Matthew 11:14 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 11:14 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.”

And if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. The identification of John as the Elijah who is to come (Malachi 4:5) is qualified by the conditional if you are willing to accept it — the identification requires the receptive listener who can hear the spiritual reality behind the physical event. John did not come as the literal resurrected Elijah but as the one who came in Elijah's spirit and power (Luke 1:17). The willingness to accept it is the willingness to recognize the fulfillment even when it arrives differently than expected.

Church Fathers on Matthew 11:14

That what He had last said should not lead any to suppose that John was an alien from the kingdom of heaven, He corrects this by adding, 'From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.'
Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation · non occ.

By the kingdom of heaven is meant the heavenly throne, wither when sinners defiled with any evil deed return in penitence, and amend themselves, they enter as sinners into the place of another, and take by violence the kingdom of heaven.
Gregory the Great · 6th century · Hom in Ev., xx. 14

Because John the Baptist was the first who preached repentance to the people, saying, 'Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;' rightly therefore from that day forth it may be said, that 'the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.' For great indeed is the violence, when we who are born of earth, seek an abode in heaven, and obtain by excellence what we have not by nature.
Jerome · 4th century

Read all 11 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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