Bible Text: Luke 7:24-35 (ESV)

7:28 John’s greatness among all the OT prophets, all those who came before the arrival of the kingdom of God, comes from his function as direct forerunner of Jesus the Messiah. But John was not part of the kingdom of God that Jesus was proclaiming and bringing to reality, for he was still part of the old covenant system. Therefore the one who is least in the kingdom of God (one who has believed in Jesus and has become a member of the new covenant kingdom) is actually greater than John, for those who come after John live in the age of fulfillment, following the coming of Jesus. This underscores the qualitative difference between the old age and the dawning of the new kingdom age (cf. note on Matt. 11:11). 4

Luke 7:28 

• Consider the implication of this statement: every Christian in this generation is greater than John the Baptist because of Jesus. Thank God for bringing me the privilege of knowing the fullness of the Gospel. 

Luke 7:31-34

• Consider the words by which the religious leaders rejected John and Jesus: “He has a demon” and “A glutton and a drunkard.”  What were the real reasons they rejected John and later Jesus, about whom John had testified?

• Think about the extreme rhetoric employed by the religious leaders, and their unreasonable fault-finding attitude. What are some ways this pattern persists today? Is this something I need to be careful about?

• Consider the children’s refrain Jesus cites to describe a certain kind of spiritual unresponsiveness. How responsive am I to God’s message or his messengers?

4 Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (pp. 1965–1966). Crossway Bibles.