Luke 11:52-54

Luke 11:52-54 “Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.

Matthew 23:13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Acts 15:7-11 “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

The experts in the law had taken away the key to knowledge. They made Jehovah not a God of mercy and grace, but of rules and sacrifices. By making people responsible to the cannon as well as the customs and rules of the religious leaders, they removed access to God from the ordinary person. However, Jesus came to bring God to all including the common people. He tells the people, to enter into the kingdom of heaven, they must believe in him, placing their full trust in his ability to save them, for He is the door to eternal life. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees rejected that premise because for them, following rules and regulations was the door to God. However, Jesus knew they did not wholeheartedly obey these rules and regulations themselves, yet audaciously placed these heavy burdens on the people, preventing them from knowing God. Jesus calls them hypocrites, who also block the door of grace and mercy to others who need God. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

When Paul talks to the leaders of the church in Jerusalem about the Gentiles coming to Christ, he emphasizes salvation did not come to them through following rules and regulations, but by the grace of God. As with the Patriarchs of old, salvation came through grace and not law. The law was given 400 years later to curb rebellion and to organize the Jewish society. He reminded the church leaders that God is merciful and FULL OF GRACE. God desires all to be saved and that all should know him.

As followers of Christ, we must remind ourselves we are saved by grace, not by service, not by obeying a list of rules. We follow God in SPIRIT AND TRUTH. We commune with him in our hearts, for we are his temple. We serve him daily by listening to and following his voice. We pray constantly in our spirits. We know we are never far from God; he is even at our mouths of faith. We speak and God hears. He is that close to us. As his children, we have authority with God. We have entered into the kingdom of heaven by faith. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees did not see nor want to accept this reality. They knew if the kingdom of God came by faith in Jesus Christ, they would lose their position of authority in the Jewish society. No longer would they receive the obeisance of the common people, for the people could find God without them. We who are IN CHRIST found God through Christ's provision. We are his people of mercy and grace. We are people made in HIS IMAGE, reconciled to him in love. PRAISE GOD!