Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not been raised up anyone greater than John the Baptist, but a lesser person in the Kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is. (Matthew 11:11)
How is it that a lesser person in the Kingdom is greater than John? Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught that this is because John will not be in the kingdom at all.
“The primary part of the seed of Abraham turned out to be Jesus, who in 29 C.E. was anointed with holy spirit and became the promised Messiah, or Christ. (Gal. 3:16) Jesus would spend the next three and a half years preaching the good news of the Kingdom to the Jewish nation. After the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus showed that others could hope to share in that Kingdom when he said: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens is the goal toward which men press, and those pressing forward are seizing it.”—Matt. 11:12.
5 Interestingly, immediately before speaking of those who would ‘seize’ the Kingdom of the heavens, Jesus said: “Truly I say to you people, Among those born of women there has not been raised up a greater than John the Baptist; but a person that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.” (Matt. 11:11) Why was that? Because the hope of being part of the Kingdom arrangement was not fully opened up to faithful ones until holy spirit was poured out at Pentecost 33 C.E. By that time, John the Baptist had died.—Acts 2:1-4. (The Watchtower January 15, 2008 pgs. 20-21 pars. 4-5)
Questions From Readers
Should we conclude from Matthew 11:11 that Jesus knew in advance that John the Baptizer would die before Jesus?
Yes, Jesus evidently did know that John would not survive to become an anointed Christian, for Jesus commented: “Truly I say to you people, Among those born of women there has not been raised up a greater than John the Baptist; but a person that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.”—Matthew 11:11.
When the angel Gabriel announced the coming birth of John, he foretold that John would, “with Elijah’s spirit and power, . . . get ready for Jehovah a prepared people.” John was to be a forerunner, preparing a people for Jehovah’s Messiah. But nothing in that divine announcement indicated that John himself would become a disciple of the coming Messiah, nor was there any suggestion to that effect in the prophetic statement made by John’s father, Zechariah.—Luke 1:17, 67-79.
Thus, after baptizing Jesus, John continued to preach and baptize, sticking to his assignment to prepare a people. John miraculously knew that Jesus would provide a baptism with holy spirit, but John did not say that he himself would receive holy spirit, becoming an anointed Christian. (Matthew 3:11) John also recognized that he would go on decreasing, while Jesus would go on increasing.—John 3:22-30.
When Jesus said what we read at Matthew 11:11, John was already imprisoned. Jesus made it known in advance that this imprisoned prophet was lesser than the least one who in the future would serve as a king-priest in the heavens. Yet, Jesus also seems to have known that John was soon to die, passing off the earthly scene before the “new” way to heavenly life was opened. (Hebrews 10:19, 20) That meant that John would not survive until Pentecost 33 C.E., when the anointing of Jesus’ disciples with spirit began. Hence, Jesus’ comment at Matthew 11:11 can be taken as well to be an indication that he knew that John would not go to heaven. (The Watchtower February 15, 1992 pg. 29)
Jesus said that there was no man greater than John. But does this mean that John would not be included in the heavenly Kingdom?
Is that what Jesus said? Let’s review his words:
“but a person that is a lesser one in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he is.”-Matthew 11:11.
The Watchtower assumes this is because John the Baptist did not live to experience the pouring out of holy spirit at Pentecost 33 C.E. But is that the only valid interpretation of Jesus words?
By his words, did Jesus exclude John from the kingdom by comparing him as to greatness with others in the kingdom? How are we to understand “greater”? Consider, something else Jesus said about John:
“You have sent men to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. However, I do not accept the witness from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. That man was a burning and shining lamp, and for a short time you were willing to rejoice greatly in his light. But I have the witness greater than that of John, for the very works that my Father assigned me to accomplish, these works that I am doing, bear witness that the Father sent me. John 5:33-36
How does Jesus have the witness greater than that of John? The Watchtower explains:
“Next, Jesus uses another line of reasoning to confirm his credentials as the Messiah. He points to his own fine works as evidence of God’s backing. “I have the witness greater than that of John,” he says, “for the very works that my Father assigned me to accomplish, the works themselves that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father dispatched me.” (John 5:36) Even Jesus’ enemies could not deny this evidence, which included numerous miracles. “What are we to do, because this man performs many signs?” certain ones later ask. (John 11:47) Some, though, respond favorably and say: “When the Christ arrives, he will not perform more signs than this man has performed, will he?” (John 7:31) Jesus’ listeners were in an excellent position to discern the Father’s qualities in the Son.—John 14:9.” (The Watchtower January 15, 2005 page 11 paragraph 6)
A careful consideration of the context reveals how in a similar way a lesser one in the Kingdom is greater than John in that they too have a witness greater than that of John:
“But John, having heard in jail about the works of the Christ, sent his disciples to ask him: “Are you the Coming One, or are we to expect a different one?” In reply Jesus said to them: “Go and report to John what you are hearing and seeing: The blind are now seeing and the lame are walking, the lepers are being cleansed and the deaf are hearing, the dead are being raised up and the poor are being told the good news. Happy is the one who finds no cause for stumbling in me.” (Matthew 11:2-6)
The very miracles that Jesus was able to perform gave a greater testimony to the fact that he was indeed God’s Son. Just as John lived to see, and even have the privilege of baptizing, the very one the prophets bore witness to, thus proving greater than any former prophet, think of some of the things, even a lesser one of Jesus disciples received that even John did not live to see. According to Matthew 11:3-6 they saw blind persons see again, lame ones walk, lepers cleansed, the deaf hearing, the dead raised. All of these things were testified to by eye witnesses that spread the news everywhere they went confirming that Jesus was indeed the Christ. Yet as important a role in God’s purpose John played he did not see any of these things.
Hence, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that a person that is a lesser one in the kingdom would be able to give a greater witness about Christ than John. But this would not necessitate the dispensationalist view that John would be eliminated from being in the kingdom simply because he was not fortunate enough to live at the right time. It is what John was unable to witness that is at issue, not his Kingdom prospects. Membership in the kingdom for him would have to be by resurrection along with the patriarchs and prophets prior to him. (Matthew 8:11-12; Luke 13:28; Acts 24:15)
The NET Bible suggests another interpretation. The study note on Luke 7:28 states:
The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus’ teaching. The nature of the kingdom of God in the NT and in Jesus’ teaching has long been debated by interpreters and scholars, with discussion primarily centering around the nature of the kingdom (earthly, heavenly, or both) and the kingdom’s arrival (present, future, or both). An additional major issue concerns the relationship between the kingdom of God and the person and work of Jesus himself. [See Luke 6:20; Luke 11:20; Luke 17:20-21.] Here the kingdom of God is not viewed as strictly future, though its full manifestation is yet to come. That is why membership in it starts right after John the Baptist.
This would mean that instead of some future ruling authority over the earth, what Jesus had in mind by kingdom of God was simply the gathering of his disciples on earth.
On being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God was coming, he answered them: “The Kingdom of God is not coming with striking observableness; nor will people say, ‘See here!’ or, ‘There!’ For look! the Kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20, 21)
Therefore, just as the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be in the conclusion of the system of things. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will collect out from his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and people who practice lawlessness, (Matthew 13:40, 41)
Since John did not become a disciple, in this way, he did not become a member of the kingdom of God. But as previously mentioned this does not rule out his inheriting the kingdom in the future by means of the resurrection.