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..
1. The Pharisees think they are helping people enter the kingdom; they are not.
2. The kingdom here is seemingly future and it is a “place” into which folks enter — like entering into a building.
3. Pharisees — those who oppose Jesus and those he opposes — will not enter into the kingdom; they block others from entering into the kingdom.
4. Those who follow the Pharisees also will not enter.
5. The kingdom here could also be presently realized to some degree — maybe those who are not following the Pharisees are in and they are not in.
What is kingdom here? Let me take a stab: it is that state of affairs (salvation state of affairs?) into which Jesus ushers people, about which he preaches, and into which he calls those who are interested in following him.