Luke 7:26-29

7:26 What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more ¹  than a prophet. 7:27 This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, ²  who will prepare your way before you.’ ³  7:28 I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater ⁴  than John. ⁵  Yet the one who is least ⁶  in the kingdom of God ⁷  is greater than he is.” 7:29 (Now ⁸  all the people who heard this, even the tax collectors, ⁹  acknowledged ¹⁰  God’s justice, because they had been baptized ¹¹  with John’s baptism.

Matthew 21:32

21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe. Although ¹²  you saw this, you did not later change your minds ¹³  and believe him.

Mark 1:45

1:45 But as the man ¹⁴  went out he began to announce it publicly and spread the story widely, so that Jesus ¹⁵  was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed outside in remote places. Still ¹⁶  they kept coming ¹⁷  to him from everywhere.

John 11:48

11:48 If we allow him to go on in this way, ¹⁸  everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away our sanctuary ¹⁹  and our nation.”

John 12:19

12:19 Thus the Pharisees ²⁰  said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing. Look, the world has run off after him!”

¹ tn John the Baptist is “more” because he introduces the one (Jesus) who brings the new era. The term is neuter, but may be understood as masculine in this context (BDAG 806 s.v. περισσότερος b.).

² tn Grk “before your face” (an idiom).

³ sn The quotation is primarily from Mal 3:1 with pronouns from Exod 23:20. Here is the forerunner who points the way to the arrival of God’s salvation. His job is to prepare and guide the people, as the cloud did for Israel in the desert.

⁴ sn In the Greek text greater is at the beginning of the clause in the emphatic position. John the Baptist was the greatest man of the old era.

⁵ tc The earliest and best mss read simply ᾿Ιωάννου (Iwannou, “John”) here (Ì⁷⁵ א B L W Ξ Ë¹ 579 pc). Others turn this into “John the Baptist” (K 33 565 al it), “the prophet John the Baptist” (A [D] Θ Ë¹³ Ï lat), or “the prophet John” (Ψ 700 [892 1241] pc). “It appears that προφήτης was inserted by pedantic copyists who wished thereby to exclude Christ from the comparison, while others added τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ, assimilating the text to Mt 11.11” (TCGNT 119).

⁶ sn After John comes a shift of eras. The new era is so great that the lowest member of it (the one who is least in the kingdom of God) is greater than the greatest one of the previous era.

⁷ sn The kingdom of God is a major theme of Jesus’ proclamation. It is a realm in which Jesus rules and to which those who trust him belong. See Luke 6:20; 11:20; 17:20-21. It is not strictly future, though its full manifestation is yet to come. That is why membership in it starts right after John the Baptist.

⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the parenthetical nature of the comment by the author.

⁹ sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

¹⁰ tn Or “vindicated God”; Grk “justified God.” This could be expanded to “vindicated and responded to God.” The point is that God’s goodness and grace as evidenced in the invitation to John was justified and responded to by the group one might least expect, tax collector and sinners. They had more spiritual sensitivity than others. The contrastive response is clear from v. 30.

¹¹ tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle.

¹² tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹³ sn The word translated change your minds is the same verb used in v. 29 (there translated had a change of heart). Jesus is making an obvious comparison here, in which the religious leaders are viewed as the disobedient son.

¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man who was healed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn Grk “and”; καί (kai) often has a mildly contrastive force, as here.

¹⁷ tn The imperfect verb has been translated iteratively.

¹⁸ tn Grk “If we let him do thus.”

¹⁹ tn Or “holy place”; Grk “our place” (a reference to the temple in Jerusalem).

²⁰ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.