The Time for Violence

Text: “12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Matthew 11:12-15).

“12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12). On this Reformation Sunday, let us start by simply asking the Lutheran question: “What does this mean?” Answering that question will take us in an unexpected direction. So let’s dig in.

The Violent Then and Now

The Violent in Jesus’ Day

What violence? Who are ‘they’ who are taking it by force? Think back to the way that Matthew started his gospel— we’ve been going through this for long enough that, hopefully, you have a sense of the basic outline of the book. It began with the birth of Jesus, who Matthew kept calling the “Son of David.” Then, in Matthew 3, the Evangelist— ‘evangelist’ is the term for one who wrote the four Gospels, remember— but in Matthew 3, the evangelist introduces us to John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus.

John came declaring, “Repent. The Kingdom of heaven is at hand,” and pointing to Jesus.

And that message— “Repent. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”— was rejected by the political and the religious leaders of the time. Starting with John the Baptist, it suffered violence— it suffered opposition. And that opposition has increased and increased until they laid their hands both on John the Baptist and on the “Son of David”— the Messianic King of that Kingdom— Himself, and killed them.

This is what was pictured in the parable of the tenants from Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew records a strange parable that Jesus told. The master had a vineyard. He rented out the vineyard to tenants. When it was time, he sent servants to the tenants to collect the fruit of the vineyard that he was due.

They beat servant after servant until the master sent his son. “38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance’” (Matthew 21:38).

This saying really shouldn’t perplex us: “12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12). It is the story of John the Baptist, the story of Jesus, Himself, in a nutshell.

That simple call to repent provoked a violent response.

The Violent in Luther’s Day

The violent were taking it by force in their time. On this Reformation Sunday we recall that the violent were taking it by force 500 years ago. And, unfortunately, the kingdom is still suffering violence and the violent are still taking it today.

In Luther’s day the violent did effectively the same thing in a slightly different form. They “bought and sold” righteousness, if you will— in the form of indulgences. Luther recounts one Saturday evening when he confronted a man who was stumbling home filthy, stinking drunk. “I expect to see you in confession for this,” he told him. “Nope,” the man answered. “I’m already covered,” he said, waving the indulgence that he had purchased. Whether that was an actual encounter Luther had or a story that grew up later, it captures the sense of the evil that the Reformers stood against. Not just corruption within the church— the buying and selling of offices within the church, for example— but the false teachings. The political and religious leaders of Jesus’ day at least tried to seize the kingdom through their own righteousness.

In Jesus’ day they tried to claim the kingdom by their own self-righteousness. In Luther’s day, the violent put the kingdom on sale.

The Violent Today

And, unfortunately, the violent are still trying to take it by force. Do you ever wonder about the quasi-religious zeal that so many have toward politics in our day?

Righteousness is no longer bought and sold in the form of indulgences. Now it’s bought and sold by fighting for ‘social justice’; it’s bought and sold by fighting to ‘make America great again’; it’s bought and sold by virtue signalling.

Having driven God out of our culture, we seize on politics as the outlet by which we are able to say, “I am thankful that I’m not like those horrible sinners (on the other side of the aisle).” The Pharisees at least tried to seize the Kingdom through their own striving to live holy lives. Not us. You and I don’t bother with actual patience and kindness and generosity and industry.

In our day, “righteousness” is purchased with the yard signs we put up, the slogans we put on social media, the stickers we put on our cars. That is how you and I try to seize the Kingdom.

If Jesus came today, He would most certainly still be opposed. He would be crucified for rejecting the false ‘righteousness’ of both sides and calling all to repentance.

The Kingdom of God Is At Hand

Still today the kingdom suffers violence and the violent take it by force.

If you are willing to accept it, John the Baptist was, in fact, Elijah who came proclaiming that the Kingdom of Heaven had arrived— that it had entered the world in and through Jesus Christ.

Yes, the Kingdom suffered violence. He, Himself, suffered violence. They tried to take it as their own inheritance by seizing Him, leading Him out of Jerusalem, and killing Him. But, in the process, they only succeeded in establishing the Kingdom in this world.

“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes” (Matthew 21:42, quoting Psalm 118:22-23).

It was not weakness or passivity that led Jesus to the cross. But a conscious decision, an act of the will, an exercise of strength and authority. As John the Baptist proclaimed, the Kingdom of Heaven has come. And that Kingdom suffered violence.

In the end, God used the hands of the violent who would take it by force in order to establish His kingdom in this world.

Their will would/could/did not overcome His will.

If you are willing to accept it, He is the Son of David who went to the cross, not only to pay the full price for your sins, but to begin His reign, enthroned there between two thieves.

Seize the Kingdom

Now, this is Good News. But none of this is the “unexpected direction” that I promised this text would take us. As we take the final step and wrestle with what this means for you, we finally come to it, to that unexpected direction.

We are blessed to have literally volume after volume of writings from the church fathers— the most notable leaders and preachers from the first couple of centuries after Christ. What they wrote and preached about this passage is completely unexpected.

One Church Father after the next quoted these words of Jesus and said that message of this verse is, “Yes, take it! This is the time for violence!”

The error of “the violent” was not the fact that they were trying to take hold of the Kingdom. It was in trying to take hold of it through the wrong means.

Would that God’s people were as zealous for taking hold of the kingdom as the Pharisees were!

Would that we were as zealous for taking hold of the kingdom as some in Luther’s day were to put it up for sale.

Our Lord is not advocating for pacifism here. His message to you is, “Yes, seize it! Seize my Kingdom!”

As one church father put it:

“It is good to take by violence, not the things that perish, but the Kingdom of heaven. “The violent,” it saith, “take it by force.” (Matt. 11:12.) It is then not possible to attain to it by sluggishness, but by zeal. But what meaneth “the violent”? There is need of much violence, (for strait is the way,) there is need of a youthful soul and a noble.

Plunderers desire to outstrip all other, they look to nothing, neither to conviction, nor accusation, nor punishment, but are given up to one thing only, the getting hold of what they desire to seize, and they run past all that are before them in the way. Seize we then the Kingdom of heaven, for here to seize is no fault but rather praise, and the fault is the not seizing. Here our wealth comes not from another’s loss {but from the gracious provision of the King}. Haste we then to seize it. Should passion disquiet us, should lust disquiet us, let us do violence to our nature, let us become more gentle, let us labor a little, that we may rest forever. Seize not thou gold, but seize that wealth which showeth gold to be but mud. (NPNF 1.14, John Chrysostom, Homilies on John 54.4)

It is laid right before you. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Repent and seize the Kingdom.

He has purchased you for His Kingdom, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.

On the cross, He earned for you the perfect righteousness by which you can purchase entrance into that Kingdom.

I say to you, the Kingdom of God is at hand. It is poured out for you from this font. It is proclaimed from this pulpit. It is distributed from this altar.

Seize it. Take hold of the kingdom and the eternal life have been purchased for you.

Embrace the Kingdom with both arms and hold on to it. Refuse to trade it for any of the false wealth of this world. Embrace the fact that you are citizens of the kingdom— strive to live the holy lives that mark you as God’s people. And then embrace the things of this world as only God’s people can— treating politics, for example, as a way to pursue virtue and truth and beauty; as a way to make sure that the poor are provided for, the refugee is cared for, the oppressed are protected and guarded; that justice is done in this world, as much as you and I are able to bring it about.

“12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matt. 11:12). May God grant that to us for Jesus’ sake. Amen.