When the messengers of John had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. "What did you go out to the desert to see– a reed swayed by the wind?…
I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." …(Lk 7:24-30)
Jesus had just sent back the disciples of John and now he is answering the crowd. Here Jesus is trying to speak to the crowd about John and who he was. He asked them questions and made them reflect for themselves. One does not go to the desert looking for kings and people who were wearing the latest fashions. If so the desert is not the place for such.
Desert for the people of Israel is the place of God experience. It is the place where God made himself available to the people for forty years and every moment of their sojourn in the wilderness. Prophets were the persons who challenged the people with the knowledge of God and experience of God. So people went to the desert looking for prophets.
Since Jesus was a different sort of a messiah so John also is a different sort of a prophet. He is not just one prophet among many. John is the one who is spoken of by Malachi, the one whose task is to prepare the way for the coming Lord. Anyone who belonged to the movement of Jesus (though least he may be) yet he is greater than the greatest.
