Violence and Violet Force Take the Kingdom of Heaven: Lesson for The Body of Christ

Matthew 11:11-14 King James Version (KJV)

¹¹ Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
¹² And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
¹³ For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
¹⁴ And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.

Analysis:  As great as John The Baptist, a saint taken up in glorified body after the Rapture will be even greater.  The Kingdom of Heaven is so powerful that people force and crowd themselves into the kingdom   Violence = G970 "biazo" apply force to crowd oneself into.   The Violent =  G973 "biastes" a forcer,  energetic. suffereth violence = to have something distressing, painful, injurous imposed upon, undergo, endure. to pass through, to be subjected to, experience.

Luke 16:16 King James Version (KJV)

¹⁶ The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.

For the past day I have not been able  to get this scripture out of my mind.  By God's grace I understand the meaning of this scripture and the parallel scripture of Luke 16:16. I had studied it at length some years back. So I asked myself, why does this scripture keep coming to me as if I'm supposed to address it anew and study it anew in my Bible study time and then perhaps to share.

I got up this morning and prayed, asking the Lord to revel His purpose in refreshing this scripture anew for me and if it were important to share.  

Background:  The meaning of these scriptures tells us that from the beginning of time through dispensations of the Prophets and the Laws Jesus brings us up to current events of John The Baptist who has introduced us to the change in dispensation from the Law to the dispensation of the Kingdom that lasted only a few years from the ministry of John the Baptist until Jesus proclaims the curse on Israel in Matthew 11:20-24 and Matthew 12:31-50.  The Kingdom of Heaven is literally the physical Kingdom of God that will be established in the New Jerusalem and would have been physically established had Jesus been accepted as the Messiah by the Jews.  This offer will come again in the Tribulation by Elijah and Moses as the true witnesses of God. 

Matthew 11:11-14 is is a powerful illustration of just how powerful and compelling the Kingdom of Heaven (physical kingdom) and Kingdom of God (spiritual kingdom) is and its unimaginable force that compels humanity to seek it, lay hold of, to rasp, grip, seize. To receive and accept what is handed to one, to comprehend and assume, to adopt and apprehend. To literally transfer to oneself by ones own action or volition both the material aspects of and the immaterial aspects of the kingdom.

What lesson of importance do we see for the body of Christ today? 

Thank God we Christians are not under the law but fulfilled all requirements of the law by our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.  We will inherit the Kingdom of God if we are saved and do not have serious issues in our lives that would violate our inheritance see 1 Corinthians 6:9,10 KJV

and Galatians 5:21 KJV.  

The great lesson here for the body of Christ should be for us to be thrilled and deeply in awe by how blessed and fortunate we are to have what been given free access to what others saw and seized. We also who are saved realized the day we were saved just how awesome is the kingdom we're called into for eternity with our beloved Lord Jesus Christ.   Never let us for a moment fail to be grateful and with a heart of thanksgiving lift up our praises to the Lord. Amen!

Some other commentary on Matthew 12:

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. And from] Translate but from: another point shewing the greatness of John, and also the beginning of the Kingdom: it was from the time of John’s preaching that men began to press into the kingdom, and the earnest won their way in. For the preaching of John was the epoch to which all prophecy tended.
suffereth violence] is forced, broken into, as a ship enters a harbour by breaking the boom stretched across the harbour’s mouth. John’s preaching was the signal for men to press into the kingdom—to adopt eagerly the new rule and life heralded by John and set forth by Christ.
the violent take it by force] The eager and enthusiastic followers of Christ seize the kingdom—win it as a prize of war.


 TSK

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence.—The Greek verb may be either in the middle voice, “forces its way violently,” or passive, as in the English version, but there is little doubt that the latter is the right rendering. The words describe the eager rush of the crowds of Galilee and Judæa, first to the preaching of the Baptist, and then to that of Jesus. It was, as it were, a city attacked on all sides by those who were eager to take possession of it.The violent take it by force.—The Greek noun is without the article, “men who are violent or use force.” The meaning is determined by the preceding clause. The “violent” are men of eager, impetuous zeal, who grasp the kingdom of heaven—i.e., its peace, and pardon, and blessedness—with as much eagerness as men would snatch and carry off as their own the spoil of a conquered city. Their new life is, in the prophet’s language, “given them as a prey” (Jeremiah 21:9; Jeremiah 45:5). There is no thought of hostile purpose in the words.