The Real Pharisees (Part 7): The Pharisees Shut Off the Kingdom of Heaven from Others

The Real Pharisees

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” (Matthew 23:13).

We have already discussed the fact that the Pharisees had “rejected God’s purpose for themselves” (Luke 7:30) by refusing to obey Him and be saved. Therefore, they would be left out of the Lord’s kingdom. However, in addition to this, they were also preventing others from entering the kingdom.

One way the Pharisees would “shut off the kingdom of heaven from people” (Matthew 23:13) was by consistently opposing Jesus. They were regularly testing Him (Matthew 16:1; 19:3), questioning Him (Matthew 15:1-2), and falsely accusing Him (John 9:24). In the end, they would plot to put Jesus to death (John 11:47-53). Jesus was “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6) and the Pharisees were doing all that they could to shut down that way. Of course, killing Jesus would not mean victory for them. After all, His death was part of God’s plan (Acts 2:23); yet they did not recognize this. Instead, they did all that they could think to do to stop people from following Jesus.

Another way the Pharisees “shut off the kingdom of heaven from people” (Matthew 23:13) was by trying to lead others to themselves instead of leading them to the Lord. In a later lesson we will notice the Pharisees’ overemphasis on making converts (Matthew 23:15), so we will discuss this idea more in that lesson. But the basic point was that the Pharisees were zealous to convert others to their way of thinking (commands, traditions, etc.). The problem with converting someone to the Pharisees’ way of thinking was that the convert would not be saved. Jesus said elsewhere, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). In making proselytes, the Pharisees would lead the converts think they were doing what was right. This would give them a false sense of security; therefore, they would not think they needed to change anything to be right with God. Yet since they were following the Pharisees and not God, they were not secure.

Unlike what the Pharisees did, we are to lead others to the Lord. Paul wrote, “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake” (2 Corinthians 4:5). We need to remember we are nothing important when it comes to the salvation of others. In the first letter to Corinth, Paul wrote, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). We must simply teach the word of God so that others can follow it and be saved. If we are teaching something else, we are not leading people to the Lord. Like the Pharisees, we would not be helping people spiritually; and this is most important.

So who are the real Pharisees today? They are not the ones who are eager to convert people to the Lord. Instead, they are those who stand in the way of others obeying Christ lest they should be saved.


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