New Living Translation (©2007)
I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!"
English Standard Version (©2001)
I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”
New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."
International Standard Version (©2008)
I tell you, no one has ever been born who is greater than John. Yet even the least important person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
I can guarantee that of all the people ever born, no one is greater than John. Yet, the least important person in the kingdom of God is greater than John.
King James Bible
For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
American King James Version
For I say to you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
American Standard Version
I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there is none greater than John: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Bible in Basic English
I say to you, Among all the sons of women, not one is greater than John: but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Douay-Rheims Bible
For I say to you: Amongst those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet that John the Baptist. But he that is the lesser in the kingdom of God, is greater than he.
Darby Bible Translation
for I say unto you, Among them that are born of women a greater prophet is no one than John the baptist; but he who is a little one in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
English Revised Version
I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there is none greater than John: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
Webster's Bible Translation
For I say to you, Among those that are born of women, there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God, is greater than he.
Weymouth New Testament
"I tell you that among all of women born there is not one greater than John. Yet one who is of lower rank in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.
World English Bible
"For I tell you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptizer, yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he."
Young's Literal Translation
for I say to you, a greater prophet, among those born of women, than John the Baptist there is not; but the least in the reign of God is greater than he.'
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New Living Translation (©2007) English Standard Version (©2001) New American Standard Bible (©1995) International Standard Version (©2008) GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995) King James Bible American King James Version American Standard Version Bible in Basic English Douay-Rheims Bible Darby Bible Translation English Revised Version Webster's Bible Translation Weymouth New Testament World English Bible Young's Literal Translation .
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!"
For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
"For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother."
because whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother and sister and mother."
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
For whoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
For whoever does the pleasure of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, that is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
for whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.
For whoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
To obey my Father who is in Heaven--that is to be my brother and my sister and my mother."
For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother."
for whoever may do the will of my Father who is in the heavens, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.'
[HERE'S A MUCH MORE BIBLICAL Go tell them that I love them and tell them that Mary has no knowledge of anything and the only One that they must exalt is me, because neither Mary, nor St. Gregory nor any other saint can offer salvation. I am the only One who saves and outside of me – nobody, nobody, nobody- saves!” He repeated it three times – that nobody could save; only He saves. Humanity has been deceived believing in an assumed saint, which is not, but is a demon working through that idol made by the hand of man. But, let me tell you that the Lord wants to give you the best. He wants you to enter the Kingdom of Heaven; to repent and to leave idolatry to the side because idolatry will not save you. He who saves is Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who gave his life for you, for me and for all humanity. The Lord has a great message for humanity. As He wept, He told me, “Please, Daughter, do no be silent; go and tell the truth, go and tell what I have shown you.” I then saw how Mary worshipped the Lord and I could see those women with very beautiful hair, long hair and I told the Lord, “Lord, how pretty the way they wear their hair.” He told me, “Daughter, that which you see is the veil that I have given to a woman.” He added, “Daughter, go and tell women to take care of the veil that I have given them.” . FROM: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2691659/posts?page=6#6
DESCRIPTION OF MARY IN HEAVEN]:
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Prepare to meet your God!
The Kingdoms of Heaven & Hell,
and the Return of CHRIST
by Angelica Zambrano
aka.23 Hours Dead
[section below is the last approximately 20% portion of the whole narrative posted at my blog]:
http://daaixin.wordpress.com/heavenly-visitations-heavenly-visits/
Then he started showing me women. He told me, “Daughter, “that woman that you see there is my servant, Mary Magdalene; my servant, Sara,” and suddenly He told me,” Daughter, she is Mary, Mary, who gave birth to Jesus Christ, Who I am.” “Daughter, I want to tell you that she has no knowledge of anything that exists on Earth. I want to tell you that you must go and tell humanity, tell idol worshippers that hell is real and that idolaters will not inherit my kingdom, but go and tell them that if they repent, they can enter my heavenly dwelling place.
http://endtimerevelations.org/downloads/RaptureTrib-Canela.pdf
Visions of the Rapture, Tribulation, the Holy City, & the Thrones of GOD and satan.
The testimony of an 8 year old girl who encountered Jesus Christ.
(Jannet Balderas Canela)
. . .
It was so beautiful; the presence of the Lord could be felt there, such glory and majesty! The Lord said, “Servant, come here because I will show you other things.” We arrive at a place with many beautiful doors, so many beautiful doors. I said, “Lord what’s behind those doors?” He said,
3 “Behind these doors are My disciples, behind these doors are My apostles, behind these doors are all those who once walked over the Earth praising and glorifying My Name.” -
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
We began to ride again and arrive at a door that was half-opened, and the Lord said,
“Servant come here, come here because behind this door is Mary. Get close and hear what she is saying, so you can go and tell My people, so you can tell the people how Mary is suffering.”
I got closer and saw a young lady, such a beautiful young lady, so beautiful, her face was so pretty. She was looking through a very tiny window. She was kneeling down and looking to the face of the Earth, crying with tremendous pain.
She said, “Why are you worshiping me? Why, if I do not have any power! Why are you worshiping me? I do not do anything! Do not worship me! Do not bow before me! For I cannot save you! The only one that can save, the only one that can redeem you is Jesus, who died for all mankind!
Many people say that I have power, that I can perform miracles, but that is a lie! I do not do anything! Almighty God was satisfied with me and He used my womb so that Jesus could be born and save everyone, but I don’t have any power.
I cannot do anything! Do not bow before me! Do not worship me! For I am not worthy of worship. The only one that is worthy, the only one that you bow before and adore is Jesus! He is the only one that heals and saves!”
I could see how that young lady was in such tremendous pain, full of anguish and crying. She said, “No! No! Do not worship me! Why do you bow before me? I don’t do anything!”
You see dear brothers, it was a tremendous thing to look at this young lady, how she was crying with such pain and sadness.
From: http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/martin_luther_on_mary.htm
Martin Luther, Founder of the Reform, Speaks on Mary
In his sermon of August 15, 1522, the last time Martin Luther preached on the Feast of the Assumption, he stated:
There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we do not know. And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it, we can make of it no article of faith . . . It is enough to know that she lives in Christ.
The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart. (Sermon, September 1, 1522).
[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ . . . She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures. (Sermon, Christmas, 1531).
No woman is like you. You are more than Eve or Sarah, blessed above all nobility, wisdom, and sanctity. (Sermon, Feast of the Visitation, 1537).
One should honor Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The true honor of Mary is the honor of God, the praise of God’s grace . . . Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ . . . Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God. (Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521).
Luther gives the Blessed Virgin the exalted position of “Spiritual Mother” for Christians:
It is the consolation and the superabundant goodness of God, that man is able to exult in such a treasure. Mary is his true Mother .. (Sermon, Christmas, 1522)
Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees . . . If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother. (Sermon, Christmas, 1529).
Martin Luther had the belief of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, Luther’s words follow:
It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary’s soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God’s gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin” (Sermon: “On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God,” 1527).
She is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin- something exceedingly great. For God’s grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil. (Personal {”Little”} Prayer Book, 1522).
Martin Luther on Mary’s Perpetual Virginity
Here are some of the founders of refom commenting on Mary:
Christ, our Savior, was the real and natural fruit of Mary’s virginal womb . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that.
{Luther’s Works, eds. Jaroslav Pelikan (vols. 1-30) & Helmut T. Lehmann (vols. 31-55), St. Louis: Concordia Pub. House (vols. 1-30); Philadelphia: Fortress Press (vols. 31-55), 1955, v.22:23 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }
Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . I am inclined to agree with those who declare that ‘brothers’ really mean ‘cousins’ here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers.
{Pelikan, ibid., v.22:214-15 / Sermons on John, chaps. 1-4 (1539) }
A new lie about me is being circulated. I am supposed to have preached and written that Mary, the mother of God, was not a virgin either before or after the birth of Christ . . .
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:199 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }
Scripture does not say or indicate that she later lost her virginity . . .
When Matthew [1:25] says that Joseph did not know Mary carnally until she had brought forth her son, it does not follow that he knew her subsequently; on the contrary, it means that he never did know her . . . This babble . . . is without justification . . . he has neither noticed nor paid any attention to either Scripture or the common idiom.
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.45:206,212-3 / That Jesus Christ was Born a Jew (1523) }
Editor Jaroslav Pelikan (Lutheran) adds:
Luther . . . does not even consider the possibility that Mary might have had other children than Jesus. This is consistent with his lifelong acceptance of the idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary.
{Pelikan, ibid.,v.22:214-5}
“. . . she is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin. . . . God’s grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil. . . . God is with her, meaning that all she did or left undone is divine and the action of God in her. Moreover, God guarded and protected her from all that might be hurtful to her.”
Ref: Luther’s Works, American edition, vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968
“. . . she is rightly called not only the mother of the man, but also the Mother of God. . . . it is certain that Mary is the Mother of the real and true God.”
Ref: Sermon on John 14. 16: Luther’s Works (St. Louis, ed. Jaroslav, Pelican, Concordia. vol. 24. p. 107)
“Christ our Savior was the real and natural fruit of Mary’s virginal womb. . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that.”
(REf: On the Gospel of St. John: Luther’s Works, vol. 22. p. 23, ed. Jaroslav Pelican, Concordia, 1957)
“Men have crowded all her glory into a single phrase: The Mother of God. No one can say anything greater of her, though he had as many tongues as there are leaves on the trees.” (From the Commentary on the Magnificat.)
Commentaries on Luther
“. . . in the resolutions of the 95 theses Luther rejects every blasphemy against the Virgin, and thinks that one should ask for pardon for any evil said or thought against her.” (Ref: Wm. J. Cole, “Was Luther a Devotee of Mary?” in Marian Studies 1970, p. 116:)
“In Luther’s Explanation of the Magnificat in 1521, he begins and ends with an invocation to Mary, which Wright feels compelled to call ‘surprising’”.
(David F. Wright, Chosen by God: Mary in Evangelical Perspecive, London: Marshall Pickering, 1989, p. 178, Cited from Faith & Reason, Spring 1994, p. 6.)
Martin Luther defends the Eucharist
In 1529 Martin Luther engaged the question of transubstantiation in the famous conference at Marburg with Zwingli and other Swiss theologians; he maintained his view that Christ is present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist.
Other Reformers on Mary’s Perpetual Virginity
John Calvin
Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons, because Christ’s ‘brothers’ are sometimes mentioned.
{Harmony of Matthew, Mark & Luke, sec. 39 (Geneva, 1562), vol. 2 / From Calvin’s Commentaries, tr. William Pringle, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1949, p.215; on Matthew 13:55}
[On Matt 1:25:] The inference he [Helvidius] drew from it was, that Mary remained a virgin no longer than till her first birth, and that afterwards she had other children by her husband . . . No just and well-grounded inference can be drawn from these words . . . as to what took place after the birth of Christ. He is called ‘first-born’; but it is for the sole purpose of informing us that he was born of a virgin . . . What took place afterwards the historian does not inform us . . . No man will obstinately keep up the argument, except from an extreme fondness for disputation.
{Pringle, ibid., vol. I, p. 107}
Under the word ‘brethren’ the Hebrews include all cousins and other relations, whatever may be the degree of affinity.
{Pringle, ibid., vol. I, p. 283 / Commentary on John, (7:3) }
Huldreich Zwingli
He turns, in September 1522, to a lyrical defense of the perpetual virginity of the mother of Christ . . . To deny that Mary remained ‘inviolata’ before, during and after the birth of her Son, was to doubt the omnipotence of God . . . and it was right and profitable to repeat the angelic greeting - not prayer - ‘Hail Mary’ . . . God esteemed Mary above all creatures, including the saints and angels - it was her purity, innocence and invincible faith that mankind must follow. Prayer, however, must be . . . to God alone . . .
‘Fidei expositio,’ the last pamphlet from his pen . . . There is a special insistence upon the perpetual virginity of Mary.
{G. R. Potter, Zwingli, London: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1976, pp.88-9,395 / The Perpetual Virginity of Mary . . ., Sep. 17, 1522}
Zwingli had printed in 1524 a sermon on ‘Mary, ever virgin, mother of God.’
{Thurian, ibid., p.76}
I have never thought, still less taught, or declared publicly, anything concerning the subject of the ever Virgin Mary, Mother of our salvation, which could be considered dishonourable, impious, unworthy or evil . . . I believe with all my heart according to the word of holy gospel that this pure virgin bore for us the Son of God and that she remained, in the birth and after it, a pure and unsullied virgin, for eternity.
{Thurian, ibid., p.76 / same sermon}
Heinrich Bullinger
Bullinger (d. 1575) . . . defends Mary’s perpetual virginity . . . and inveighs against the false Christians who defraud her of her rightful praise: ‘In Mary everything is extraordinary and all the more glorious as it has sprung from pure faith and burning love of God.’ She is ‘the most unique and the noblest member’ of the Christian community . . .
‘The Virgin Mary . . . completely sanctified by the grace and blood of her only Son and abundantly endowed by the gift of the Holy Spirit and preferred to all . . . now lives happily with Christ in heaven and is called and remains ever-Virgin and Mother of God.’
{In Hilda Graef, Mary: A history of Doctrine and Devotion, combined ed. of vols. 1 & 2, London: Sheed & Ward, 1965, vol.2, pp.14-5}
John Wesley (Founder of Methodism)
The Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as when she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin.
{”Letter to a Roman Catholic” / In This Rock, Nov. 1990, p.25}