~ ~ fol A , 12. ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ἕως ἄρτι, ἡ βασιλεία a here τῶν οὐρανῶν ” βιάζεται, καὶ βιασταὶ ᾿ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν.
ατα
and in Lk. xvi. 16 (middle
13. πάντες 3 there).
γὰρ οἱ προφῆται καὶ ὁ νόμος ἕως ‘Iwdvvou προεφήτευσαν 1: 14. καὶ 0 ¢f. Phil. i.
(ἁρπαγ- μός).
1Μ9ΡΟΡΖ have the augment at the beginning (επροφ.). A has no augment.
simple matter of fact), and the point of comparison is the dominant spirit. The moral sternness of John was his great- ness and also his weakness. It made him doubt Jesus, kept him aloof from the kingdom, and placed him below any one who in the least degree understood Christ’s gracious spirit, ¢.g., one of the Twelve called in x. 42 ‘‘ these little ones ”.
Ver. 12. The statement just com- mented on had to be made in the in- terests of truth and the Kingdom of God, but having made it Jesus reverts with
pleasure to a tone of eulogy. This verse
has created much diversity of opinion, which it would take long to recount. I find in it two thoughts: one expressed, the other implied. (1) There has beena powerful movement since John’s time towards the Kingdom of God. (2) The movement derived its initial impetus from John. The latter thought is latent in ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμ. ἰωάν. The movement dates from John ; he has the credit of starting it. This thought is essential to the connection. It is the ultimate justification of the περισσότερον (ver. 9). The apostle Paul adduced as one argument for his apostleship, called in question by Judaists, success, which in his view was not an accident but God- given, and due to fitness for the work (2 Cor. ii. 14, iii. 1-18). So Christ here in effect proves John’s fitness for the position of forerunner by the success of his ministry. He had actually made the kingdom come. That was the true basis of his title to the honourable appellation, “preparer of the way”; without that it had been an empty title, though based on any number of pro- phecies. That success proved fitness, adequate endowment with moral force, and power to impress and move men. This being seen to be Christ’s meaning, there is no room for doubt as to the animus of the words βιάζεται, βιασταὶ. They contain a favourable, benignant estimate of the movement going on, not an unfavourable, as, among others, Weiss thinks, taking the words to point toa premature attempt to bring in the king- dom by a false way as a political crea- tion (Weiss-Meyer). Of course there
were many defects, obvious, glaring, in the movement, as there always are. Jesus knew them well, but He was not in the mood just then to remark on them, but rather, taking α broad, generous view, to point to the move- ment as a whole as convincing proof of John’s moral force and high prophetic endowment, The two words frat., βιασ. signalise the vigour of the move- ment. The kingdom was being seized, captured by a storming party. The verb might be middle voice, and is so taken by Beng., ‘‘sese vi quasi obtrudit,”’ true to fact, but the passive is demanded by the noun following. The kingdom is forcefully taken (βιαίως κρατεῖται, Hesychius) by the βιασταὶ. ‘There is probably a tacit reference to the kind of people who were storming the kingdom, from the point of view, not so much of Jesus, as of those who deemed themselves the rightful citizens of the kingdom. “ Publicans and sinners ” (ix. 9-12), the ignorant (xi. 25). What a rabble! thought Scribes and Pharisees. Cause of profound satisfaction to Jesus (ver. 25).
Vv. 13-15. Conclusion of speech about John. Ver. 13. The thought here is hinted rather than fully expressed. It has been suggested that the sense would become clearer if vv. 12 and 13 were made to change places (Maldonatus). This inyersion might be justified by teference to Lk. xvi. 16, where the two thoughts are given in the inverse order. Wendt (L. J., i. 75) on this and other grounds arranges the verses 13, 14, 12. But even as they stand the words can be made to yield a fitting sense, har- monising with the general aim, the eulogy of John. The surface idea is that the whole O. T., prophets of course, and even the law in its predictive aspects (by symbolic rites and foreshadowing in- stitutions) pointed forward to a Kingdom of God. The kingdom coming—the burden of O. T. revelation. But what then? To what end make this observa- tion? To explain the impatience of the stormers: their determination to have at last by all means, and in some form, what had so long been foretold ? (Weiss). No; but to define by contrast John’s