The Meaning of “The Kingdom of Heaven Suffers Violence, and the Violent Take it by Force”
by Sabrina Dawkins
“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” (Matthew 11:11).
To be “least in the kingdom of heaven” is a bad thing: “Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19). John the Baptist was great in the kingdom of heaven.
Christ is saying that this world is upside down: Those who are least in the sight of God are perceived to be great in the eyes of men in this world, and the evil are in rulership positions on earth: “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: For the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). Jesus called King Herod, who wanted to kill him and who imprisoned John the Baptist and had him beheaded, “that fox” (Luke 13:32). “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7:6).
Jesus thought very highly of John: “What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?” (Matthew 11:7). John was strong and upright, not swayed by the wind, not willing to compromise God’s word. And Jesus shows his disdain for the kings of the time by saying: “But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses” (Matthew 11:8). John the Baptist, the great spirit of Elijah, was before them and they did not even recognize him, and he was not an earthly king, wearing soft clothing and with many servants in a king’s house. No, John humbly did the will of his Father and without conscious knowledge that he was Elijah.
John the Baptist did not try to force his way into the kingdom of God. “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12). He held a low opinion of himself compared to Christ: “He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose” (John 1:27). In Jude 1:9-10, “Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke thee.’ But these speak evil of those things which they know not. But what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.”
The saints are humble, respect the spirit world, and rely on God. But when God was here in the flesh, the Pharisees tested him. The Pharisees and scribes laid in wait to accuse him (Luke 11:54). And to the experts in biblical law, Christ said, “Ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in, ye hindered” (Luke 11:52). To the fake believers in God, the Messiah said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: And they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). Jesus is the only door through which to enter the kingdom of heaven: “I am the door: By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (John 10:9).
In exposing the Pharisees, the scribes, the fake believers, Christ said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1). One cannot enter the kingdom of heaven by force, by one’s own will and study of biblical law absent belief and obedience to the Spirit of God. The chief priests and Pharisees represent the second son whose father told him, “Son, go work today in my vineyard” (Matthew 21:28). And the chief priests, scribes, Sadducees, Pharisees, and elders of the people said, “I go, sir: And went not” (Matthew 21:30). And in doing their own will instead of God’s for earthly treasures and praise from men, they are graves for people to step into unawares, having not gained eternal life from its only source, but standing at a closed door that can only be opened by the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:44).