Today, Selwyn explains the words from Matthew 11:12 (NIV); ‘From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men and women lay hold of it.’ (Notice the translation found in the NIV uses the word ‘forceful’ and not the word ‘violent’ found in the NKJV.) [...]
Jewish law allowed retribution for wrong-doings; ‘an eye for an eye’ – and to be fair, this system was designed to restrain retribution and punishment. Jesus changed this approach. As Selwyn writes in today’s study: “The paramount example of His non-violent attitude is the way He handled His death on the cross. Though ill treated, [...]
Selwyn continues to look at Matthew 11:12, and demonstrates that although Jesus was a type of revolutionary – ‘he was hardly violent.’ He goes on to say: “We have to admit that our Lord was a revolutionary, but the revolution He advanced was an upside-down revolution which replaced force with suffering, and violence with assertive [...]
Now Selwyn looks at the words of Matthew 11:12 (NKJV), ” … the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” At first sight it looks like a very difficult verse, but placed in context it may not be that hard to understand. It’s always important to read scripture in context, [...]
Today, Selwyn summarises his discussion on the issue that Jesus often used ‘shocking’ language to emphasise the importance of His message. Over the last few days, the message has been, that above all other people and relations, we must put God first; even before family and friends! Selwyn says: ” … His point then, and [...]
Now Selwyn gets down to explaining the earlier verses in Luke, and looks at a similar verse in Matthew: “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37) He goes on to say: ‘Our Lord [...]
No going back
Selwyn looks at the last part of the verse (Matthew 11:12, NIV): “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men and women lay hold of it.” He says: ” … the kingdom of God advances by spiritual forcefulness then it follows that those [...]
Continue reading about No going back