May 18, 2014

“Woe...Kingdom of Heaven”

Blessings folk!

Jesus now launches into a series of “woes” that addresses the religious rulers and what they had been doing.

Matthew 23:13
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Woe=grievous distress, affliction, trouble.

Jesus was acknowledging what would come upon the scribes and Pharisees - the religious rulers - because of what they had done.

Jesus called them what they were - hypocrites.
Those who say one thing, yet do another.

In this verse we see that they hindered/prohibited the people from entering into the Kingdom of Heaven.

They literally shut off the Kingdom of Heaven.

How were they doing this?

By denying what Jesus was proclaiming.
Jesus taught the Kingdom of Heaven.
They were against Jesus.
Therefore, they were shutting out the people from the Kingdom.

Those of the people who did seek to enter were meeting resistance from the leaders.

The same occurs today.

Religious rulers will welcome with open arms into the kingdom of man.
But, rare be they who know that True Faith is the Kingdom of Heaven.

The religious rulers refused to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
They refused to follow the Lord...at least for the moment. (Later on “not a small number” would believe.)

Be certain to enter the Kingdom of Heaven...not the kingdom of man.
Be not a stumbling block for those seeking to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

May all we do be about the Kingdom of Heaven...not the “kingdom of man in the name of God”.