Show Don't Tell: Matthew 11:7-15

Instead of saying "Jesus praised John the Baptist," hear the rhetorical questions. As John's messengers leave, Jesus turns to the crowd: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind?" That's no compliment—a politician bending to pressure. "A man dressed in fine clothes?" Those are in palaces, not prisons. "A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet." John is the messenger sent ahead, preparing the way. "Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist." The greatest human ever. Then the twist: "Yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." John announced the kingdom; even the smallest participant in it surpasses the announcer. "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it."