None Greater Than John?

[HisChildForever]

In today's Gospel, Jesus says:

 

Amen, I say to you,

among those born of women 
there has been none greater than John the Baptist; 
yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

 

But wouldn't the Blessed Virgin be "greater" than John the Baptist? Although the last sentence doesn't really mesh with the Blessed Virgin, right?

[cappie]

The undercurrent of the entire text is the difference between people's expectations, even John's, and the reality of who Jesus was and the actual character of his ministry. This I would say does not include Mary because of the Immaculate Conception.

 

But what was it that John lacked? What is it that the Christian has that John could never have? The answer is simple and fundamental. John had never seen the Cross. Therefore one thing John could never know—the full revelation of the love of God. The holiness of God he might know; the justice of God he might declare; but the love of God in all its fullness he could never know. We have only to listen to the message of John and the message of Jesus. No one could call John’s message a gospel, good news; it was basically a threat of destruction. It took Jesus and his Cross to show to men the length, breadth, depth and height of the love of God. It is a most amazing thing that it is possible for the humblest Christian to know more about God than the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. The person who has seen the Cross has seen the heart of God in a way that no one who lived before the Cross could ever see it. Indeed the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than any man who went before.