My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, peace be with you as you strive to continue deepening your relationship with our Lord during this Advent. We have a very powerful Gospel today in the readings, and something which throws some people off. I would like to explain it in this way. What I am referring to is the verse from Matthew chapter 11, verse 12, and Luke chapter 16, verse 16, the parallel verse. And it goes like this: “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”
This is one of the most discussed and puzzling statements of Jesus in the entire Gospel of Matthew. I would like to give you a historically grounded explanation first, and then outline the main theological interpretations found within the tradition.
Jesus is speaking about John the Baptist as the forerunner, and he is marking the beginning of a new moment in salvation history. This new era begins with John. John stands at the turning point between the old era and the new era of the Kingdom’s arrival in Christ. Jesus has just praised John as more than a prophet, and now he explains that something new and dramatic is happening. God’s reign is breaking into history.
As I have discussed in other homilies, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven can mean a number of things. And all of them are valid, and they are all what Jesus intended. The Kingdom of Heaven can mean, first and foremost, that place beyond our imagination. It can also mean the Church founded on earth, coming through Jesus’ presence and reign in the hearts of men and women, a reign that began with his conception and birth among us. And it can also mean the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus says is within us.
So this verse can be understood in several ways. In the Greek, the meaning suggests that the Kingdom is being pressed, is suffering force, and that forceful people seize it. This can indicate either a negative aggression against the Kingdom or a positive forcefulness in entering it.
On the one hand, it can refer to the persecution endured by those who choose Christ. On the other, it can refer to the penance and mortification one embraces in order to enter into life under Christ’s kingship, within his Kingdom and within the Church. Think of how hard some of the things Jesus asks of us truly are: to forgive, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, to do good to those who hate us.
Notice how strong, how almost “violent,” Jesus’ language can be when it comes to overcoming sin. “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.” “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” Jesus is not calling us to literal violence against ourselves or others. Rather, he is calling us to true mortification, true self-denial, and a real taking up of the cross. And this can feel violent to a person accustomed to comfort and always getting their own way.
Now our will is subject to Christ. We undertake spiritual violence against ourselves through fasting, through self-restraint, through discipline. Imagine denying ourselves food. Controlling our eyes so as not to look lustfully at others. Guarding our thoughts and our actions. Going the extra mile. When someone asks you to walk one mile, walk two. When someone takes your cloak, give your coat as well. Give to those who ask of you. Give even when it hurts, and your reward will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.
My brothers and sisters, you are a citizen of God’s Kingdom already here on earth. Live accordingly, so that, through God’s grace and mercy, you may one day enter that Kingdom which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it even entered the human heart what God has prepared for those who love him. Remain faithful. Deepen your resolve. Cling to our Lord, and he will see you through.
And may a special blessing from Almighty God descend upon you and your loved ones, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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