Seeking Him in the Wee Hours of the Night

Jesus Praying All Night

It's natural and normal for us to prioritize sleep, since our physical bodies and brains need time to rest, and when we don't get it properly, then we don't feel well. However, the passages of Scripture about people in the Bible being awake during the night seeking the Lord show us that this was a greater priority than sleep for them. Let's take a look and see.
Paul
Our first example is Paul the apostle. He described the hardships he had suffered for Christ, saying that he had served the Lord "in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger." (2 Cor 6:5, NIV).

One instance for which we have a record of one of those sleepless nights he had was when he and Silas were singing praises to God at midnight in the Philippian jail. Scripture says, "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them." (Ac 16:25, NIV). They chose to stay awake singing hymns to God rather than sleeping, and the Lord used it mightily by sending an earthquake that opened the prison doors. But Paul chose instead to use that as an opportunity to share Jesus with the jailer rather than to escape.

Another instance is when he received the vision of the man from Macedonia, which happened during the night also. "During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (Ac 16:9, NIV). This was not a dream but a vision while he was awake during the night. Perhaps he was seeking the Lord alone while the others were sleeping.

Psalmists
The next example is the psalmists, who had many sleepless nights.

The blessed man is the one who meditates on the Word of God day and night, so he spending time with the Lord at night. "But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night." (Psa 1:2)

"I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears." (Ps 6:6, NIV).

"When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches..." (Psa 63:6)

"In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; My soul refused to be comforted...You have held my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, The years of long ago. I will remember my song in the night; I will meditate with my heart, And my spirit ponders." (Psa 77:2-6)

"O LORD, the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in the night before You." (Psa 88:1)

"Awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn!" (Psa 108:2). Normally the dawn awakens man, but in this case, the psalmist said he would be the one to awaken the dawn, as he got out of bed to sing and worship.

"O LORD, I remember Your name in the night, And keep Your law." (Psa 119:55)

Even after the psalmist was in bed, he would rise at midnight for a time of thanksgiving to God. "At midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You Because of Your righteous ordinances." (Psa 119:62)

"I rise before dawn and cry for help; I wait for Your words. My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word."(Psa 119:147-148)

"Surely I will not enter my house, Nor lie on my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, Until I find a place for the LORD, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."
(Psa 132:3-5)

Jesus Christ

The third example is Jesus Himself. "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." (Mar 1:35, NIV). Since he got up and went off to pray alone outdoors so early in the morning before dawn, it was probably sometime between 4:30 and 5:00 AM.

Then there was the time when He went up into the hills to pray all night while the disciples struggled at the oars, rowing against the wind all night on the lake. "After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea." (Mat 14:23-25). In this instance, He prayed from evening (anytime between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM) until the fourth watch of the night (between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM). So he may have prayed alone in the hills from 7:00 PM until 4:00 AM. He was not sleeping, but spending time with the Father.

That was certainly not an isolated incident. Another instance when He prayed all night was before He chose His twelve disciples. Luke wrote: "One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." (Lk 6:12, NIV).

We can't forget the late night prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed. Scripture records:

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me." And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done." Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. Then He came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. "Get up, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!" (Mat 26:36-46).

First of all, He chose to spend that night in prayer rather than sleep, so the enemy would not catch Him off guard, because He knew He would be betrayed on that night. He won the victory in prayer in the garden, and that is why He was able to endure the cross the next day. He expected the three disciples Peter, James, and John to keep watch with Him while He prayed. He was probably just as tired as they were, and perhaps even more so, since He routinely arose earlier than they did for prayer in the morning. 

How did Jesus address His disciples who were supposed to be praying with Him late at night? When He saw them sleeping, He asked, "...you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." That proves that He prayed for a full hour that night, and He was expecting His disciples to do the same with Him. He was surprised that they could not do it, and He admonished them to keep watching and praying as He had told them to do, since their flesh was weak, even though their spirits were willing.

We know the attitude that Peter had expressed earlier that evening at the last supper, when he said he would go to prison with Jesus and even die for Him. His spirit was willing, but since his flesh was weak, and since he slept rather than prayed that night, he later ended up denying the Lord three times.

First Century Saints
The fourth example is the saints in the first century. Were the saints in the first century more concerned about getting enough sleep or hearing the Word of God and breaking bread together? Scripture says:

"On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight..." (Act 20:7-8).

During this all-night church meeting, a young man fell asleep and fell from a window he was sitting in, plunging to his death three stories below. After Paul went down and raised him from the dead, he went back up and rather than send everyone home because it was late, he continued the meeting until dawn. The Bible says, "When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left." (Act 20:11). Obviously Paul was undeterred by that incident and proceeded with the all-night meeting as planned. He didn't apologize and the church didn't complain to him that they needed their sleep or that the meeting was going too long. They were hungry for God. Being together in that place breaking bread and listening to the Word of God was more important than sleep. This is foreign to the twenty-first century church, which prefers short messages and meetings.

Apparently that occasion was another one of Paul's many sleepless nights that he wrote about in his epistle to the Corinthians, as I mentioned earlier (2 Cor 6:5).

He Gives Sleep to Those He Loves
All of this talk about praying and meeting together in the middle of the night might cause you to wonder if God even cares about sleep at all. If it does, then let me assure you that God knows your need for sleep and He fulfills it. The psalmist said, "In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for He grants sleep to those he loves." (Psa 127:2). This means that people who assume too much of the burden of toiling for life's basic necessities, and fail to trust the Lord to provide, are burning the candle at both ends for nothing. They need to remember that the Lord gives sleep to those He loves.

Sleep Deficit of Christ

Did you ever wonder when Jesus found time to sleep, since He often prayed during the middle of the night or in the very early hours of the morning before daylight? Not only that but during the day He stayed very busy serving others by preaching to them, teaching them, healing them, feeding them, and casting demons out of them. When did Jesus sleep? Perhaps He got a little bit of sleep at night, and on certain occasions He caught a brief nap during the day. Did He always get enough sleep? I suppose He probably did not. I'm sure there were plenty of times when he got less than eight hours of sleep, which is that amount that most people today associate with their basic, daily requirement. In fact, it is my opinion that He probably got around five hours or less of sleep per night on average. On some occasions He may have only gotten three hours of sleep or none at all, so it's likely that He lived with an ongoing sleep deficit, and since He was fully human as well as fully God, He probably felt the physical effects of it in much the same way we do when we don't get enough sleep. 

Sleeping Through a Storm
Children are known to be sound sleepers who can sometimes sleep right through a major thunderstorm. Perhaps it's because they don't have any worries and they enjoy deep, peaceful sleep.
How do you suppose Jesus was able to sleep in the boat during the storm? Probably because he had faith in His Father in heaven to protect Him from all harm, which would explain why He asked His panicking disciples when they awakened Him, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Here is the account from Mark's gospel:

"Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, 'Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?' And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Hush, be still.' And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?'" (Mar 4:38-40).

Luke's gospel states: "As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger." (Lk 8:23, NIV). It was as they sailed that Jesus fell asleep, because he was probably tired and entrusted Himself to the Father. Even though the boat was being swamped and they were in great danger, Jesus remained asleep, because He had peace in His heart. As He slept, His heart was as placid as the sea was after he calmed it.

Matthew's gospel says, "Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping." (Matthew 8:24, NIV). This emphasizes the fact that it was not just a typical rain, but a furious storm that suddenly came upon them, and the waves were actually washing right over the top of the boat. However, throughout all of that noisy, intensely turbulent action, Jesus was sleeping. That's one of the benefits He enjoyed of spending those long nights in prayer. Whenever He did get some sleep, He slept like a rock.

He could say with David, "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me...In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety." (Ps 3:5; 4:8, NIV)

The Lord experienced what the Holy Spirit spoke through the mouth of Isaiah the prophet, who said, "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You; because he trusts in You. Trust in Jehovah forever; for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength." (Isa 26:3-4, MKJV). May the Lord help us to keep our minds stayed upon Jehovah. As we do so, He will keep us in perfect peace, even in the midst of life's storms, because we trust in Him. That was the secret to Jesus sleeping during the storm.

Primary Source of Rest
Does our rest primarily come from sleep or from God? Scripture says it comes from God.

As David said, "Truly my soul finds rest in God...Yes, my soul, find rest in God." (Ps 62:1,5, NIV).

The Lord replied [to Moses], “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Ex 33:14, NIV). This means that it is God who gives us rest through His abiding presence with us. When you have the presence of the Lord with you, then you will experience rest as He refreshes you. For times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord (Ac 3:19b, NASB).

In this way, the Lord sustains us -- both young and old -- even when we have not gotten adequate sleep. As Isaiah said:

"He gives power to the weary; and to him with no vigor; He increases strength. Even the young shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but those who wait on Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." (Isa 40:29-31, MKJV)

There is rest for the weary, if they will come to Jesus and trust Him. He said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Mat 11:28-29; cf., Mk 6:30-37). May the Lord help us to understand that He alone can give us rest. The flesh, the world, and the devil will run us ragged and lead us to exhaustion. But in Christ we find true rest, which is not merely a physical rest resulting from sleep, but much more than that -- rest for our souls. Until you have found that rest in Him, you would not be able to understand how or why anyone would miss sleep to be with Him, because you might be incorrectly associating rest only with sleep. As someone said, "Sleep really is overrated."

Essentials of Getting Good Sleep
What are some essentials to getting good sleep?

The second wisest man in the world taught us how to enjoy sweet sleep when he said, "The LORD by wisdom founded the earth, By understanding He established the heavens. By His knowledge the deeps were broken up And the skies drip with dew. My son, let them not vanish from your sight; Keep sound wisdom and discretion, So they will be life to your soul And adornment to your neck. Then you will walk in your way securely And your foot will not stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet." (Pro 3:19-24). So the key to sweet sleep is keeping sound wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discretion.

Loving Sleep
Although we all need to get some sleep for our health, should we love sleep? No, we shouldn't. There are actually numerous warnings against loving sleep in the Bible.

Solomon warned, "Do not love sleep, or you will become poor; Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food." (Pro 20:13)

And again, "How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man. (Pr 6:9-11, NIV)

Be careful not to look only to sleep as your comfort, because then what will you do if it is disrupted? Job said, "If I say, 'My bed will comfort me, My couch will ease my complaint,' Then You frighten me with dreams And terrify me by visions." (Job 7:13-14)

That's why a hard working man can enjoy sweet sleep, regardless of how much he eats, while a rich man may not. Solomon said, "The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep." (Ecc 5:12, NIV)

We must be careful not to love sleep, because it should not become a top priority in our lives above the Lord. It is possible to de-prioritize the things of God like worship, prayer, the Word, preaching, breaking of bread, and doing His will, and thus fall asleep spiritually. What good is it if you get a full night's sleep every night but lose your soul?

"For this reason it says, 'Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.' Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil." (Eph 5:14-16). This Scripture is just as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago. Many are fast asleep spiritually in these last and evil days, and are in desperate need of an awakening. Let's wake up, people!

"And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. (Rom 13:11, NIV).

Listen to what Jesus said to the Church of Sardis:

"To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.'" (Rev 3:1-3)

Jesus says, "Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame." (Rev 16:15)

Modern Examples
In addition to all the examples I have already given of people who prayed in the wee hours of the night and morning, I'd like to cite some examples of modern day people who have done so. One person who comes to mind is John Wesley, who rose daily at four or five o’clock in the morning for private prayer.

Another one I'd like to mention is brother Yong Doo Kim, a South Korean pastor, who led his church in all night prayer meetings for a month one year in January. During that time, he and the members of the Lord's Church that he pastors began to have supernatural encounters in the spirit realm. This brought about a mighty, spiritual awakening not only in that church, but in the lives of people like me around the world who have read his series of books called Baptized by Blazing Fire, which recounts many of those supernatural encounters that his church experienced. Many people like me have also attended his all-night meetings called holy fire revival meetings that go on for three or four days at a time in locations around the world where he travels. I am a life that was changed after reading his books and attending his all-night revival meetings that he held in Liege, Belgium in 2012. That in turn impacted my whole family and brought about a spiritual awakening among us all, as well as transformed my ministry and powerfully touched the lives of many people to whom I have ministered.

If you would like to learn more about that, then I recommend reading my articles Baptized by Blazing Fire -- a Korean church's testimony and Holy Fire Baptism.

Closing Words
While it may be natural to prioritize sleep, we see plenty of examples of people in the Bible being awake during the night seeking the Lord, which teaches us that this was a greater priority than sleep for them. These people included our Lord Jesus, in whose steps we should follow, as well as Paul, who said to follow him as he followed Christ. Other examples include the psalmists and the saints in the first century church, who sometimes pulled "all-nighters" in prayer, worship, and listening to the Word.

Based on what we know from Scripture, due to the prayer life that Jesus maintained, we could safely conclude that He probably operated with a sleep deficit during His days on earth. The same could also be said of Paul and many of his fellow first-century disciples. These students were not above their Teacher, but once they had been fully trained, they became like their Teacher. As Jesus Himself said, "The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher." (Lk 6:40, NIV).

According to Scripture, the Lord gives sleep to those He loves, so we don't need to fret and toil at our occupations from the time we get up until we go to bed. We can go to bed trusting Him to provide for us. Yet even though He does give sleep to us, we should not love sleep or make it a top priority above God and His will for our lives. We should always remember that God and His glorious presence with us is our primary source of rest, not sleep. When we come to Christ and He is our focus, then He'll keep us in perfect peace and give us rest for our souls. Then we will be able to sleep peacefully through the furious storms of life. As we maintain wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and discretion, we will enjoy sweet sleep.

Finally, the time has come for us to wake up, arise from the dead, and strengthen what remains, so that Christ may shine on us. We are nearer now to Christ's soon return than when we first believed, and each day we are another day closer to it, so let's stay awake and keep our clothes, so that we will not go about shamefully exposed.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, copyright Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Other Scriptures where indicated are from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission.Image of Jesus Praying All Night may be subject to copyright, used according to the Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes. The first boat in the storm painting is Christ Asleep in His Boat, by Jules Joseph Meynier. The second boat in storm painting is Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee - 1695, by Ludolf Bakhuizen.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, please also see the following: Who Intercedes for Us, Crying Out to God Loudly, Lifting Your Face in Prayer, Lifting Hands in Prayer, Praying Heart-Prayers, Standing in the Gap, and Baptized with the Holy Spirit. You may find the Main Directory for this blog at Home, and you may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Taking Heaven by Force

Intense prayer in S. Korea

Some people are opposed to intense prayer, and they feel it is completely unnecessary.  They feel that it is rude and ungodly behavior.  But I want to show you from God's Word today that when you pray fervently, earnestly, intensely and with focused faith, your prayers are much more powerful. Jesus spoke of this, as recorded in Luke 16:16 and Matthew 11:12.  So let's take a close look at both of those passages.

According to Luke
Jesus said, “the Kingdom of God is being preached and everyone is forcing his way into it” (Luke 16:16).  Some people teach this passage to mean that in Jesus day and now there were bad guys who thought incorrectly that they could force their way into the kingdom.  However, the Greek word for pressing into it is biazitai.  It is nearly always used in the middle despondent tense.  According to the Bauer-Arndt-Gingritch Greek Lexicon, this word may either have a bad connotation of something being violently treated or a good one.  There is a wealth of information found in that Lexicon on page 140.  Among other possible meanings, it may mean:

“to occupy by force”
“is sought with burning zeal”
“makes its way with triumphant force”

Repentance is much like this, rather than a passive act carried out almost imperceptibly while in a neutral state.  It is a radical change of mind, and that’s the first step to entering the Kingdom.   We enter the Kingdom through repentance and faith, and biazitai depicts the forceful, zealous nature of that entrance.  In fact, as Luke recorded within the same grammatical context, Jesus taught, “unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:5). 

Biazitai may also be understood as the “genteel constraint imposed on a reluctant guest.”  In other words, it may mean to invite urgently.  See Judges 13:15 and Genesis 33:11 for examples.  Any of these good connotations fit well with the context of the Luke 16:16 passage. 

All we have to do is go to Luke 14 to find the man who prepared a banquet.  Did he not use “genteel constraint imposed on reluctant guests.”  Yes, he did.  He sent his servant to tell his invited guests, “Come, for everything is ready.” (Luke 14:17)  In the end when they refused his genteel constraint, did he not in burning zeal send his servant to “bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame?” (Luke 14:21)  Yes, and when there was room for more guests, did he not tell his servant to go and “make them come in”?  Yes, he did.  This was Jesus way of illustrating the “feast in the kingdom of God.”  The burning zeal with which the host invited his guests illustrated the preaching of the gospel.  So did the forceful way he sent his servant to “make” more of them come in.

Or for additional context, we may refer to Luke 15 where we see the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son.  Were they not invited urgently and sought with burning zeal?  Yes, they were! Did they not make there way with triumphant force?  Yes, they did!! The lost sheep was sought with burning zeal, found with rejoicing, and returned to the flock triumphantly.  This was compared to the repentance of one sinner.  The lost coin was also sought with burning zeal, found with rejoicing, and returned to the owner triumphantly.  This also was compared to the repentance of one sinner.  The lost son was sought with burning zeal, as his father ran to him while he was still a long way off.  He was found by his father with rejoicing and celebration, and returned to his home triumphantly. 

As Luke went on to record in chapter 16, Jesus did not say the Kingdom of God is being preached and many are trying to force their way into it.  He actually said, “Everyone is forcing his way into it”.  I think he meant what he said, especially when we consider the context in which it was said.  The “everyone” Jesus referred to was “the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind” whom he urged his own host to invite when he gave a luncheon (Luke 14:13).  The “everyone” he referred to who was forcing his way into the Kingdom of God was the tax collectors and sinners that “were all gathering around to hear him” (Luke 15:1)

One of those tax collectors was a short man named Zacchaeus.  In fact, he was a chief tax collector, and we know that tax collectors were despised for their corruption.  But despite this man’s vast wealth, he wanted to see Jesus.  In order to do so, he “ran ahead” of the crowd and “climbed” a tree.  This corrupt man was seeking Jesus with burning zeal.  And when Jesus reached the spot where he was, the Lord looked up at him and said, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I must stay at your house today” (Luke 19:5).  The Greek here indicates that Jesus said, “Hurry! Come down!”  There was urgency, genteel constraint, and an insistence in Jesus’ request.  Zacchaeus came down at once, and welcomed Jesus gladly.  He didn’t hesitate for a moment, indicating his burning zeal.  When Jesus went to this man’s home, people said, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner” (Luke 19:7).  But Zacchaeus stood up and repented wholeheartedly, offering full restitution to the victims of his extortion (Luke 19:8).  Here was another violent man who pressed into the Kingdom and made his way with triumphant force. Jesus said salvation had come to his house that day, and that it was lost men like this one that he had come to save.

According to Matthew
Before we look at the companion passage found in Matthew 11:12, read the chapters preceding Matthew 11, and you will see numerous examples of people laying hold of the kingdom with burning zeal or triumphant force.  This is a perfect example of understanding a verse in its proper, larger context:

Matthew 8:2 - The leper
Matthew 8:6 – The centurion
Matthew 9:2 – The paralytic
Matthew 9:18 – The ruler
Matthew 9:20 – The hemorrhaging woman
Matthew 9:27 – The blind man

These people stood in stark contrast to that fickle and impenitent generation, who on the one hand complained that John the Baptist was too straight-laced and on the other hand complained that Jesus was a friend of sinners (Matthew 11:18,19). 

Now we come to the companion passage in Matthew’s gospel.  Since the two inspired writers were recording the same incident where Jesus spoke these words, we can better understand what Jesus meant by cross-referencing the passages.  Here’s a comparison of Matthew’s record and Luke’s record of Jesus' words:

Matthew's Record	Luke's Record
For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John	The Law and the Prophets proclaimed until John
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing	Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached
Forceful men lay hold of it	Everyone is forcing his way into it

Matthew 11:12 – “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”  The main difference in this passage is that instead of saying “everyone is forcing his way into” the kingdom, the term “forceful men” is used.  The term here for forceful men is biastas.  Whenever this term is used it is in a bad sense to mean violent, impetuous men.  This could be viewed as a reference to the fact that sinners were the ones repenting and entering the kingdom, not the righteous.  Was Jesus pointing out here that these violent impetuous people are laying hold of the kingdom now since the time of John the Baptist?  I happen to think so. It is not those who are righteous in their own eyes that are entering the kingdom, it is the sinners.  It is not the healthy that Christ came to save, but the sick.  There’s more rejoicing over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent (Luke 15:7). 

Once again, please note that Jesus did not say the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men try to lay hold of it. He actually said, “Forceful men lay hold of it.” I think he meant what he said.  If there is any question about what it means to “lay hold” of the kingdom, we can refer to the companion passage in Luke to see it means “press into it”.  If these men were simply trying to enter through some unauthorized means of violence, then they would never have successfully entered as Jesus said they did.

Determining the meaning of the phrase “lay hold of it” is further aided by a Greek word study.  The single word harpazo is used in the Matthew 11:12 passage, so let’s take a moment to see what it means. 

The Kittel’s Theological Dictionary of the New Testament states on p. 472 of volume I:
Since harpazo does not here mean either to bring in by force or to plunder, only three alternatives are open in the difficult saying at Matthew 11:12 [emphasis mine].  a. It may mean that the kingdom of God is stolen, i.e., taken away from men and closed to them; b. it may mean that violent men culpably try to snatch it to themselves; or c. it may mean that men forcefully take it in a good sense [emphasis mine].  Linguistically all three are possible.  The first and third are to be taken most seriously.  The former is suggested by the emphatic use of biazomai, by the correspondence between biazetai and biastai and perhaps by the Matthean context.  The latter is supported by the fact that the decisively new thing since the appearance of John the Baptist is the powerful irruption of the kingdom of God.  This is the presupposition for its being taken.  It demands resolute earnestness on the part of men if they are to enter it [emphasis mine].  Furthermore, the idea of men themselves taking away the kingdom of God is strange and is hardly supported by such parallels as Mt. 13:19, where the evil one snatches away the seed and not the kingdom, or Mt. 23:13, where closing the kingdom to men is not quite the same as taking it away.

So while Kittel’s Dictionary acknowledges the difficulty in determining the meaning of harpazo in this Matthew 11:12 passage, it supports the meaning that men forcefully take the Kingdom in a good sense.  Likewise, the Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich Greek Lexicon acknowledges the difficulty in determining the meaning of harpazo in this particular passage. But it points out that the use of harpazo beside the word biasein probably means something like “seize” or “claim for oneself.”  Both these reputable and scholarly works help us to better understand the meaning of harpazo. 

Let’s return now to our comparison of the Matthew and Luke passages, aided by the table above.  When we carefully interpret these two companion passages in their proper context, and rely on each one to interpret the other, we find that Jesus basically spoke of two things that were successfully happening: 1) The first one was a good thing, which was that the kingdom of heaven was forcefully advancing.  This was happening through the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom.  Jesus clearly said, “the Kingdom of God is being preached.” 2) The second thing was that “everyone is forcing his way into it.” Or as Matthew phrased it under the anointing of the Spirit, “Forceful men lay hold of it.”  There is no reason to believe that this second thing that was successfully happening did not also have a good connotation.  Why was it good?  It was good because up until John the Baptist started preaching, all the prophets and the Law prophesied about this day. Now it was actually coming to pass! 

If we read this in context, I think this interpretation fits quite clearly.  Jesus was still responding to those the imprisoned John had sent to him asking if He was the one who was to come, or whether they should expect someone else.  Jesus was clearly saying that the Prophets and the Law had prophesied or spoken in advance about this day and now it was coming to pass.  What a wonderful report to send back to John to answer his questioning mind.  The “blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” (Matthew 11:5). 

It’s often good to ask the question, “Why did the inspired Bible writer record this at this point in the text?”  We may ask this about verse 5 as was just mentioned and about verse 12, where he records Jesus saying, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”  In answer to the question why Matthew recorded these statements at this point, first they were all part of Jesus’ response to John’s famous question. And secondly, they flow perfectly with Matthew’s previously documented the healings of the leper and centurion (chapter 8), the paralytic, the ruler, the hemorrhaging woman, and the blind man (chapter 9).  It was all good news (11:5 and 11:12), because it was all coming to pass as it had been foretold, and John could rest assured he had not missed the Messiah!

According to brother Yong Doo Kim

I've been blessed by the ministry of Yong-Doo Kim, pastor of The Lord's Church, in Incheon, South Korea. I'd like to share some of the things he says about this subject.  He states, "Sometimes a contemplative prayer is required, but when the person praying is dynamic, strong, and active, the Lord will powerfully work in us. The Lord often shouts to us, 'If you powerfully pray with a mind of a warrior, rather than in a contemplative way, I will become exclusive in your life!' The type of prayer that will make the Lord exclusive to us! The type of prayer in which forceful people can take the Holy treasures from heaven. The prayer that shouts in tongues all throughout the night with passion, which never wearies and perseveres. In heaven, there are many treasures a forceful people can take.

Putting it All Together
I strongly agree with brother Yong-Doo Kim, of the Lord's Church in South Korea, who says, "The violent take the kingdom by prayer...Your faith can change everything. You can take bread and fish, attack the Kingdom like a bank!"

We know that scholars have disagreed for centuries over the meaning of this passage.  But the correct interpretation of this passage can be rendered by studying the historical and grammatical context.

Its meaning is full of importance to us today.  It speaks of our Messiah, the good news about Him, His Kingdom, and how we enter it.  It shows how, once we enter the Kingdom of heaven, it causes violence on the inside of us, as we stir up that glory -- that resident power on the inside of us.  In this way, the violent take by force from the enemy that which is ours in Christ.  Through our powerful prayers, we possess our inheritance that God promised us. These are fundamental aspects of our Christian faith, and the passage is a great example of why we need to rightly divide the word of truth.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like "Crying Out Loudly to God."  Also see the following:

Baptized with the Holy Spirit
Link Between Two Realms
Holy Fire Baptism
The Spirit is Willing
Lifting Hands in Prayer
Holy Living in a Perverted World

You may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.