PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 23:13-15
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces.” (Matthew 23:13)
I am spending extra time on this chapter, looking at each of the woes.
My conviction is that these words apply to many christians today, including me.
How eager am I to open the door of the kingdom to ‘certain’ people.
All of us have ‘those people’ that we struggle to be gracious with.
Jesus is the door of the kingdom, or the gate for the sheep.
By His example we see Jesus opening the door to the most surprising people.
He extended the welcome to religious, political, heretical and moral sinners.
This included the religious leaders, though with one difference.
The only people Jesus speaks ‘woes’ to are the religious ones.
These are the graced ones who ought to know better.
The door opened for them by grace alone, yet they are closing it to others.
The church today seems to have forgotten how the door opened for us.
And no, it is NOT because our repentance was so thorough and correct.
If I am closing the door to anyone, woe to me!
Lord Jesus, the people I want to close the door to are not the sinners, but the self-righteous religious people. Forgive me, and remind me that they need Your grace too!
Woe to me too, but I hope I am not acting like those “religious people”, those that “know-what-they-know-and-they-always-know-better” …
But, I find sometimes that no amount of words will work.
When I try hard to reach others, I try to use words that don’t turn people AWAY from “the door”. But sometimes I realize I may not be well equipped and therefore not a good ambassador for Christ, especially to those who possess what they call “critical thinking skills”.
Certain people have closed their minds already and are not open to any nudging from others, especially me … I think the closer we are to people, relationship-wise, the more they see any attempt to speak about “what-Jesus-has-done-for-me” as nagging (doesn’t matter the context of the conversation (it’s an eye-roll)); and so they pull away even further, instead of closer, to the door. At this point I have realized only my actions will send the message. I know actions speak louder than words, but, wow, that is harder to do sometimes and oh so frustrating … the more you love someone, the more heartbreaking it is …