What the Bible says about Pressing into the Kingdom
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Part of the difficulty in understanding the meaning of these verses stems from the fact that the pivotal Greek words are rare, which means we cannot examine their usage in other places in the Bible to understand how they should be used here. In addition, the preconceptions and biases of the translators influence the way they render passages. But it is vital to understand what Jesus Christ is saying here, so it is worth the effort to more thoroughly examine His words.
In Matthew 11:12, the Greek word translated as "suffers violence" (biazo; Strong's #971) is used in only one other place, as we will see. The word rendered as "the violent" (biastes; Strong's #973), a closely related word, is used nowhere else in the Bible. The verse revolves around these words, but their narrow biblical usage limits our technical understanding.
In Luke 16:16 ("the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it"), the Greek word translated as "pressing" in the New King James is the same word translated as "suffers violence" in Matthew 11:12 (biazo). In secular usage, this word means "to use force on; to use power; to behave violently; to assault; to afflict; to oppress; or to constrain." The translation "suffers violence" in Matthew 11:12 springs easily from this meaning, but "pressing into" in Luke 16:16 obscures it. "Pressing" is a weak translation, suggesting a group of people squeezing together to get in the doors of an amusement park. We must keep in mind that it is the same verb translated as "suffers violence."
To briefly summarize these two verses, then, everyone is pressing into the Kingdom, the Kingdom suffers violence, and violent people take it by force.
David C. Grabbe
Taking the Kingdom by Force