Matthew 11:12 – “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”
The world views Christianity as a religion for pacifists and weak people. They think of passages such as “the meek shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5) and “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:39) as phrases that describe followers of Jesus. What most people miss is that there is more to it than that. Jesus is often referred to as the “Lion” and the “Lamb.” There is a “Lamb” side to Christianity but there is also a “Lion” side. When you come to the verse above, well…it gets downright violent. Let’s break down the verse to see if we can extract some meaning that’s helpful.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus came preaching the kingdom of heaven. Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…” The kingdom of heaven was to be manifested here on earth. John and Jesus preached it and delivered it and taught how it operated and what it looked like. The previous chapter (Matthew chapter 10) shows us what happens when God’s kingdom collides with the earth and the result is pretty violent. Listen to these phrases and see if you don’t agree:
Authority over unclean spirits to cast them out.
Heal every disease and every affliction.
Heal the sick.
Raise the dead.
Cleanse the lepers.
Cast out demons.
You will be delivered to the courts, flogged and dragged before political leaders. You will be hated, persecuted and sentenced to death. This sounds pretty violent and confrontational to me.
The rest of the verse says, “the violent take it by force.”
The meaning of “violent” is “forcer,” “energetic.”
The word “force” means “to seize; pluck; pull.”
Here’s what it looks like: “The forcers and the energetic seize and pull (up and out) the kingdom of heaven.”
When you’re dealing with spiritual opposition it takes the kind of energy and force mentioned above to see the kingdom of heaven in people’s lives. Christian, you’ve been a lamb long enough. It’s time to get violent!