If You Can Hear, Then Hear

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.  He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”  Matthew 11:12-15

I use the King James Version of scripture in my blog because I grew up on it, I like the poetic language of it, and I don’t have to worry about copyright laws which come into play with some of the more modern versions.  However, because it was translated hundreds of years ago into the English language that was spoken at that time, some words are difficult to interpret.  For instance, the word “suffer” is often translated as “allow” as in Jesus’ statement “suffer the little children to come unto me” (Matthew 10:14) which means to allow them to come to Jesus.    People unfamiliar with scripture think that Jesus said for little children to suffer pain or hardship, which is about as far from the truth as one can get.  It is good that we have modern versions of scripture for those who complain that the KJV is too hard to understand.  There goes that excuse!

Jesus had been commending John the Baptist and said that from John’s day until that current time, the kingdom of heaven “suffereth violence”, and the violent take it by force.  What did he mean?  Checking with some other versions of scripture, I found different interpretations.  The New Living Translation put it this way:  the kingdom of heaven was forcefully advancing while hateful people were attacking it.  The Living Bible stated: passionate multitudes were thronging toward the kingdom of heaven.  Neither one of these interpretations explain fully what Jesus said.  To help us understand it, we need to look at Luke 16:16 as Jesus spoke to the Pharisees concerning their belief and practice in “self-justification”: “The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it”.  Prior to John’s preaching, the Israelites only had the law and the prophets.  When John came on the scene with his message of hope and deliverance, it was such welcome news to the everyday folks that they rushed to seize upon it as an army would overtake a city.  Wouldn’t that be wonderful if folks would rush to seize the gospel today?

The Pharisees and other religious leaders believed that they had “cornered the market” on anything and everything to do with God and spiritual matters.  They considered everyone else not on their “level” to be lowly and insignificant, but it was the “lowly and insignificant” who flocked to the gospel message.  Jesus told the Pharisees in Matthew 21:31-32 that the tax collectors and prostitutes were more righteous than they were because these “lowly” people believed John’s message and repented, whereas the Pharisees, who had also heard John’s message, refused to repent.  Salvation requires repentance and belief, of course, but there also should be some fervency and zeal from those who embrace the gospel.  In Luke 13:24, Jesus said to “Strive to enter in at the strait gate…” which is not working for salvation, but, as Barnes Notes on the New Testament states:  “make it our first and chief business to overcome our sinful propensities” in order to become as Christlike as humanly possible.  One of my former pastors used to say that he never got over being saved.  Salvation is the greatest gift that we can ever receive, and it is the gift that keeps on giving.

The Old Testament prophets foretold of the Savior who was to come and redeem His people.  Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible with an eye toward the One promised by God.  All the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Messiah were beginning to take place when John began preaching in the wilderness.  When John came on the scene, saying “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:29), every law and every prophecy was completed in Him.  John’s father, Zacharias, was told by the angel Gabriel that his son to be born would one day go before the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elias (Elijah)”, the Old Testament prophet who prophesied during the reign of Ahab, one of the most evil kings over Israel.  Elijah was a revered prophet by the Jews.  Some of the Jews thought that Jesus was Elijah who they believed would return just prior to the coming of the Messiah.  However, the New Testament Elijah would not be Elijah but rather one who would come in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17).  In order to understand the truth, the people would have to believe, laying aside all preconceived ideas and opening their hearts and minds to the truths and realities of Jesus’ words that this John, indeed, was the one who came in the power and spirit of Elijah.

Anyone, who was bold enough to swallow their self-righteous pride and misinformed notions concerning John and his mission and especially those erroneous thoughts regarding the Messiah, would be considered a “winner”.  The losers would be those who hung onto their pride and refused to listen.  Let those who have ears and desire to know the truth, pay close attention.