Luke 7:27-28 meaning

The parallel Gospel account for Luke 7:27-28 is found in Matthew 11:10-11.

After questioning the crowd and stirring up their Messianic hopes (Luke 7:24-26), Jesus continued addressing the crowds regarding John the Baptizer's prophetic role and His own identity as the Messiah. This passage represents one of the first times Jesus begins to reveal who He is to the people through explanation and teaching. 

He said: This is the one about whom it is written (v 27a).

The expression: This is the one, refers to John the Baptizer. The clause: about whom it is written, refers to the third chapter of Malachi. 

In saying these things, Jesus was illustrating how John was the fulfillment of Messianic prophecy. Jesus then cites the first verse of that passage, explaining John’s role as the forerunner to the Messiah:

This is the one about whom it is written,

‘Behold, I [God] send My messenger [John] ahead of You [Christ],
Who will prepare Your way before You" (v 27). 

However, when we compare Luke’s quote of Jesus’s words to the writings of Malachi, we observe a slight modification of Malachi’s original language:

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me"
(Malachi 3:1).

The main difference is seen at the end of each statement where Jesus says You. This differs from Malachi’s use of the term “Me.” What should we make of this distinction? The Old Testament quote seems to say, “I [God] am sending a messenger who will prepare a way for Me [God],” whereas Jesus says, “I [God] am sending a messenger who will prepare a way for You [the Christ].” It appears Jesus is interpreting the passage. Clearly, Jesus is stating that John is the messenger fulfilling this prophecy from Malachi 3:1. This raises the question: “Who, then, is the Christ?”

Jesus did not recite the rest of Malachi 3, but He would not need to as His Jewish audience would be able to complete the reference from memory after hearing the first line. The omitted next lines of Malachi describe the Messiah’s fiery judgment:

“‘Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness.”
(Malachi 3:1-3)

By leaving out the latter part of Malachi’s prophecy, Jesus was hinting at a great mystery just beginning to be revealed: that the Christ will come to earth in two advents. The first advent brings Jesus in the role of a servant. The second advent describes Him coming as a king. In the first coming of Christ, He did not come to judge the world (John 3:17), but He will judge the world when He returns (Revelation 19:11).

By referencing Malachi 3:1 in relation to John the Baptizer, Jesus was clearly identifying John as the messenger sent ahead of the Messiah. If John is this messenger, and John’s disciples asked Jesus, “Are you the Expected One [the Messiah]?” and Jesus responded, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard,” (Luke 7:20-22) then it follows that Jesus is indicating that He is the Messiah for whom John prepared the way. 

However, Jesus did not make this claim explicitly. This revelation was clear enough for those who were open to recognizing Jesus as the Christ, yet it remained obscure to those who were unwilling to see. This seems to be a pattern that God follows throughout human history (Romans 1:19-20).

In addition to the Malachi prophecy, Jesus, now speaking from His own authority, continued endorsing John, emphasizing the significance of his ministry. 

I say to you, Jesus declares, among those born of women there is no one greater than John! (v 28a). 

No human being is greater than John the Baptizer. In what sense was John so great? He was not powerful nor was he rich, but John had the immense privilege and role of preparing the way for the Divine King and coming Messiah. Jesus did not claim John was the “greatest.” He only stated that among those born of women there is no one greater than John. Not even David, Moses, or Abraham had a role of greater honor in human history.

John the Baptizer was the forerunner to the Messiah, so it stands that the Messiah, Jesus, should be greater than John. Similarly, the Bridegroom is greater than the Bridegroom’s best man. How then can Jesus say that He is not greater than John the Baptizer? If we examine Jesus’s words in the parallel report from Matthew, Matthew records Jesus as saying something slightly different. Instead of no one is greater as recorded in Luke, Jesus is reported to have said: “…there has not arisen anyone greater” (Matthew 11:11).

This expression as recorded by Matthew may suggest to his Jewish audience that because Jesus’s identity as Messiah had not yet been fully revealed, perhaps He had not yet arisen to surpass John’s greatness. Luke, who was writing to a Gentile audience, appears to have simplified Jesus’s expression from “there has not arisen anyone greater” (Matthew 11:11) to no one is greater than John (v 28a).

Even though no one is greater than John, Jesus paradoxically reveals within the same breath how: he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he (v 28b). 

The key term here is kingdom of God. Jesus often speaks of the kingdom, and it is a major theme in Luke’s gospel. Jesus instructs His disciples: “seek His kingdom” (Luke 12:31) and “proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60). Jesus’s teachings about the kingdom of God can refer to either present or future aspects, depending on the context.

The kingdom of God can refer to the future where Christ’s reign will be fully visible throughout the earth. Biblical examples emphasizing the future aspect of the kingdom include:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”
(Matthew 7:21)

“for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.”
(Luke 22:18)

Another future aspect of the kingdom is illustrated in the “Parable of the Nobleman” (Luke 19:12-27). Jesus told this parable because the people incorrectly “supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately” (Luke 19:11).

On the other hand, the kingdom can also speak of Christ’s present Lordship within the hearts of His followers today. The present aspect of the kingdom can be seen in the following verses from Matthew’s Gospel:

“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
(Matthew 4:17)

“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
(Matthew 12:28)

“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
(Matthew 16:28)

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”
(Matthew 23:13)

There are also times where both the present and future aspects of the kingdom can be implied:

“…Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you.”
(Matthew 21:31)

In this comparison about the greatness of John the Baptizer being surpassed by the least in the kingdom of God, it seems Jesus is referring to His future and fully visible kingdom. Jesus had just stated that among those born of women there is no greater than John. If anyone were currently serving in the kingdom, John the Baptizer would certainly be included. 

So how could John be the greatest, yet the least in the kingdom be greater than he, unless Jesus is speaking of the future kingdom and comparing the least in it then with John now? What Jesus likely means is that, although John is great and significant in his life and present age, even the least in the future and fully visible kingdom of God will be greater and will accomplish greater things than John is doing now.

Matthew’s Gospel gives an extended account of Jesus’s thoughts regarding John the Baptist and the kingdom. 

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
(Matthew 11:12-15)

Jesus makes two statements in this passage, before calling on His listeners to pay close attention.

The first statement was: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force” (Matthew 11:12).

Jesus could be referring to John’s persecution by the religious establishment and his imprisonment by the Herodians. 

Jesus also could be speaking metaphorically about a kind of violence that is required to enter the kingdom of God. It requires a spiritual resistance against temptation to overcome sin. John the Baptist rejected the prestige of this world and sought harmony (righteousness) with God. If this is what Jesus meant, then such spiritual violence against the schemes of the devil is commendable.

The second statement was: “For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come (Matthew 11:13-14).

By this Jesus could be referring to the Old Testament as a whole, or He could be alluding to those prophecies that were specific to John as the forerunner of the Messiah. 

Elijah was a great prophet of God. His life and ministry is told in 1 Kings 17-19, 1 Kings 21:17-29 and 2 Kings 1:1 - 2:14.

The Old Testament’s final prophecy concerns Elijah and his role as preceding the Messiah.

"Remember the Law of Moses My servant, the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and strike the land with complete destruction."
(Malachi 4:4-6)

This prophecy encouraged many Jews to expect and look for Elijah as a sign that God's kingdom and Messiah were coming soon.

In Matthew’s extended account, Jesus said that John himself is Elijah, “if you are willing to accept it” (i.e. in a figurative, not literal sense). In other words, John the Baptist was fulfilling the prophetic Elijah-esque role as the Messianic forerunner. 

For those that had “ears to hear” (Matthew 11:15), Jesus was not only revealing something about John’s prophetic identity, He was more profoundly revealing His own Messianic identity.  

This extended teaching in Matthew helped reach his Jewish audience who was looking for prophetic signs of the Messiah’s coming. The reason Luke omits this teaching is most likely because he was writing to Gentiles and trying to demonstrate how Jesus was the perfect man, and that the path to the blessed life was by believing in Him and following His teachings.