TBK, I'm missing the point of bringing Luke 16:!6 into this. The context of Matthew 11 is not of salvation being forcefully and zealously sought after, it's in the context of the pharisees rejecting John and Jesus' teachings and bringing condemnation upon themselves. I understand that the same word might be used in the sentence, but I do not believe that the same word being used in the passage means that it's used in the same context.
Matthew 11:16
16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:
21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.
23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.
24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.
11 And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples,3 And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.7 And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?8 But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.9 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.10 For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.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.15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.16 But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,17 And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.20 Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not:21 Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.22 But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you.23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.24 But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.26 Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
This is the whole chapter. I do not see much in connection with Matthew 11 and Luke 16. I may be missing the transition, but it appears to go right back to talking about John and Jesus in the same way at 18 and 19, and before that, it's talking about John being in prison.
Luke 16 is an entirely different story.
Luke 16
16 The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
Matthew 11
12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
The same word being used in both passages does not make them the same. A truly godly person can greatly desire to forcefully "press" into the kingdom, and a corrupt religious leader can greatly desire to forcefully take the kingdom by violence.
Here you go Mark. Here is a look at 9 different commentaries on this Verse.
Verse 12. The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence
The tax-gatherers and heathens, whom the scribes and Pharisees think have no right to the kingdom of the Messiah, filled with holy zeal and earnestness, seize at once on the proffered mercy of the Gospel, and so take the kingdom as by force from those learned doctors who claimed for themselves the chiefest places in that kingdom. Christ himself said, The tax-gatherers and harlots go before you into the kingdom of God. See the parallel place, Luke 7:28-30. He that will take, get possession of the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and spiritual joy, must be in earnest: all hell will oppose him in every step he takes; and if a man be not absolutely determined to give up his sins and evil companions, and have his soul saved at all hazards, and at every expense, he will surely perish everlastingly. This requires a violent earnestness.
Adam Clarke Commentary
Verse 12. And from the days of John, etc. That is, from the days when John began to preach. It is not known how long this was, but it was not probably more than a year. Our Saviour here simply states a fact. He says there was a great rush, or a crowd pressing to hear John. Multitudes went out to hear him, as if they were about to take the kingdom of heaven by force. See Matthew 3:5. So, says he, it has continued. Since the kingdom of heaven, or the gospel, has been preached, there has been a rush to it. Men have been earnest about it; they have come pressing to obtain the blessing, as if they would take it by violence. There is allusion here to the manner in which cities were taken. Besiegers pressed upon them with violence, and demolished the walls. With such earnestness and violence, he says, men had pressed around him and John, since they began to preach. There is no allusion here to the manner in which individual sinners seek salvation; but it is a simple record of the fact that multitudes had thronged around him and John to hear the gospel.
Barnes' Notes on the New Testament
From the days of John the Baptist until now. A period of about three years.
The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence. 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--an apt illustration which many fail to comprehend. The gates ofChrist's kingdom were not opened until the day of Pentecost( Acts 2:22-36 ).
And men of violence take it by force. But men hearing it was about to be opened sought to enter prematurely, not by the gates which God would open when Simon Peter used the keys ( Matthew 16:19 ), but by such breaches as they themselves sought to make in the walls. Examples ofthis violence will be seen in the following instances: Matthew 20:21 Luke 19:11 Luke 19:36-38 ; Luke 22:24-30 ; John 6:15 . 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 John the Baptist was even then seeking to force the kingdom.
The Fourfold Gospel
[The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence.] And these words also make for the praise of John. That he was a very eminent prophet, and of no ordinary mission or authority, these things evince; that from his preaching, the kingdom of heaven took its beginning, and it was so crowded into by infinite multitudes, as if they would take and seize upon the kingdom by violence. The divine warmth of the people in betaking themselves thither by such numberless crowds, and with so exceeding a zeal, sufficiently argued the divine worth both of the teacher and of his doctrine.
A Commentary on the New Testament From the Talmud and Hebraica
12. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of God suffereth violence. The idea is, that from the time when John began preaching, men of violence were trying to force their way into the kingdom. It is compared to a walled city that men try to storm and enter. They tried a little later to make Jesus a king by force.
PNT Commentary
"suffers violence"
which may be understood, either of the vast numbers, that pressed and crowded to hear the Gospel preached: great numbers followed John, when he first began to preach, and baptize: still a greater number followed Christ, some to hear his doctrine, others to see his miracles, others to behold his person, others out of selfish ends; and some behaved rudely and indecently: or of the ardour and fervency of spirit, which appeared in some, to the ministry of John and Christ, and in their desires and expectations of the kingdom of the Messiah
"and the violent take it by force"
meaning either publicans, and harlots, and Gentile sinners; who might be thought to be a sort of intruders: or rather the same persons, as being powerfully wrought upon under the ministry of the Gospel; who were under violent apprehensions of wrath and vengeance, of their lost and undone state and condition by nature; were violently in love with Christ, and eagerly desirous of salvation by him, and communion with him; and had their affections set upon the things of another world: these having the Gospel preached to them, which is a declaration of God's love to sinners, a proclamation of peace and pardon, and a publication of righteousness and life by Christ, they greedily catched at it, and embraced it.
John Gill
Since the days of John I have no doubt that Christ speaks honorably of the majesty of the Gospel on this ground, that many sought after it with warm affection; for as God had raised up John to be the herald of the kingdom of his Son, so the Spirit infused such efficacy into his doctrine, that it entered deeply into the hearts of men and kindled that zeal. It appears, therefore, that the Gospel, which comes forward in a manner so sudden and extraordinary,16 and awakens powerful emotions, must have proceeded from God. But in the second clause is added this restriction, that the violent take it by force The greater part of men were no more excited than if the Prophets had never uttered a word about Christ, or if John had never appeared as his witness; and therefore Christ reminds them, that the violence, of which he had spoken, existed only in men of a particular class. The meaning therefore is, A vast assembly of men is now collected, as if men were rushing violently forward to seize the kingdom of God; for, aroused by the voice of one man, they come together in crowds, and receive, not only with eagerness, but with vehement impetuosity, the grace which is offered to them. Although very many are asleep, and are no more affected than if John in the wilderness were acting a play which had no reference to them, yet many flock to him with ardent zeal. The tendency of our Lord�s statement is to show, that those who pass by in a contemptuous manner, and as it were with closed eyes, the power of God, which manifestly appears both in the teacher and in the hearers, are inexcusable. Let us also learn from these words, what is the true nature and operation of faith. It leads men not only to give, cold and indifferent assent when God speaks, but to cherish warm affection towards Him, and to rush forward as it were with a violent struggle.
John Calvin
Multitudes were wrought upon by the ministry of John, and became his disciples. And those strove for a place in this kingdom, that one would think had no right nor title to it, and so seemed to be intruders. It shows us what fervency and zeal are required of all. Self must be denied; the bent, the frame and temper of the mind must be altered. Those who will have an interest in the great salvation, will have it upon any terms, and not think them hard, nor quit their hold without a blessing. The things of God are of great and common concern. God requires no more from us than the right use of the faculties he has given us. People are ignorant, because they will not learn.
Matthew Henry
The Kingdom Belongs to Those Who Contend for It (11:12-15)
Compare Luke 16:16. Our roles may be determined by grace, but grace does not erase human responsibility. Many people thought that God's kingdom would come by violent revolution against the Gentile nations, a view that Jesus clearly rejected (Mt 5:5, 9, 41); some think Jesus is rejecting such a program here, censuring revolutionaries or social bandits (for example, Cullmann 1956b:20-21). Others take the more likely approach that Jesus censures those who oppose Jesus, John and the kingdom (for example, Catchpole 1978).
But especially in Luke's form, the text does not read like censure, and it is not clear that Matthew intends the saying in this sense either. This saying may be a wisdom teacher's riddle (Stein 1978:18). Jesus regularly borrowed images from his society and applied them in shocking ways, and thus may speak favorably here of spiritual warriors who were storming their way into God's kingdom now (10:34-35; compare Vermes 1993:140). One second-century Jewish tradition praises those who passionately pursue the law; God counts it as if they had ascended to heaven and taken the law forcibly, which the tradition regards as greater than having taken it peaceably (Sipre Deut. 49.2.1).
These were the people actively following Jesus, not simply waiting for the kingdom to come their way. (Scholars frequently object that such language of violence is always used negatively, but Jesus' parables show that he did not hesitate to employ shocking images for the advance of God's reign, such as brutal tyrants, an unexpected thief, unjust judges and perhaps a naively benevolent landowner: Mt 18:25, 34; 24:42-43; Lk 18:2; Mk 12:6.) If John is Elijah (Mt 11:14-15; see comment on vv. 9-11), then he introduced the kingdom (Mal 4:5), a time of greater blessing and greater responsibility.
Mark, John's imprisonment seems to be creating a little bit of difficulty for you in the passage. You need to remember that John was not put in prison for proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God but for rebuking Herod for his adultery.
Now Herod the Tetrarch, being reproved by John concerning Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, and for all the evils which Herod had done, added this also to them all, that he sent forth and laid hold of John and bound him and put him in prison, for the sake of Herodias: because he had married her. For John said to Herod, "It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife."
Then Herodias held it against him and desired to kill him, but she could not, for Herod, when he desired to put him to death, feared the multitude, because they held him as a prophet; also he feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man: therefore he kept him safe; and when he heard him, he was much perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
"the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it."
"the kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."
I just think it's talking about two different groups of people. Two types of people who react differently to the same event, and I think that interpretation fits better within the context of Matthew 11. You could be right though, I just think that since Jesus denotes the group in question as "violent", that he's talking about another group. In one verse, Jesus is saying that all men are pressing into the kingdom, and in the other, he's limiting it to violent/strong men that are taking it by force.
I am not trying to be right. I am trying to get to the right understanding of this verse. You asked some good questions and raised some good thoughts. I spent about an hour this afternoon reviewing many commentaries. I am also looking at something else in the Hebrew and if I can prove it out from the Word, I may post some additional thoughts.
Mark, here is a summary explanation of what I not believe to be the true meaning of this passage. I had to dig this out from the Hebrew.
chazaqah - occupying
chaz�qiym - occupiers
Three years is a �chazakah��permanent.
The principle or law of HAZAKAH - taking hold, possessing, occupying.
"It is more frequently used to cover the acquisition of property by continued and undisturbed possession during a period of time prescribed by law." (Jewish Encyclopedia).
The law of hazakah (occupancy) is, if one has occupied any property for three years from date to date (without any protest from another party), and this applies to houses, pits, excavations, caves, pigeon-coops, bath-houses, press-houses, dry land, slaves, and the same is with all other articles which bring fruit frequently.
The reason that three years are considered a hazakah is because it approves the claim of the occupant--e.g., if the plaintiff claims, "You have stolen it," and the defendant says, "I have bought it," the occupancy of three years approves the fact that the defendant tells the truth. (Bava Batra Chapter III)
So, a better way of translating this verse would be.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now (for three years) the kingdom of heaven has been possessed/occupied, and the possessors/occupiers have taken hold of it (have legal claim to it). ( in accordance with the principle of Hazakah)
Mark, It turns out that the Greek does a very poor job of communicating the truth of this passage, thereby rendering it difficult to understand. I am confident of what I am showing here now. This is the right understanding of the passage. I was unable to find anything else anywhere that agrees with this but I am convinced that this is the case Jesus was making.
