The verse reads as follows: "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." Our Lord could not have meant that they were greater in the mission that was given them, or greater in character, because the verse itself tells us that "among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater." We could hardly understand this as having reference to all the various qualities that make up the man, but no one had ever been given a greater mission for God than had John. He was the immediate herald of our Lord's coming, but he died without seeing accomplished what he predicted. His whole life seemingly was one of sorrow and disappointment. He himself expressed the truth of it and character of it when he said of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease." The very message which called multitudes from all Judea and all the country round about to hear him must grow less,—nay, must be silenced completely in the greater message, in the greater power and glory of the life of Christ. His mission was great. His privileges, however, were of the very least. He even, when in the prison at Machærus, doubted his very message, or rather, doubted as to whether Jesus was the One who fulfilled it or not. It would seem, therefore, that our Lord's words had reference to point of privilege rather than that of character or greatness of mission. "Yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." That is, in the light and glory and illumination that came through Christ, but which John the Baptist did not himself enjoy. "Desire of Ages," page 220, has an excellent comment upon this: "Aside from the joy that John found in his mission, his life had been one of sorrow. . . . His was a lonely lot. And he was not permitted to see the result of his own labors. It was not his privilege to be with Christ, and witness the manifestation of divine power attending the greater light. It was not for him to see the blind restored to sight, the sick healed, and the dead raised to life. He did not behold the light that shone through every word of Christ, shedding glory upon the promises of prophecy. The least disciple who saw Christ's mighty works and heard His words was in this sense more highly privileged than John the Baptist, and therefore is said to have been greater than he."