Mat 11:12-13 | TNotes | STEP | 11:12 the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing: Or the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered from violence. These alternatives reflect either a positive or negative nuance of the Greek verb. In Luke 16:16 , a different verb (“preached”) makes it a clearly positive statement. • violent people are attacking it: This phrase may also have a positive or negative sense. If negative, it might refer to those who imprisoned John (see Matt 11:2 ; 14:1-12 ), and attacking might mean either that they were trying to attack the Kingdom but were unable to thwart God’s sovereign plans, or that they were attacking it by persecuting its members. In Luke 16:16 this statement has the positive sense that they were “eager to get in” and were forcefully laying claim to the Kingdom through radical trust and obedience.

bLuke 16:16►

cMatt 11:2►

d14:1-12►

eLuke 16:16►

‏ Matthew 11:12-13

11:12 ^a the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing: Or the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered from violence. These alternatives reflect either a positive or negative nuance of the Greek verb. In Luke 16:16 ^b, a different verb (“preached”) makes it a clearly positive statement.

• violent people are attacking it: This phrase may also have a positive or negative sense. If negative, it might refer to those who imprisoned John (see Matt 11:2 ^c; 14:1-12 ^d), and attacking might mean either that they were trying to attack the Kingdom but were unable to thwart God’s sovereign plans, or that they were attacking it by persecuting its members. In Luke 16:16 ^e this statement has the positive sense that they were “eager to get in” and were forcefully laying claim to the Kingdom through radical trust and obedience.