We were discussing Matthew 11:12 in the Men’s Meeting this week. It can be a difficult verse to understand, and we had over an hour of great insights from the group, so I’ll just sum up by saying I like the way the NIV translates it. “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” Some translations use the word “violent”. This passage speaks of a militant aggressiveness involving the kingdom.
Let me give you my own paraphrase with the context of the passage in mind. Jesus is saying that since John the forerunner began warning everyone of the coming of the Kingdom through Jesus, everything is changing. Jesus is turning the Kingdom loose on earth, and it’s going to grow through turbulent upheaval, and if you’re going to get involved with the Kingdom you’d better hold on tight.
Or to put it in militant terms, the Kingdom of Heaven is going to war against the kingdom of darkness, and if you want to join up, you’d better be a warrior.
This made me think of 2 Tim 2:3-4. “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”
Neither Jesus nor Paul leaves us any room for passive Christianity. When you join the Kingdom you join an army already at war. It’s going to stay at war until Jesus returns, and we have to be ready to be thrust into battle at any moment. So to borrow a saying used in WWII, “let’s soldier up.”
I am reminded of a quote from Stargate SG1: "If you are not prepared to die, you should not be here." - Teal'c
ReplyDeleteA soldier goes into battle knowing full well that he may not come out alive. We know that one of the benefits of belonging to Jesus is losing the fear of death. "To live is Christ and to die is gain." So what have we got to lose?
That reminds me of something many early Christians seem to forget. When you are a Christian, that doesn't mean your life is going to be easier. When you accept Jesus, you also accept responsibility. We are responsible to fight in this battle. We can't just sit on the sidelines when the front, back, and sides are all at war. We are at war weather we like it or not.
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