"Khốn thay cho các ngươi, Ký lục và Biệt phái giả hình, vì các ngươi khóa Nước Trời chận người ta lại! Các ngươi sẽ chẳng vào đã rồi, mà những kẻ muốn vào, các ngươi cũng chẳng để cho vào!”(Mt 23:13)
Hôm nay Chúa Giêsu tố cáo những người Pha-ri-si này đã đóng cửa thiên đàng trước mặt mọi người. Đó là một lời cáo buộc đáng kinh ngạc. Nhưng họ đã làm điều đó như thế nào? Vì như chúng ta thấy Luật mà họ đưa ra đã làm cho một số người phải chịu gánh nặng với những quy định nghiêm ngặt của. Một số người đã bỏ lỡ tấm lòng yêu thương gắn liền với luật pháp Môi-sen. Những người khác cố gắng lôi kéo mọi người rời xa Chúa Giêsu bằng sự giảng dạy của họ. Nhưng chúng ta hãy thử nhìn vấn đề này theo cách khác. Rốt cuộc, nếu chúng ta có thể đóng và khóa chật cánh cửa, thì chúng ta cũng có lý do và cũng có thể mở cánh cửa đó và còm rộng ra nữa! Đó là sự thật tuyệt vời đã được nồng kín trong bài Tin Mừng hôm nay. Chúng ta thực sự có thể mở cánh cửa thiên đường cho người khác!
Theo Kinh thánh, cánh cửa này chính là Chúa Giêsu! Ngài là “cửa” và “con đường” (Gioan 10:9; 14:6). Ngài là chiếc thang lên thiên đàng (1:51). Nhưng làm thế nào chúng ta, những con người nhỏ bé, có thể mở được cánh cửa đặc biệt như vậy? Thưa chúng ta có thể làm được bằng cách mở rộng tấm lòng, trái tim mình ra! Bằng cách đó, mọi người có thể đến gặp Chúa Giêsu, Đấng sống trong chúng ta, và tìm ra con đường riêng cho chính mình để có được mối quan hệ với Chúa. Cũng như có nhiều cách để đóng một cánh cửa, cũng có nhiều cách để mở cách cửa lòng của chúng ta. Chúng ta có thể mở tâm hồn của chúng ta qua những hành động tử tế và yêu thương. Chúng ta có thể cố gắng khuyến khích ai đó. Một trái tim nhân hậu, tha thứ có thể làm được điều đó. Hoặc chúng ta có thể tìm kiếm cơ hội để chia sẻ về sự khác biệt mà Chúa Giêsu đã tạo ra trong cuộc đời của chúng ta.
Chúa Giêsu đã nói rằng những người Pha-ri-siêu này đã đi quá xa; thậm chí đã vượt qua biển cả, băng núi, vợt đồi để tìm người khác và dạy cho họ sống theo đường lối của họ (Mt 23:15). Trong khi họ không bằng lòng với kết quả cuối cùng mà họ thu hoạch được, thì cách họ nỗ lực hết sức để thu phục mọi người thật đáng chú ý. Cách họ họ thâu hoạch được thành quả! Tương tự như vậy, nếu chúng ta muốn đưa người khác đến cửa thiên đàng, chúng ta cũng phải hết sức nỗ lực kết nối mối quan hệ với họ. Những cuộc trò chuyện thân thiện qua điện thoại, những bữa trưa bình thường và những thứ tương tự có thể mang đến những cơ hội mới để gặp gỡ. Tất nhiên, chúng ta không thể theo đuổi tất cả mọi người. Nhưng chúng ta có thể theo đuổi một số người chúng ta để ý tới. Thậm chí chúng ta có thể bắt đầu với danh sách ba cái tên. Với một số lời cầu nguyện, một số kế hoạch và một số sự tiếp cận, chúng cũng có thể có được đặc quyền giữ cửa thiên đàng mở khi một người bạn của chúng ta đã được bước vào! “Lạy Chúa, xin Chúa chir cho chúng biết biết ai mà Chú đang nhờ con mở cửa thiên đàng cho họ.?”
Jesus accused these Pharisees of shutting the door of heaven in people’s faces. That’s a startling allegation. But how did they do it? Some burdened people with stringent rules. Some missed the heart of love embedded in the laws Law of Moses. Others tried to steer people away from Jesus by their teaching. But let’s try to look at this from the other way around. After all, if you can close and lock a door, it stands to reason that you can also unlatch one and throw it wide! That’s the awesome truth tucked away in today’s Gospel. We can actually open the door of heaven for other people!
According to the Scriptures, this door is a person: Jesus! He is the “gate” and the “way” (John 10:9; 14:6). He is the ladder to heaven (1:51). But how can we, small humans that we are, open such a special door? By opening ourselves up! That way, people can come to see Jesus, who lives in us, and find their own way to a relationship with him.
Just as there are several ways to close a door, there’s more than one way to open it. We can open it through acts of kindness and love. We can try to encourage someone. A forgiving, compassionate heart can do it. Or we can look for opportunities to share about the difference that Jesus has made in our lives.
Jesus said that these Pharisees went to great lengths—even traversing sea and land—to find other people and train them in their ways (Matthew 23:15). While he frowned on the end result, the way they went the extra mile to win people over was remarkable. It worked! Similarly, if we want to usher people through heaven’s door, we too will have to go out of our way to build relationships with them. Friendly phone conversations, casual lunches, and the like can provide new opportunities to open up. Of course, we can’t pursue everyone. But we can pursue a few. You could even start with a list of three names. With some prayer, some planning, and some reaching out, you may even get the privilege of holding heaven’s door open as a friend walks through!
“Lord, is there someone for whom you’re asking me to hold open heaven’s door?”
Today begins Jesus’ “Woe to you…” condemnations of the scribes and Pharisees. He issues seven subsequent condemnations. The one quoted above is His first. At the time, Jesus’ condemnations of these religious leaders fell mostly on deaf ears. They were obstinate and would not listen to what Jesus had to say. But it’s useful to note that these condemnations appear to actually be spoken about the scribes and Pharisees to the disciples and the crowds to whom Jesus was speaking.
Though there are many lessons we can learn from our Lord, let’s consider the first thing He says. He condemns hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is essentially saying one thing and doing another. It’s a disconnect between what we say and what we do. Hypocrisy can also come in the form of trying to present oneself as if one has every virtue under Heaven but in reality cares little for the clear doctrine and moral precepts given us by God. In the scripture passage, the scribes and Pharisees claimed to be leading people to salvation, but they were condemning the very source of salvation. On one hand, some of what they taught was true, but they failed to teach with the virtue that comes from God. On the other hand, some of what they taught was flat-out erroneous, because they were more concerned about their public persona than they were about the truth. Essentially, they were hypocrites, because their words and actions were neither united in the truth nor lived through the virtues given by God.
These two opposing tendencies seem to be a source of much division within our Church today. On the extreme “right,” we have those who preach doctrine but fail to exercise the necessary virtue so as to be effective instruments of those truths. And on the extreme “left” are those who act as if so-called virtue is all that matters. They deemphasize the clear and unambiguous moral and doctrinal truths that were given to us by our Lord, so that others will praise them for appearing kind, accepting and compassionate toward all. The problem is that one cannot exclude truth from virtue or virtue from truth. Compassion is not compassionate if it lacks truth, and the truth is not true if it is not presented with the virtues by which our Lord wants them brought forth. And though the scribes and Pharisees appear to be more focused upon their interpretations of various truths to the exclusion of virtue, their struggle with hypocrisy is just as real for those on both extremes today.
Reflect, today, upon the importance of embracing each and every moral and doctrinal precept given by our Lord. We must embrace everything He says with every fiber of our being. Reflect, also, upon how you express these teachings of Jesus to others. Do you strive to present the full Gospel with the greatest virtue? The deeper the truth, the more necessary is the virtue with which it is presented. And the more virtue you have, the better instrument of the full truth you will be. Strive to overcome every form of hypocrisy within your life by working toward true holiness. Holiness is wholeness. The Truth united to virtue. Only then will you escape from the condemnation of our Lord, but you will also thrive as a pure instrument of His saving grace.
My saving Lord, You desired deeply that the religious leaders of the time be powerful instruments of Your saving Gospel by presenting all truth in pure love. Please free me from every error so that Your holy Word will be alive in me and will be sent forth to others through the manifestation of the many virtues You wish to bestow. Jesus, I trust in You.
Encountering Christ:
“Woe to You, Scribes and Pharisees”: Jesus's words were directed to a very specific audience—those who were called to be leaders of the Jewish faith. He called them hypocrites, which means they seemed to have the virtues, moral, and religious beliefs of someone who witnesses to God, yet their private lives were in direct opposition to what they publicly professed. None of us wish to live our lives this way, especially those in leadership within our families and communities, and in the church. So Christ invites us to look deeply into our hearts to see what might cloud our view or create a divide between our public and private lives.
When God knocks on your door are you ready to answer and receive him (Revelations 3:20)? God offers each of us an open door to his kingdom, but we can shut ourselves out if we reject his offer. What is the door to the kingdom of heaven? When Jacob fled from his brother Essau, who wanted to kill him for stealing his birthright (Genesis 27:41), Jacob sought refuge in the wilderness. There God pursued him and gave him a vision that both changed his life and the life of his people. As Jacob slept on a star-lit hillside God showed him a great ladder or stairway that extended from earth to heaven. This stairway was filled with a multitude of angels ascending and descending before the throne of God. God opened heaven to Jacob, not only to give him a place of refuge and peace, but to offer him the blessing of dwelling in intimate friendship with the living God. God spoke to Jacob and renewed the promises which he had made to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac, and now to Jacob and his posterity. God promised not only to bless and protect Jacob, but to make him and his descendants a blessing to all the nations as well. When Jacob awoke he exclaimed: "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven" (Genesis 28:17). God opened a door for Jacob that brought him and his people into a new relationship with the living God.
Jesus proclaimed to his disciples that he would fulfill the dream of Jacob in his very own person: "You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (John 1:51). Jesus proclaimed that he is the door (John 10:8-9) and the way (John 14:6) that makes it possible for us to access heaven and God's very throne. But Jesus woefully warned the religious leaders and successors of Jacob that they were shutting the door of God's kingdom not only on themselves but on others as well. The word woe expresses sorrowful pity and concern as well as grief and extreme sadness.
Why did Jesus lament and issue such a stern rebuke? Jesus was angry with the religious leaders because they failed to listen to God's word and they misled the people they were supposed to teach and lead in the ways of God. Jesus gave a series of examples to show how misguided they were. In their zeal to win converts, they required unnecessary and burdensome rules which obscured the more important matters of religion, such as love of God and love of neighbor. They were leading people to Pharisaism rather than to God. Jesus also chastised them for their evasion of binding oaths and solemn promises. Oaths made to God were considered binding, but the Pharisees found clever ways to evade the obligation of their oaths when convenience got in the way. They forgot that God hears every word we utter and he sees the intention of the heart even before we speak or act. The scribes and Pharisees preferred their idea of religion to God's idea. They failed as religious leaders to teach others the way of God's kingdom because they failed to listen and to understand the intention of God's word. Through their own pride and prejudice they blindly shut the door of their own hearts and minds to God's understanding of his kingdom.
How can we shut the door of God's kingdom in our lives? By closing our ears to Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelations 17:14; 19:16), who speaks words of life and love, truth and freedom, hope and pardon. The Lord Jesus wants to dwell with us and to bring us into his kingdom. He opens the way for each of us to "ascend to heaven" and to bring "heaven to earth" in the daily circumstances of our lives. God's kingdom is present in all who seek him and who do his will. Do you pray as Jesus taught, "May your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10)?
"Lord Jesus, your word is life for me. May I never shut the door to your heavenly kingdom through my stubborn pride or disbelief. Help me to listen to your voice and to conform my life more fully to your word."
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