Matthew 11:12

Days of John. That is, the time during which the Baptist proclaimed the coming of the Messiah and the Messianic kingdom, probably from the spring of A.D. 27 to the spring of A.D. 29 (see on ch. 3:1; see The Ministry of Our Lord).

Until now. That is, from the time of John’s imprisonment in the spring of A.D. 29 to the autumn of the same year (see on Luke 7:18). For the chronological relationship of Matthew’s feast (see on Matt. 9:18), the question about fasting (Mark 2:18-22), and the visit of John’s disciples to Jesus with the question that prompted Christ’s discussion concerning John recorded in Matt. 11:7-30, see DA 275-277.

The kingdom of heaven. This was the theme of John’s preaching as it was later of Jesus and His disciples on the Third Galilean Tour (see chs. 3:2; 4:23; 10:7). For this and the significance of the expression “the kingdom of heaven” see on ch. 3:2.

Suffereth violence. Gr. biazo, “to use force,” or “to apply force.” Opinions differ as to the precise meaning of the statement. Some hold that it means that crowds were zealous to follow Jesus; others, that the kingdom of divine grace (see on ch. 3:2) experienced violence in the sense that a great many of those who thronged about John and Jesus did so with little or no real understanding of the true nature of the kingdom (see on Mark 1:38). At the close of the Third Galilean Tour, a short time before the Passover of A.D. 30 (DA 364) and when Christ was at the very crest of a wave of popularity, there was an attempt to force Him to accept the crown of a temporal kingdom (see John 6:15; DA 378). Those who listened to John and to Jesus had more than enough zeal, but their zeal was “not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2). Under any circumstances, the true kingdom was misunderstood and its purposes hindered by those who posed as its friends.