Matthew 11:12

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now, etc.] From the time that he began to preach, to the then present time, the kingdom of heaven, the Gospel, and the ministry of it, first by John, then by Christ and his apostles, suffereth violence; or “comes with force”, and power upon the souls of men: it was attended with the demonstration of the Spirit, and of power; as appeared by its being the means of quickening persons that were dead in trespasses and sins; enlightening the blind; causing the deaf to hear; melting and softening hearts of stone; making, of enemies, friends to God and Christ; turning men from the power of Satan unto God; setting at liberty such as were slaves and vassals…”

“And from the days of John ... - That is, from the days when John began to preach. It is not known how long this was, but it was not probably more than a year. Our Saviour here simply states a fact. He says there was a great rush or a crowd pressing to hear John. Multitudes went out to hear him, as if they were about to take the kingdom of heaven by force. See Matthew 3:5. So, he says, it has continued. Since “the kingdom of heaven,” or “the gospel,” has been preached, there has been a “rush” to it. People have been “earnest” about it; they have come “pressing” to obtain the blessing, as if they would take it by violence. There is allusion here to the manner in which cities were taken.…”

“And from the days of John - That is, from the time that John had fulfilled his ministry, men rush into my kingdom with a violence like that of those who are taking a city by storm. Matthew 11:13”

“11:12 the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing: Or the Kingdom of Heaven has suffered from violence. These alternatives reflect either a positive or negative nuance of the Greek verb. In Luke 16:16, a different verb (“preached”) makes it a clearly positive statement. • violent people are attacking it: This phrase may also have a positive or negative sense. If negative, it might refer to those who imprisoned John (see Matt 11:2; 14:1-12), and attacking might mean either that they were trying to attack the Kingdom but were unable to thwart God’s sovereign plans, or that they were attacking it by persecuting its members. In Luke 16:16 this statement has the positive sense that they…”

“from: Mat 21:23-32; Luk 7:29, Luk 7:30, Luk 13:24, Luk 16:16; Joh 6:27; Eph 6:11-13; Phi 2:12 suffereth violence, and the violent take: or, is gotten by force, and they that thrust men take, etc Matthew 11:13”