“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.”

The kingdom of heaven suffers violence as the violent take it by force. However, as you read the Gospel accounts, there appears to be little in the way of violence with regard to what the kingdom of heaven suffers or how it is taken. Jesus walks on earth and is relatively unscathed only until He allows Himself to be captured, beaten, and crucified. Until Jesus’ time had come, there were only those who sought to stone Him and throw Him over the cliff, but failed—no account of a scraped knee, lacerated members, broken bones, bloody nose, or black eye; no account of battles and wars. Jesus walks around and teaches wherever He goes, healing the infirm, raising the dead to life, and forgiving the sins of the people.

Where was the kingdom of heaven suffering violence? How were the violent taking it by force?

Today’s text follows last week’s text, and in truth, found it’s way into last week’s sermon. As a result, what you hear today will, in some parts, be a rehash of what you heard last week. This is not all bad; as I’ve mentioned quite recently, just like children often need to hear the same things over and over again from their parents, so children of the Heavenly Father need to hear the same thing from Him over and over again.

“Good Teacher,” the man asked Jesus, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Essentially, Jesus replied, “If you’re looking for something ‘to do,’ keep the Law...all of it.” “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth,” the man boldly stated. “One thing you lack,” Jesus replied, “[G]o, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” And the man went away sorrowful because he had great possessions. (cf. Mark 10:17-22)

I can’t help but think of a wedding sermon with today’s text. After all, Mark recorded the words of Jesus thus: “’Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.” A man and a woman are being given to each other—they are a gift to each other—and they are being joined together. While there is mutual consent on the part of the man and the woman, it is interesting to note that they are each more recipient than giver. Let me explain: The woman gives herself to the man, but so does her Father, as does God; therefore, a man ought to see his wife as a gift from her, her father, and especially God, and the same is said of a woman with regard to her husband.

Scripture uses this image of husband and wife to describe how things are between Himself and His Church. St. Paul illustrated this beautifully in his letter to the Ephesians:

Jesus said,

How dear to God are these little ones! Jesus says that their angels always see the Face of His Father. There are angels assigned to His little ones, and they are always before the throne of God. These angels, messengers of God, are much more than part of God’s creation that merely gaze upon the Face of the Father. St. John wrote that under the leadership of Michael the archangel, the angels of God cast the dragon and those angels who followed him from the Face of God. The dragon is the devil and Satan, that serpent of old. (cf. Revelation 12:7-9) The prophet Daniel also wrote of Michael, the great prince who watches over the sons of the children of Israel, who on the last day will come at the time of great conflict, but that the people of God would be delivered through it. (cf. Daniel 12:1-2) It is these warrior-messengers of God that keep watch over the little ones, and they are always before the Face of the Father.

It all begs the question; who are “these little ones?” Well, you’d certainly be right in calling them children, but “these little ones” are more than children.

Jesus had taken Peter, James, and John up to the top of a mountain. While they were there, the rest of the disciples were approached by a man whose son was possessed. So violent was this spirit, that it would throw down the man’s son into convulsions, including foaming at the mouth, gnashing his teeth, and becoming rigid. Many times, this spirit caused the son to convulse into water or fire. Today, this mute spirit might be mistaken for epilepsy.

The man had hoped that Jesus’ disciples would be able to exorcise his son. The disciples must have thought that they could, too. They had done the same before. Several chapters before today’s text, Jesus had “appointed twelve…so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons.” (Mark 3:14-15) A little while after that, Jesus sent them out to two-by-two into the surrounding towns and villages where they “proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.” (Mark 6:12-13) “The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught.” (Mark 6:30) Casting out demons was something that Jesus’ disciples were used to doing, certainly something that they had done before; surely they would be able to cast out the demon from this man’s son, or so they thought.

They were not able to. Now, you know how things often go when you try to do something and fail. There are those around who will point and laugh, mocking you in the process. There are your opponents who will use any failure as evidence against you in one cause or another, whether or not their point is valid. It’s the kind of thing you see in political attack ad after political attack ad; one candidate’s failures are given as proof that they should not be elected to the office they are running for, and his or her opponent responds in kind. It’s the kind of thing you probably saw and heard in the recent presidential and debate (I wouldn’t know as I didn’t watch it). And, it’s exactly what the scribes and the nine disciples were doing when Jesus, Peter, James, and John came down from the mountain.