PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 11

What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?

“Whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than (John the Baptist).” (Matthew 11:11)
This paragraph makes more sense when read in light of Malachi 3-4.
There Malachi tells of a prophet to appear before the Lord arrives.
That messenger will be like Elijah (Malachi 3:1, 4:5), the greatest of prophets.
He will prepare the way for the kingdom of God and the new covenant.
John is the transition between the old covenant and the new (Matthew 11:13).
God’s family after the messiah comes will be greater than old covenant prophets.
Not greater in worth, but greater in grace, for they will be purified and restored.
Malachi predicts a day of fire (Malachi 4:1-3), a time of purifying.
Not actual fire, but the purifying fire of truth and judgment – how Jesus spoke.
His words burned those who rejected him, but healed those who revered him (Malachi 4:2).
Through Jesus’s penetrating words, we are being refined and restored (Malachi 3:3-4).
As Jesus followers, we welcome Jesus’s refining words, knowing he is making us great!
He exposes the ways we do not love, and strengthens the ways that we do!
How open are you to being refined by Jesus’s words; how is Jesus refining you?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, in order to be healing there needs to be convicting. May the fire of your words penetrate the shadows of my heart, and cause the “sun of righteousness to rise with healing” in me!