Disclaimer: What follows was written over two years ago. After preaching tonight I was approached about the subject and offered to share this for further insight. I thought the subject matter relevant to the ideas of this blog and thus, here it is. "A Necessary Violence" I hope it serves as a means of insight and inspiration.
From the time John preached his message until this very day the Kingdom of heaven has suffered violent attacks, and violent men try to seize it.
-Matthew 11:12 (TEV)
I love animals. I especially love large animals. Large birds, bears, big cats like: lions, tigers, and panthers. I like elephants, giraffes, and the other herbivorous large animals, but I especially enjoy watching the large carnivores. I enjoy watching them hunt. They are so artful, crafty, and swift for their size, it’s almost unbelievable to see them catch their prey.
There are many creationists (Christian scientists) who believe that there was a time when Lions and other carnivores ate no meat. They suggest that there was a crucial point in history long ago where there was a major shift in the natural order of things. They suggest that it was after Adam and Eve sinned. Still others may even suggest that it wasn’t until after the great global flood found in Genesis. Nevertheless, they are now skillful hunters and cold-blooded killers.
And that’s where the rubber meets the road because they aren’t necessarily cold-blooded (in all actuality, many of them are warm-blooded (sorry, couldn’t help myself). They don’t kill for the sheer pleasure of killing, as some do. They kill to eat. And they eat to live. They reason, “In order for me to live, somebody’s got to die.” Theirs is a necessary violence.
And so they hunt. Masterfully, artfully, carefully, cunningly stalking their prey. Grading and calculating which way they will have to run, how they will have to strike, and at what exact moment, all with matchless precision.
In the above verse, Jesus is (once again) making one of those statements that make you scratch your head. He uses such strong language, and words that He uses only this one time to describe the Kingdom of God. Nevertheless, He speaks of these seemingly negative traits as if they are positives—necessary (if you will).
He first qualifies his statement saying, “From the time John came on the scene and did his thing until now…” as if He is inviting us to get on the bandwagon with something new that’s happening. Keep and mind that Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins, and they were only about 6 months apart in age. John’s mother (Elizabeth) was pregnant with him when Mary first realized she was pregnant too (see Lk. 1:26-45). He (John) began his ministry not long before Jesus began His. They ministered during the same time period and their ministries overlapped. When John was ending his ministry, Jesus was beginning His. And all of this had happened fairly recently.
Now Jesus says, “This is something new that’s happening, and you want to get in on the bottom level. Act now. This offer will not last long. Call now while supplies last!”
Now we know that this is something positive because in the previous two verses Jesus gives a short and serious expression of how He sees the life and ministry of John the Baptist. He says, “John is the man to whom the Scriptures refer when they say, `Look, I am sending my messenger before you, and he will prepare your way before you. I assure you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist” (Mt. 11:10-11a). So right here in the text Jesus says that, “John’s ministry was important and powerful. He was anointed to prepare people to receive Me and my ministry, and there’s not another man who has ever lived who is greater than John.” Now Jesus was obviously not talking about John as a person; being compared to other people in general, but rather of his one-of-a-kind opportunity to prepare the way for (and present) the Messiah. No one else had that awesome privilege and thus he is the greatest (to prophesy of the coming King). Nevertheless, he did his part in the plan so masterfully and honorably that it added to his greatness.
And thus Jesus says, “John was great! So great that he started a trend.” Now I am not a trendy person. Frankly, I’m not much into trends at all. It’s my personal opinion that trends can often signal what’s wrong in the world rather than what’s right. So I largely, generally avoid them. I realize that sometimes it can be considered foolish (or even bad) to avoid certain trends because there are ones that lead us to greater effectiveness and productivity. I admit that that’s just the way I am. I’m working on that. In this case, Jesus suggests that it’s foolish, possibly even bad to avoid this trend.
He says, “Ever since John came preaching until this very moment the Kingdom of heaven now suffers violent attacks…”
Try hard to contain and control your astonishment. “…the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violent attacks…” It is the only place in the entire Bible where this phrase (“suffers violence”) is used. Now some would suggest it is the Kingdom of Heaven that promotes violence or “expands violently” but that is not the case as Jesus describes it. Everything in the verse is happening to the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom is on the receiving end. It doesn’t really make sense for an entire kingdom to be violent but then be (successfully) attacked, overthrown, taken-over by a few violent people. No. The Kingdom is passive. And ever since John came people have had this insatiable thirst to attack and even take the kingdom.
Talk about a hostile take-over?! This is what John started. This is who John was. John was hostile towards the order of things. John was dissatisfied with the way things were. John hated it that the temple was being used as the federal reserve bank of the greedy priests. John hated it that the scribes and Pharisees used their knowledge of the law to keep the blue-collar shepherd, peasant, factory-worker oppressed under pointless policies. John hated it that the people of God were supposed to be the rulers of the land they inhabited yet they were being imprisoned by another country’s foreign policy and police force. John hated it that the people who were supposed to be serving as Israel’s spiritual leaders were being pimped by petty politicians ploying to protect their own positions. John was dissatisfied with the way things were.
And so John resorted to drastic—violent measures. He moved out of the city and into the country. He got rid of his linen shirts and Gucci robes and started wrapping himself in burlap sacks and animal skins. He pushed aside the tilapia and halibut and started eating grasshoppers and wild honey. He spoke truth to power and didn’t care if they wanted to hear it or not. His sermons were straight and to the point and he didn’t pay attention to opinion polls. John hated injustice, immorality, hypocrisy, and the like. This brother had a hostile, violent attitude. That’s the way he lived his life, and that’s the way he served God.
He was on an all-out, vicious attack and God’s Kingdom was his target. God’s approval was his goal, and the evil workings of Satan were his only obstacle. He was a violent man of God, on a violent mission for God, with a violent word from God, doing the violent work of God, in preparation for the violent Son of God.
Now get this. In verses 13 and 14, Jesus said (and I’m paraphrasing) that, “the law and all the prophets did their part up until John, but John was special. If you guys would have really listened to him John was the present-day Elijah.” Now what’s this about Elijah? Elijah was another violent brother. And his was a necessary violence (see 1 Ki. 17).
Elijah began his ministry as a prophet during a time of great wickedness and rebellion against God. The people of God were constantly fighting, betraying, backbiting, plotting, and scheming against each other. And the kings were at the center of all the mess. They were so busy trying to position themselves favorably with other countries and with the people (in order to remain in power) that they had completely lost sight of their responsibility to ensure the people’s faithfulness to the will of God. The kings built temples, altars, and idols specifically designed to worship other gods as a means to find favor with other people groups and placate the people’s unholy alliances.
Jeroboam was a terribly wicked king. He rebelled against the established government and set up his own kingdom in the north. He then set up new worship centers so that the people didn’t even have to go down south for camp-meeting. The problem was he established these two new churches around two golden calves. Sound familiar? Yeah, the same exact image that made Moses break the two tablets of stone with the ten commandments on them. Then Jeroboam hired some gangsters to be the priests and pastors for his new churches. Not only that but even after Jeroboam was crippled and the Lord destroyed one of his altars he still expanded the kingdom’s idol worship further. This brother was so wicked that every wicked king who came after was called “One of Jeroboam’s boys.” He was the poster-boy for wicked leadership
Then, five kings and about 50 yrs later there was king Omri. This brother was so evil that the Bibles says that he worse than all the other kings before him (1 Ki. 16:25). In the very next verse the Bible is careful to mention that he was just like Jeroboam only much worse. Then Omri had a son named Ahab. And Ahab became king. Then the Bible says that this brother was so evil he made Jeroboam look like an imposter (see 1 Ki. 16:30-31).
Enter Elijah, the man God used to turn the people’s attention back to the true God. This was a violent brother. He immediately bursts on the scene and proclaims, “There ain’t gon’ be no rain, sleet, sleet, snow, hail, dew, or any other thing that even remotely resembles water falling from the sky until I say so.” Ever meet somebody with serious crowd control? This brother has crowd control. But not only that, this brother has cloud control. He is standing in front of the king of all of Israel and he’s calling the shots and giving the orders. It’s a “nobody move; nobody get hurt” sorta thing. This is a violent statement.
Now you’ve got to realize that Elijah said there won’t be any rain for the next few years so that obviously means that there will be a drought. Which also means there will be a famine. Because without irrigation the crops can’t grow. And notice the drought and famine had to reach more than 80 miles north of Samaria because he meets a Phoenician widow in the same chapter who is feeling the burden of barrenness.
So then fast forward a little bit to chapter 18 where Ahab and Elijah meet for the second time face to face. “Are you the one who’s been causin’ all this trouble in my kingdom?” This is a classic punk move! Ahab knows exactly who Elijah is because Elijah told Ahab to his face that it wasn’t gonna rain. But at this point he’s a bit intimidated by Elijah because everything has happened just as he said it would. And the fearless, violent Elijah looks him square in the eyes and says, “I’m not causin’ the trouble. It’s you and your daddy who’s caused all the trouble. You wanna take this outside?” And so the stage is set when he challenges Ahab to bring all of his false prophets to Mt. Carmel for a showdown. And whoever’s god responds by consuming their offering with fire is the true God.
So there stands Elijah by himself on the side of God with 400 prophets to the false god Baal on the other side. Elijah is outnumbered yet unafraid. The rules for this old-fashioned face-off are very simple. Each side is gonna cut up a bull and lay it on the altar and pray for their god to respond by sending down fire from the sky to eat up the offering. Elijah turns to the large crowd that showed up to see the showdown and he says, “How long are ya’ll gonna keep playing with God? Ya’ll need to make up your minds who you’re gonna serve. If Baal is god then serve him. If God is God serve Him.” He then turns to the prophets of Baal and says do your thing.
Baal’s prophets screamed cried and even cut themselves with knives all day until (finally) they gave up. Elijah steps up and commands that the altar of God be soaked with water. He made it so that the people knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that, “this is going to require a supernatural display of power in order to burn that animal.” Well, after Elijah prayed not only was the animal burned up, but the wood, the stones, and the water that had drained down into the trenches around the altar had all been sucked up by the heavenly flames.
Immediately, those people who had been too scared to stand for God just a few hours earlier were all kneeling and worshipping before the true God. Then Elijah turned toward the 400 prophets of Baal and ordered that they all be killed on the spot. Can you imagine how much blood was spilled on the top of that mountain? I tell you that Elijah was a violent brother.
Are you beginning to see the connection? I don’t want you to get it mixed up. John and Elijah’s violence was against evil not against people. The violence I’m talking about is a violence against evil not against people. Some of us are more violent against people than we are against evil. We take it literal when Elijah killed those 400 prophets of Baal and we start looking for the people who are not serving God so that they can run ‘em through with a knife. That’s exactly what we do to people e who struggling in their faith. We often kick ‘em when they’re down. No . But rather, I‘m suggesting that those 400 prophets are the 400 channels on Direct TV that try to steal the time that I could be serving God and pour it down the drain.
I’m talking about a necessary violence. They say if you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got. And I don’t know about you but I’m sick of evil. I’m sick of sin. I’m sick of inconsistency. I’m sick of unfaithfulness. I’m sick of a lack of commitment. I’m sick of addiction. I’m sick of gossip. I’m sick of lying and cheating. I’m sick of scheming. I’m sick of broken promises. I’m sick of betrayal. I’m sick spiritualism. I’m sick of witchcraft. I’m sick of murder. I’m sick of adultery. I’m sick of sexual immorality. I’m sick of pornography. I’m sick of hypocrisy. I’m sick of pride. I’m sick of false doctrine. I’m sick of hatred. I’m sick of drug abuse. I’m sick of evil in all of its forms, and I’m feeling a little violent right now.
They say the most dangerous animals are wounded animals. They will do anything to protect themselves from suffering further harm. Well call me a wounded animal because I’m feeling a little violent right now.
As a matter of fact I’m about to get real violent. But keep in mind this violence is against evil not against people. Oh but you best believe I’m still about to get real violent. Now remember Paul said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds (2 Cor. 10:4). Yeah so I got some weapons. I got me a bullet proof vest called righteousness. I got me a helmet called salvation. I got me a shield called faith. And I like the offensive weapons. I got me a sword called the word of God. And Paul was old-school, but I think if he were alive today he would’ve said that you need a gun. I got me a gun it’s called prayer and fasting. I got some weapons, and I’m about to get real violent.
I’m about to get violent with bible studies. I’m about to get violent with fervent intercessory prayer for the lost. I’m about to get violent with community service. I’m about to get violent by being kind to people who don’t even deserve it. I’m about to get violent with outreach. I’m about to get violent in faithfulness to the mission of the church. I’m about to get violent with witnessing and sharing my faith. I’m about to get violent and turn off the TV for a change. I’m about to get violent and have family worship. I’m about to get violent and visit the sick. I’m about to get violent in serving the Lord.
Desperate times call for desperate measures; and these are desperate times.
Now keep in mind. If you are hurting people then God is not pleased. And a lot of people like to say, “Well the truth hurts.” Yes the truth does hurt, but are you the type of person that people prefer to hear the hard truth from? If nobody wants to be around you, nobody wants to listen to you, nobody wants to hear what you got to say, babies don’t like you, kids run away from you, there must be something wrong.
Now remember the text. Jesus said, “John was Elijah….” (Mt. 11:14). And remember it was Elijah mission to turn the people’s attention back to God. And that’s exactly what John did. John was spiritually violent, but his entire focus was to point the people to the the most violent man who ever lived—Jesus Christ. It’s very fitting that Jesus is the one who makes this statement because He knows what spiritual violence is—He created the idea. It was a very violent move to give up his kingdom and be born as a poor peasant human on planet earth. It was a very violent move to fast for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. It was a very violent move to preach and teach the truth in the presence of people who wanted to kill Him. It was a very violent move to give sight to the blind, strength to the crippled, and life to those who were lying in their graves. John said that “Jesus came to destroy the works of devil” (1 Jn. 3:8). And his methods were very violent.
And if all that weren’t enough, He was betrayed, and denied by His own disciples, accused by liars in a kangaroo court, condemned by a heathen politician, and the whole time “He stood as Lamb before the slaughter…and He opened not His mouth (Is. 53:7). I wish I were there because I would have leaned over to him and said, “Now’’s a good time to say that thing again…’Thing of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.’” He dragged His own cross to the top of a mountain, and allowed these dirty, grimy, sinful, men to hammer spikes into his hands and feet. Then he hangs there for hours and all he says is “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” This is a necessary violence.
I told you before that those predators know that in order for them to live something else has to die. Well, Jesus knew that in order for us to live, somebody had to die. And this violent brother decided that that somebody would be Him. He allowed them to take him down off the cross and lay Him in a borrowed tomb. And see here’s the good part. Jesus is teaching us what pulling down strongholds is all about. Sometimes it takes drastic measure to bring about drastic change. No one had ever raised themselves up from the dead.
So when He comes bustin up out of that grave. He stands as the victor over a violent, bloody, battle with death, sin, and Satan. And he stood there at the mouth of that tomb saying, “Oh death where is thy sting, oh grave where is thy victory!” (1 Cor. 15:55). I told you Jesus is a very violent brother. And His is a necessary violence.
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