Jesus' disciples do not like opposition in their ministry, and so their solution is an old and easy one in recourse to violence and the destruction of one's enemies. Jesus, however, reprimands them for this approach. Jesus will conquer not through genocide and bloodshed as Israel had done in the past, but through love and suffering of violence through the cross. Those who would use violence to further the Gospel reject the cross and the rebuke of Jesus.
It is a sad fact, however, that time and again even to our own times that many a Christian continue to use violence as a method of forcing others to accept the Gospel. The only result of such efforts is people walking away from religion entirely, and people less open to God in their lives. A religion that will accept no rebuke, no thought of ever being wrong on any point is a religion of violence, a false Christianity that rejects the cross in favor of violence.
God has inscribed on every heart the truth that God is love and is accessible only through love. Every human being instinctively knows this fact and recognizes the false religion of violence and coercion. The Gospel - the kingdom of God - is had only through love and persuasion of love. The tools of violence will not fit through the narrow gate.
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