Read: Luke 7:24-28
What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. (Luke 7:26 ESV)
Jesus emphatically declared his cousin John the Baptizer to be the greatest man ever born of a woman. That's pretty high praise coming from the highest of sources. And Jesus let the crowds know it. He reminded those listening of John's importance.
As a prophet John was God's voice in his day. In fact, he was the fulfillment of a prophecy from Isaiah which specifically talked about a voice preparing the way for The Lord. John was important not just because he was that prophet, and not just because he fulfilled prophecy, but because he stood against religious corruption.
Jesus himself was regularly called a prophet, sometimes he was even, like John, mistaken for a resurrected Old Testament prophet. Actually, they were both far more than prophets. John was the transitional figure between the Old and New Covenant. He preached the message of the soon coming Messiah. Jesus is the Messiah.
It is incredibly reassuring to know that Jesus was not just a man. He was not just a prophet. John was the greatest man that ever lived. Jesus was the only God-man that ever lived.