But since John, Jesus continued, we no longer “stand on proprieties.” “The Kingdom of the Heavens is subjected to violence and violent people take it by force” (Matt. 11:12). That is, the rule of God, now present in the person of Jesus himself, submits to approaches that were previously not possible. Personal need and confidence in Jesus permits any person to blunder right into God’s realm. And once in, they have an astonishing new status: “Those least in the Kingdom of the Heavens are greater than John.”
