Matthew 11:12

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.

Admitted to be one of the difficult passages of the New Testament, this verse in all probability was accurately understood and expounded by McGarvey who wrote:

Jesus here pictures the kingdom of heaven as a besieged city. The city is shut up, but the enemies which surround it storm its walls and try to force an entrance ... The gates of Christ's kingdom were not opened until the day of Pentecost (Acts 2); but men, hearing it was about to be opened, sought to enter it prematurely, not by the gates which God would open, ... but by such breaches as they themselves sought to make in its walls.[3]

Instances of such violence are: (1) Some tried to make him king by force (John 6:15). (2) the mother of James and John sought to obtain secular appointments for her sons in the kingdom (Matthew 20:21). (3) Some supposed the kingdom would appear immediately (Luke 19:11). (4) The apostles quarreled over who should be the greatest (Luke 22:24-30). (5) The apostles themselves seemed anxious for it to be done "at this time" (Acts 1:6). Furthermore, they envisioned a restoration of rule to Israel! McGarvey further wrote:

The people were full of preconceived ideas with regard to the kingdom, and each one sought to hasten and enjoy its pleasures as one who impatiently seizes upon a bud and seeks with his fingers to force it to bloom. The context shows that even John the Baptist was then seeking to force the kingdom.[4]

This view does not rule out the possibility discussed above that there was an element of genuine doubt in John's mind. It is also of interest to note that some of the Ante-Nicenes referred this "violence" to the zeal men should have in striving after the kingdom, thus construing the words in a favorable sense; but without doubt, McGarvey's exegesis of this passage appears more safe and perceptive of the Saviour's true meaning.

[3] J. W. McGarvey, The Fourfold Gospel (Cincinnati, Ohio: The Standard Publishing Company), p. 283.

[4] Ibid., p. 284.