Cheryl Schatz

I added this to the article to add Luke 7:29 as an added support: God’s Justice After Jesus said His hard saying that the least “in the kingdom” (present tense) is greater than John, verse 29 shows the reaction of the crowd that had just witnessed the public declaration of John’s astonishing doubt. The public words of doubt coming after John had experienced a successful public life as a witness to Jesus as the Messiah. Luke 7:29 (NASB) When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they acknowledged God’s justice, having been baptized with the baptism of John. The fact that Luke includes the “tax collectors” as part of the crowd of people is quite telling as it was the tax collectors and prostitutes who would be in the kingdom ahead of the religious leaders. Jesus gave a parable to show that what one says is not as important as what one does when it comes to doing the will of the Father: Matthew 21:28–31 (NASB) 28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 “The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. The tax collectors were in the kingdom because of what they did with what they heard. They listened to the message of God through John and they repented, believed and were baptized. In contrast the Pharisees who looked outwardly righteous and had all the right “words” did not believe. Matthew 21:32 (NASB) “For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him. John the Baptist had to be judged by the same standard. Even though he had the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb, he too needed to repent, believe and be baptized. The tax collectors went through the baptism of repentance, but John the Baptist did not. The tax collectors were following Jesus and putting their faith in Him, but John did not follow Jesus. The words he brought and God’s message that he spoke were not good enough for his own salvation. He had to act on what he spoke in order to do the will of the Father. So after Jesus’ hard saying, the tax collectors acknowledged God’s justice. They had done the will of the Father and had repented and believed. They were following Jesus. The actions of John that resulted in the words of unbelief showed that John had not followed through with the will of the Father. He had not personally taken the step to be a disciple of Jesus. He was not exempt from needing forgiveness just because he was God’s messenger. Although John was used by God to bring repentance to the nation of Israel, he himself did not do the will of the Father to repent and be a disciple of Jesus for his own salvation. John’s public ministry as a witness for Jesus ended with a public statement of unbelief.