Day 11 of Advent, 12/14/23: A Gentle Forcefulness (Mt 11:12)

Violent men forcefully take hold of the Kingdom of Heaven. My preferred translation of the ambiguous Matthew 11:12 is from the 1984 NIV (which differs from the current 2011 NIV): "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful [violent] men lay hold of it." ["...the enforcers snatch it" (Scot McKnight's translation)]

I've shared often that I have a Type A personality, which is ABCD: aggressive / aggravating, brutal / blunt, confrontational / confounding and doggedly determined (i.e. stubbornly stone headed, as my pastor had told me decades ago!). Last week a friend said that he prefers a Type C (Christ) personality, which I interpret as "consecrated and conformed to the character of Christ." Yes, I desire Type C, but unfortunately my Type A within me dies hard, or even refuses to die as it resurfaces time and again.

Jesus, my Lord, was clearly subjected to the most horrific violence for the sake of the kingdom of God (Ps 22:1; Mt 27:46; Mk 15:34). Jesus is the most forceful person, but he is also the most gentle person who ever lived. His gentleness drew many to him. His "forcefulness" got him killed. I like Jesus' forcefulness for the kingdom, but lag far far behind in his gentle and humble heart (Mt 11:29). I know and realize more and more that my forcefulness is often the result of my own pride and ego that is not tempered by the Holy Spirit. Yet I can't change the evil inclination of my own heart (Gen 6:5).

Lord, I pray to learn your gentle forcefulness. I pray for your Spirit to subdue my human forcefulness, which arises from me and not from God. May your kingdom come and your will be done through men and women of Spirit driven gentle forcefulness.

Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church Matthew 11:11–15 Friends, in today's Gospel, Jesus says to the crowds, "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force." The title for Flannery O'Connor's irresistibly powerful second and final novel, The Violent Bear It Away, is taken from the Douay-Rheims translation of this last phrase. This famously ambiguous passage has given rise to a variety of interpretations over the centuries. Many have taken it to mean that the kingdom of God is attacked by violent people (such as those who killed John the Baptist) and that they threaten to take it away. But others have interpreted it in the opposite direction, as a word of praise to the spiritually violent who manage to get into the kingdom. Flannery O'Connor herself sides with this latter group. The "violent," on this reading, are those spiritually heroic types who resist the promptings and tendencies of our fallen nature and seek to discipline it in various ways in order to enter into the kingdom of God. .