Jesus asks the same question again with a second wrong answer: did they go out to see a man of comfort and luxury? He answers it Himself: such people "are in kings' courts," not in the wilderness. Gill says that if they went for that, "their labour was in vain, and they had their walk for nothing." Matthew Henry notes that John "was not a man clothed in soft raiment, nor did he live delicately." The question clears away another false picture of John before Jesus gives the true one.

Jesus answers within the same verse: "Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts" (Luke 7:25). Then He asks a third time and gives the true answer: "A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet" (Luke 7:26). John is the messenger sent "before thy face" (Luke 7:27).

John dressed in "raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins," and ate "locusts and wild honey" (Matthew 3:4). Barnes describes "soft raiment" as light, fine clothing worn for ornament, the kind found in royal courts rather than the wilderness.

The mention of kings' courts is pointed. John was in a king's prison, not a king's court, because he had reproved Herod (Luke 3:19-20). Matthew Henry notes that if John had bent like a reed to Herod, he might have been a favorite there.

God chose a messenger who did not live for comfort or for the favor of kings. Barnes describes John as "coarse in exterior; hardy in his character; firm in his virtue," fit to prepare the way for Christ.

Yet Jesus then says something surprising: "he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he" (Luke 7:28). Matthew Henry explains that the least gospel minister, "employed under a more excellent dispensation," holds a more honourable office than John.