THE KINGDOM OF GOD – THE VIOLENT TAKE IT BY FORCE Matthew 11:12 is a verse of scripture whose meaning has eluded many a Christian. It says, From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. What makes this verse so easy to misinterpret? It is primarily as a result of the last part of the verse that says, … the violent take it by force. Every Christian understands that the Kingdom of God and all its benefits come from God. Therefore, when Matthew 11:12 says, .. the violent take it by force, it gives the impression that it requires tenacity and aggressiveness to receive the blessings of God. That problem is further compounded when one reads certain parables in the Bible such as the Parable of the Widow and the Judge, recorded in Luke 18:1-8, where we are told that the only way this widow managed to receive justice was by persistently hounding the judge. The impression that one gets from this parable and others like it is that God will only answer your prayer once you have asked and pleaded with Him long enough and have sufficiently demonstrated that you are serious about getting what you want. So ultimately, one may inevitably conclude that in order to receive the blessings of the Kingdom of God, one has to forcefully pry them out of God’s hands through persistent prayer and other various means such as fasting and making personal sacrifices. After all, doesn’t the Bible say, … the violent take it by force? In a prayer meeting I recently attended that was being led by a certain zealous young lady, that was the exact sentiment she expressed in her interpretation of Matthew 11:12. The young lady was vigorously pacing to and fro across the stage and crying out to the people, You need to cry out to God! You need to travail in prayer! You can’t receive anything from God by just sitting down and taking it easy – the violent take it by force! Stand to your feet brothers and sisters and begin to bombard the gates of heaven, because that is the only way you will receive your breakthrough! And as expected, practically everyone in that auditorium got up and began bombarding the gates of heaven with their prayer requests. Now without question, it is a good thing for one to be zealous for the things of God – the Bible says that much itself (Romans 10:2-3). However, in order for zeal to count for anything, it must be based on KNOWLEDGE. So is it true that in order for one to receive the blessings of the Kingdom of God, one needs to forcefully pry them out of God’s hand? Is that the true meaning of the scripture when it says, … the violent take it by force? Certainly not! The scripture itself thoroughly rejects such a notion, and there are numerous verses in the Bible that testify to that effect, chief among which is probably Luke 12:32 where the scripture says, Fear not, little flock, for it is your Fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom. According to this verse, it is God’s GOOD PLEASURE to give us the Kingdom and all its benefits. Therefore, there is absolutely no need to violently take anything from Him by force. Then in Matthew 19:14, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, Let the little children come to Me and do not forbid them because the Kingdom of God is meant for such. A similar thought is expressed in Luke 18:17 where He said, Whosoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child shall in no wise enter therein. So according to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God can only be received by those who are childlike, and not by the violent, who wish to take it by force. He says that receiving the blessings of God is so easy that even a child can receive them. So there is absolutely no cause for anyone to think that they need to pry God’s hands open in order for them to receive His blessings. That is why Romans 8:32 says that God FREELY gives us ALL things together with Christ Jesus. So these and many other verses in the Bible sufficiently prove that the interpretation of Matthew 11:12 by most Christians is severely incorrect. You don’t need to be violent in order to receive anything from God, and neither do you have to force Him to bless you with the blessings of His kingdom. So what is the true meaning of Matthew 11:12? What was the Lord Jesus Christ referring to when He said, From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Understanding the true meaning of this verse is a classic example of the need to read a verse in its context and allowing the scripture to interpret itself. When Jesus said those words in Matthew 11:12, He was NOT talking about how to receive blessings from God. Rather, He was making a contrast between the two prevailing DOCTRINES at the time. In its context, Matthew 11:12 reads as follows: Verily I say to you, among those that are born of women, there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist. Nevertheless, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than him. And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. - (Matthew 11:11-13) Now in Luke 16:16, the Bible repeats what Jesus said in Matthew 11:12, but this time, it brings out His meaning more clearly. It says, The Law and the Prophets were until John, but since then, the good news about the Kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone entering it is under attack. So notice: The Lord Jesus Christ is actually making reference to two doctrines or teachings: The Law and the Prophets, in contrast with the good news about the Kingdom of God. So the Lord Jesus Christ was saying that the Law and the Prophets were being preached all the way up to the time of John the Baptist. However, after the time of John the Baptist, a new teaching began to be preached, and that teaching was about the good news about the Kingdom of God. In fact, that is why one of the most important questions anyone studying the Bible can ask themselves is this: When EXACTLY did Jesus begin preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God? The Bible gives us the answer in Mark 1:14. It says, AFTER John the Baptist was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee and began preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God. So Jesus began preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God AFTER John the Baptist had been put into prison by Herod. That is what the Lord Jesus Christ meant when He said, “The Law and the Prophets were until John, but since then, the good news about the kingdom of God has been preached…” - (Luke 16:16) Jesus was the one who began preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God, but before He began to preach that message, He waited for the ministry of John the Baptist to come to an end. So in light of these truths, we can now begin to understand the true meaning of Matthew 11:12. Firstly, what was the Lord Jesus Christ referring to in Matthew 11:12 when He said, The Kingdom of God suffers violence… What He was saying is that the MESSAGE that He was preaching concerning the good news about the Kingdom of God was facing great opposition from those who were under the teaching of the Law and the Prophets. Why? Remember, in John 1:17, the Bible says, The LAW was given through Moses, but GRACE and TRUTH came through Jesus Christ. The message of God’s grace has always faced great opposition from those who preach the Law – it was the case during Jesus’ time and it is still the case today. The good news about the Kingdom of God is a message about God’s grace. That is why even little children can freely receive the blessings of God through the message of the Kingdom of God. However, preaching such a message that says that one no longer needs to perform or to struggle in order to receive the blessings of God will cause you to face great violence and resistance, not just from the preachers of the Law, but sometimes, from the ordinary people as well. Why? It is because the majority of people have been brought up under a religious and Law mentality that says that in order for God to accept you, you need to do certain things, and that in order for God to bless you, you need to qualify for those blessings by praying enough, fasting enough and doing all sorts of other things. That is why the first thing the Lord Jesus Christ said before He began to actually preach the good news about the Kingdom of God was, REPENT, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. - (Matthew 4:17) The word REPENT, in this particular verse, is the Greek word METANOIA, which simply means, Change your mind, Or Change the way you have been thinking. In other words, Jesus was saying to the people, Up until the time of John the Baptist, you have been living under the Law and the Prophets, but now I have come to you with GOOD NEWS. I have come to introduce a new way for you to relate to God and to receive the blessings of His kingdom by GRACE. However, in order for you to receive this teaching, you need to change your minds – you need to change the way you think, because the good news that I will be preaching will be radically different from the doctrine of the Pharisees and the Sadducees that you have been brought up under. Secondly, it is for this reason that the last part of Matthew 11:12 says, … the violent take it by force. In other words, Jesus was simply saying that renewing your mind to be able to fully accept and receive the good news of the message of grace and of the Kingdom of God will require EFFORT, because it is not easy for people who have been brought up under a Law mentality to easily accept that God no longer requires them to perform in order for Him to relate to them and for Him to bless them. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ once said, New wine must be put into new wineskins... - (Matthew 9:17) That is, a new doctrine can only be received by a new mindset Furthermore, the Lord Jesus Christ was also highlighting the fact that people who accept the message of grace and the Kingdom of God will face tremendous opposition from those who stubbornly remain under the Law. That is why in Luke 16:16 – the alternative passage to Matthew 11:12 – the Lord Jesus Christ says, …the good news about the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone entering it is under attack. So the era of the Law and the Prophets is gone, and the time has now come for the message of the Kingdom of God and His grace to be preached. Nevertheless, there is still an inherent desire in people to cling to the Law. In fact, the Bible gives us a graphic illustration of this truth when Jesus went up a mountain to pray with three of His disciples (Luke 9:27-36): The Bible says that while Jesus was praying, He was transfigured – that is, He was glorified physically. So Jesus glorified is a picture of the Kingdom of God. At the same time, we are told that Moses and Elijah also appeared in glory. Now Moses is a picture of the Law, while Elijah is a picture of the Prophets. However, when Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) were about to depart, the Bible says that Peter asked Jesus for permission to make three tents for them – one for Moses, one for Elijah and one for Jesus. In other words, Peter was asking, Is it possible for us to have all three of you remain together at the same time? That is the same attitude many Christians have today – they want to mix Law and Grace; they want Moses and Elijah to remain with Jesus. However, the Bible says that immediately Peter uttered those words, a cloud came from heaven that overshadowed them and a voice from the cloud declared, This is My Beloved Son – listen to Him! God was declaring that the only one we should listen to is Jesus, and not Moses and Elijah. The only message we should be listening to is the good news about the Kingdom of God and His grace, and not the Law and the Prophets. So we are not to listen to Moses (the Law), and neither are we supposed to listen to Elijah (the Prophets). We are only supposed to listen to Jesus (the Kingdom of God). So that is the meaning behind Matthew 11:12 when Jesus said, From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force, All He meant was that the good news about the Kingdom of God and His grace suffers great opposition from those who are under the Law, and it is only those few who aggressively renew their minds from wrong thinking and steadfastly stand firm against the attacks of those who preach the Law are the ones who will be able to receive its benefits. Enter in through the narrow gate, because wide is the gate, and broad is the way which leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in through it. How narrow is the gate, and how constricted is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it! - (Matthew 7:13-14)
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 15:14:35 +0000
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