»I solemnly tell you that among all of woman born no greater has ever been raised up than John the Baptist; yet one who is of lower rank in the Kingdom of the Heavens is greater than he.«
But from the time of John the Baptist till now, the Kingdom of the Heavens has been suffering violent assault, and the violent have been seizing it by force.
I indeed am baptizing you in water on a profession of repentance; but He who is coming after me is mightier than I: His sandals I am not worthy to carry for a moment; He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire.
Whoever therefore breaks one of these least commandments and teaches others to break them, will be called the least in the Kingdom of the Heavens; but whoever practises them and teaches them, he will be acknowledged as great in the Kingdom of the Heavens.
For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; no wine or fermented drink shall he ever drink; but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit from the very hour of his birth.
and said to them, »Whoever for my sake receives this little child, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives Him who sent me. For the lowliest among you all–he is the greatest.«
John gave testimony concerning Him and cried aloud, saying, »This is He of whom I said, `He who is coming after me has been put before me,' for He was before me.«
He referred to the Spirit which those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not bestowed as yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
If therefore you have things belonging to this life which need to be decided, is it men who are absolutely nothing in the Church–is it they whom you make your judges?
Among them all of us also formerly passed our lives, governed by the inclinations of our lower natures, indulging the cravings of those natures and of our own thoughts, and were in our original state deserving of anger like all others.
To me who am less than the least of all God's people has this work been graciously entrusted–to proclaim to the Gentiles the Good News of the exhaustless wealth of Christ,
but which has now been plainly revealed through the Appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus. He has put an end to death and has brought Life and Immortality to light through the Good News,
There were Prophets who earnestly inquired about that salvation, and closely searched into it–even those who spoke beforehand of the grace which was to come to you.