May 23rd, 2018

The Kingdom is Breaking Into the World

 “The kingdom of God suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”  Mt. 11:12

 Jesus knew exactly what He was saying.  He knew the Kingdom was His movement – the actions of the church.  He knew it was the place- the land, you might call it – within us, around us, and beyond us.  It was the place where followers of Christ could exercise legal power and legal authority because of their covenant position – the position of the cross.  

 To truly understand Mt. 11:12, we do well to spend a few minutes in Micah 2:12-13.  It reads: “I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob.  I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together like sheep of the fold, like a flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make a loud noise because of so many people.  The one who breaks open will come up before them; they will break out, pass through the gate, and go out by it.  Their king will pass before them, with the Lord at their head.”  This is about:

1. Sheep kept up in a pen, crowded and noisy – wanting to come out;
2. A shepherd breaking an opening in the pen;
3. All the sheep come forcefully breaking out of the pen; and,
4. They go out by the gate, with the Lord leading them. 

 Jesus may well have been referring to this passage from Micah when He said, the kingdom of God suffers violence – which we can render as: the Kingdom of God is breaking forth, breaking open.  Violent men take it by force, meaning – those who believe are breaking forth with it.  If the Kingdom is a movement – action is occurring and we are like sheep that have been penned up all night long and just want to get out.  A small opening, breach, or perets in Hebrew, is made.  The next thing we know, we are all trying to get out – and the opening gets bigger and bigger with each sheep that breaks out!  Jesus leads the way!  Amen!