Matthew 11:12
Since the kingdom of heaven is faith in Christ, it began from John’s preaching, who was pointing out the one being preached as leading through baptism into the kingdom. Those who force their way into the kingdom of heaven are the ones who renounce the old, empty custom of idolatry, and those who do not cling to the letter but are drawn over, as by a kind of force, through faith in Christ.
By saying the kingdom is seized by forcers he also hints at the malice of the Jews, who not only did not believe in Christ but also hindered others by threats and blows. Those who want to share the kingdom of heaven through faith in Christ had to prove firm in mind, despising the Jews’ threats. And the believer too, whenever he resists bodily and soul passions vigorously in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, is a God-loving forcer. “Until now” means until the ongoing time.
Greek
Ἐν δὲ αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ κατεπηγγείλατο τὴν διαλεκτικὴν διδόναι χάριν, ἵνα δειχθῇ τὸ τοῦ πνεύματος χάρισμα· εἰ γὰρ πρὸ καιροῦ δεδώκει τῇ πείρᾳ, ἐνομίζετο εἶναι τὸ πρᾶγμα φύσεως ἀνθρωπίνης καὶ δεξιότητος, οὐ παρὰ πάντων δὲ ἔμελλον μισεῖσθαι, ἀλλὰ παρὰ πολλῶν μάλιστα κατ' ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ. διὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ πλείονος εἶπεν τὸ παρὰ πάντων, ἐπεὶ οἱ δεξάμενοι τὸν λόγον ἠγάπων αὐτούς.
About this text
Catena fragments on Matthew (CPG 5206). Contents follow Matthew chapter and verse. Edition fragment numbers stay in About this text and under each passage.
English follows the named copy-text (Aegean/khazarzar Migne PG 72 extract). Other prints were checked as noted; no silent merge of recensions.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Migne PG 72 Commentarii in Matthaeum (Aegean Digital Patrologia / khazarzar) (Greek · CPG 5206 catena fragments (290 parsed heads))
- Checked print matia.gr mirror of same Aegean extract (Greek · Byte-identical PDF; integrity check only)
- Checked print Internet Archive PG 72 volume OCR (bim … 1859_72) (Greek (OCR damaged) · Locus confirmation only; not used as reading text)
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.