Unlike Elijah and unlike the disciples, John had no signs (compare Jn 10:41), but what made him the greatest prophet until that point, even a new Elijah (see comment on Mt 3:4), was that he had the honor of introducing Jesus himself (11:9-10, 13-14). The greatness of John thus implies something about the greatness of Jesus. Because the text Jesus cites to prove his case refers to preparing God's way (Mal 3:1), and Jewish tradition usually viewed Elijah as preparing God's rather than the Messiah's way (compare Edgar 1958:48; Manson 1979:69), Jesus dramatically implies his own divine status here (Gundry 1975:214), although his disciples probably would not have dared assume he meant that.

Jewish people usually viewed the era of the prophets as ending with Malachi (see Keener 1991b:77-91); Jesus continues it until John, who becomes the pivotal first voice of the new order when those greater than the prophets (Mt 5:12; 10:41; 13:17; 23:34) will speak. But Jesus' concern here is hardly neat historical divisions to aid students memorizing time lines; instead he may allude to the Jewish recognition that the Law and the Prophets pointed to the coming messianic era (b. Berakot 34b; Sanhedrin 99a; compare Acts 3:24), which had now confronted them in his own ministry (12:28).

John's role was great because of the greatness of the One he introduced. If disciples of the kingdom have a greater role than John, it is not because we are more devout than he was; it is because we proclaim a fuller message of the kingdom than John could, for we can look back and understand what John did not (see above on 11:2-3): the kingdom is not only future but was present in Jesus (v. 12). Because such greatness is not dependent on us but on the roles God has assigned us, we must do his will humbly, seeking his honor alone. The least in the kingdom is greater than John in the sense that anyone in the kingdom has a fuller message than those who spoke beforehand. In another sense of the phrase, the least in the kingdom may also be the greatest in the kingdom, because God will evaluate us according to our faithfulness in deferring all honor to him rather than to ourselves (18:1-4).