Violently take hold of the kingdom of heaven? What does it really mean?
“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’” -Matthew 14:30
What do you think about when you hear this passage of scripture? Do you simply think of a man who sank in the water and needed someone to lift him up? Did you ever think deeper upon that? You see, it wasn’t until Peter took his eyes off Jesus when he began to sink. In the same way, in our lives, we are constantly given the opportunity to walk on the waters that try to have dominion over our lives, yet we choose to sink. We choose to fall prey. We choose to take our eyes off the savior of the issue, and focus in on the issues themselves. Our focus is everything. However, this isn’t the only lesson God wanted to show us from Peter’s experience. No, there is more.
When I read Peter say “Lord, save me,” I was reminded of another scripture.
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” –Matthew 11:12
Now, when people read where it says “…and the violent take it by force” speaking of the kingdom of heaven, people automatically assume one thing. They most likely think of this strong man of God who is 6’7 and has muscles starting at his ears, praying to God and God stopping the world and using him, jumping into battles guns blazing with explosions behind him taking out thousands of people by himself. First off, that isn’t what this scripture means.
To understand what it means to be “violent” and “taking by force,” I believe Peter gives us some insight. There is no better illustration than a person who is about to drown. When Peter was below those crashing waves, dominated by the waters, he had NOTHING. He was driven to a place of TOTAL and UTTER desperation. He was SO DESPERATE, that the ONLY thing on his mind, the ONLY thing he could say was “Save me!” He didn’t care about the waves anymore; he didn’t care about ANYTHING but his own survival. He looked for NOTHING but a hand to save his life and he VIOLENTLY grabbed the hand of Christ to save him. There was no thought involved. It wasn’t like Peter was thinking under the water “Hmm, should I reach for a hand or not?” No, Peter knew exactly where he was. He knew if he didn’t grab hold of a savior, he was going to DIE. So Peter, in his boldness, cried out for help and was saved.
Don’t you see? Listen to the language. Listen to what Peter says!
“Lord, save me!”
Yes, the Lord surely used Peter to demonstrate what He meant by this term of violence. It is the weak and desperate who are violent, not the strong…
What do you think about when you hear this passage of scripture? Do you simply think of a man who sank in the water and needed someone to lift him up? Did you ever think deeper upon that? You see, it wasn’t until Peter took his eyes off Jesus when he began to sink. In the same way, in our lives, we are constantly given the opportunity to walk on the waters that try to have dominion over our lives, yet we choose to sink. We choose to fall prey. We choose to take our eyes off the savior of the issue, and focus in on the issues themselves. Our focus is everything. However, this isn’t the only lesson God wanted to show us from Peter’s experience. No, there is more.
When I read Peter say “Lord, save me,” I was reminded of another scripture.
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” –Matthew 11:12
Now, when people read where it says “…and the violent take it by force” speaking of the kingdom of heaven, people automatically assume one thing. They most likely think of this strong man of God who is 6’7 and has muscles starting at his ears, praying to God and God stopping the world and using him, jumping into battles guns blazing with explosions behind him taking out thousands of people by himself. First off, that isn’t what this scripture means.
To understand what it means to be “violent” and “taking by force,” I believe Peter gives us some insight. There is no better illustration than a person who is about to drown. When Peter was below those crashing waves, dominated by the waters, he had NOTHING. He was driven to a place of TOTAL and UTTER desperation. He was SO DESPERATE, that the ONLY thing on his mind, the ONLY thing he could say was “Save me!” He didn’t care about the waves anymore; he didn’t care about ANYTHING but his own survival. He looked for NOTHING but a hand to save his life and he VIOLENTLY grabbed the hand of Christ to save him. There was no thought involved. It wasn’t like Peter was thinking under the water “Hmm, should I reach for a hand or not?” No, Peter knew exactly where he was. He knew if he didn’t grab hold of a savior, he was going to DIE. So Peter, in his boldness, cried out for help and was saved.
Don’t you see? Listen to the language. Listen to what Peter says!
“Lord, save me!”
Yes, the Lord surely used Peter to demonstrate what He meant by this term of violence. It is the weak and desperate who are violent, not the strong…
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