. Then why did you go out?  To see a prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written: Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you. Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

Blog:

It’s hard for a lot of us to understand the “greatness” of Who Jesus Christ really is.  Richard Dawkins (an infamous atheist) once said that even if a ninety-foot tall Jesus showed-up, he still wouldn’t believe in Him.  For some of us, the religion of not-believing in Jesus “no matter what” is “greater” than the millions of examples of direct evidence of Jesus, the God of creation, etc.  That’s Jesus’ point in the Gospel when Saint John the Baptist’s disciples show-up to question Jesus on Who He really is.  Saint Paul borrows from this Gospel when he says in his letter to the Romans that anyone who doesn’t Believe in Jesus is “without excuse” (see Romans 2:1).  It is so obvious to anyone who is really seeking to find Jesus – or, alternatively, seeking to find Something or Someone “greater” = that He exists.  Yet, so many of us miss this and struggle with the internal-longing that nags at all of us for the Love of God that we think that we left behind when we entered this world.  At times, we can distract ourselves from Him by not reading our Bibles, seeing the evidence (e.g. near-death 1^st hand accounts of meeting Jesus and the incredible creation evidence found in science, math, music, languages, and so on) etc.  So, this Christmas (Advent) Season, let us do our best to rest in Someone “greater” assured that He has already paid the penalty for our sin debts by entering this world and dying on the Cross.  Remember, per Jesus, the least in Heaven is “greater”, too.