Mathew 11

Today I was reading Mathew 11 and12 and there were a couple of verses that stuck out for me. The first one was Mathew 11:12.

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

This is a verse that always makes me pause when I read it, maybe I don't read it with the correct inflection. At any rate, tonight I decided to get my commentary of the bible out to see what another christian said about this verse. It is called Popular Commentary of the Bible, and was written by Paul E. Kretzman. So I got in there and what I got from it was that those who heard the gospel from Christ and believed, did so with great zeal, and they did not delay, but took for themselves the promises Christ made, which are the same today. Namely, free forgiveness through Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection. I had read this as an explanation before, but was reserved to accept it as true. Please Lord Jesus teach me if this is true, and help me to be sure. Amen.

The second thing that caught my attention was Mathew 11:28-30.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

These verses always give me pause, because of the beautiful way in which the God of heaven and earth, the creator of the universe, calls out to those who are burdened by their sins. Of course, no matter what they do, they find no comfort in this worlds realms, so Jesus tells them where comfort is to be found. Through him. Freely he offers, freely receive! Amen.