In the gospel reading today, Jesus was praising John the Baptist, saying that he was the greatest among men born of women. Jesus did not explain why John the Baptist was the greatest. According to the gospel of Luke, when Mary greeted Elizabeth, John the Baptist leapt in his mother's womb and his mother was filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:41). That can be a probable explanation.
Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (Matthew 11:11).
Therefore, those in the kingdom of heaven were not born of women because all of them are greater than John the Baptist. How can that be? If they were not born of women, where did they come from?
Well, people are not born into the kingdom of heaven. That is to say, the kingdom of heaven is not organized along blood kinship. Ordinary people usually think along such line. Therefore, they will be easily attracted, or more accurately, cheated by books claiming to uncover the wife of Jesus, their children and descendants etc. These are sensational topics, but the kingdom of heaven would have none of these. Even if there were children left on earth by Jesus, they would not have any advantage in gaining entry into the kingdom of heaven.
Well then, how is the kingdom organized? By a living faith.
Later in the gospel, Jesus had a chance to clarify his point. In the kingdom of heaven, we are brothers and sisters with Jesus. People gain entry into this community, not through kinship, but through faith and action.
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matthew 12:50; Mark 3:35; Luke 8:21).
Jesus spoke highly of this community of faithful, saying that they were greater than John the Baptist.
The problem is: Did not John the Baptist do God's will? Then, John the Baptist should also be a member of the kingdom of heaven, albeit the least one. I do not envy his position. In the kingdom of heaven, logic is often anti-logic.
He who is greatest among you shall be your servant (Matthew 23:11)
Therefore, though John the Baptist is the least in the kingdom of heaven, he is indeed one of the greatest there.
Today, we came across an ambiguous verse in Matthew 11. Guess what it is. Here you are:
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force (Matthew 11:12 RSV).
由洗者若翰的日子直到如今，天國是以猛力奪取的，以猛力奪取的人，就攫取了它。【瑪11：12，思高】
The two translations are two different interpretations of the Greek original.
ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ἕως ἄρτι ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βιάζεται, καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν.
The Greek words in red are ambiguous. They can be interpreted in both a positive and a negative way. RSV took the negative rendering while 思高 chose a positive rendering.
RSV suggests that the kingdom of heaven, i.e. the faithful community, had been suffering persecution. This was a description of the living situation of the Matthew community.
思高 suggests that we must put in great effort in order to gain entry into the kingdom of heaven. Life, especially eternal life, does not come easily.
My sweet Lord, great or small we are, we will be contented when we are able to sing praises to You in Your glorious kingdom. Amen.
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