It’s not that Jesus never uses superlatives. He just doesn’t use them the way we do.
We love superlatives. From high-school yearbook titles (Most Likely to Succeed, Best Dressed, etc.), to award shows, political campaigns, even church culture, we’re drawn to crown the best and sort the rest. We measure worth by rankings.
Jesus does something different. When the crowds go out to hear John the Baptist, he calls John “more than a prophet” and “the greatest born of women.” But then he says something that upends the whole contest: “Yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
That’s not Jesus belittling John. It’s Jesus redefining greatness. Entry into God’s kingdom isn’t about résumé or rank; it’s about proximity to the new thing God is doing in Christ. Even the least who receive God’s mercy stand in a place of privilege John could only point toward.
The rest of the passage shows what that looks like. At Simon the Pharisee’s dinner table, two people sit near Jesus: a respected religious leader and a woman with a reputation for sin. By every cultural measure, Simon is “greater.” Yet it’s the woman who is broken, weeping, and uninvited whose faith and love draw Jesus’ praise.
Jesus’ superlatives aren’t about competition but about inclusion. He doesn’t crown the best; he lifts the lowly and unmasks our false hierarchies. His question isn’t “Who’s on top?” but “Who’s responding to mercy?”
That is very good news for all of us. In a world obsessed with being first, Jesus blesses those who simply come near in faith, even if the world calls them the least.
Luke 7:24-50
After John’s messengers were gone, Jesus spoke to the crowds about John. “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A stalk blowing in the wind? What did you go out to see? A man dressed up in refined clothes? Look, those who dress in fashionable clothes and live in luxury are in royal palaces. What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. He is the one of whom it’s written: Look, I’m sending my messenger before you, who will prepare your way before you. I tell you that no greater human being has ever been born than John. Yet whoever is least in God’s kingdom is greater than he.” Everyone who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged God’s justice because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and legal experts rejected God’s will for themselves because they hadn’t been baptized by John.
“To what will I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace calling out to each other, ‘We played the flute for you and you didn’t dance. We sang a funeral song and you didn’t cry.’ John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ Yet the Human One came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunk, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved to be right by all her descendants.”
One of the Pharisees invited Jesus to eat with him. After he entered the Pharisee’s home, he took his place at the table. Meanwhile, a woman from the city, a sinner, discovered that Jesus was dining in the Pharisee’s house. She brought perfumed oil in a vase made of alabaster. Standing behind him at his feet and crying, she began to wet his feet with her tears. She wiped them with her hair, kissed them, and poured the oil on them. When the Pharisee who had invited Jesus saw what was happening, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. He would know that she is a sinner.
Jesus replied, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
“Teacher, speak,” he said.
“A certain lender had two debtors. One owed enough money to pay five hundred people for a day’s work. The other owed enough money for fifty. When they couldn’t pay, the lender forgave the debts of them both. Which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the largest debt canceled.”
Jesus said, “You have judged correctly.”
Jesus turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I entered your home, you didn’t give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing my feet since I came in. You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but she has poured perfumed oil on my feet. This is why I tell you that her many sins have been forgiven; so she has shown great love. The one who is forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The other table guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this person that even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Psalm
When the righteous cry out, the Lord listens; he delivers them from all their troubles.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he saves those whose spirits are crushed.
The righteous have many problems, but the Lord delivers them from every one.
He protects all their bones; not even one will be broken. But just one problem will kill the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be held responsible. The Lord saves his servants’ lives; all those who take refuge in him won’t be held responsible for anything.
Prayer
God,
Make me a recipient of your mercy. That is, mark me by your mercy in a world full of ego-quests.
By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.