Luke 16:16

The law and the prophets were until John: from that time the gospel of the kingdom of God is preached; and every man entereth violently into it.

It is a mistake to view Matthew 11:12,13 as a parallel with this.

Why could not Jesus on two occasions or still more have made statements about John as a transitional person and about the violent pressing into the kingdom?[29]

Whatever is meant by "violently," this must be viewed as improper and reprehensible on the part of those thus seeking to enter the kingdom. Some of the Ante-Nicene writers viewed the "violence" here in a favorable fashion as indicating the zeal with which men should seek to enter the kingdom; but the scholarly J. W. McGarvey, it appears, has a far better understanding of this admittedly difficult passage. He said:

The gates of Christ's kingdom were not opened until 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.[30]

The type of violence with which men sought to force the kingdom is illustrated by the multitude's action in trying to make him king by force; and the Pharisees, particularly, thought the kingdom would be a secular restoration of the old Solomonic throne; and they were at that very moment trying to force Jesus to conform to their secular and materialistic views of the kingdom, all of which is indicated by their scoffing at him. (See more elaborate discussion of this in my Commentary on Matthew, Matthew 11:12)

Geldenhuys also concurred in the view of McGarvey that the kingdom was not established. He said:

Although the kingdom has not yet come in final completeness, it nevertheless came into the world as a mighty actuality, already in and with Jesus' public appearances on earth.[31]

[29] Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 422.

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

[31] Norval Geldenhuys, op. cit., p. 422.