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The fifth reference Jesus made concerning
what it takes to enter or not enter the
Kingdom of God has a couple of dimensions.
Both of these dimensions here contain direct
warnings toward the religious. The first
dimension is in Matthew 21:32: Jesus said
to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax
collectors and the prostitutes are entering
the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John
came to you to show you the way of
righteousness, and you did not believe him,
but the tax collectors and the prostitutes
did. And even after you saw this, you did not
repent and believe him."
Beware of being so religious and
self-righteous. Jesus became most disturbed
and angry with those who didn't see their
need for God-those who thought they were
right and righteous because of their beliefs
and practices. In this dimension Jesus points
out that those who see their need most are
the ones who are actually entering the
Kingdom right now ahead of the religious and
the righteous. In fact, He is not just saying
that the most despised tax collectors and
prostitutes will enter the Kingdom someday,
but that they are entering right now!
The second dimension is in 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." Note the
specifics of what Jesus is saying here. He is
clearly saying that these religious leaders
in positions of authority are not entering
the Kingdom. He has made several observations
at other times about the reasons why they
will not enter the Kingdom, primarily the
leading one is their religious pride-that
they know it all and know they are right.
Now Jesus points out that these religious
leaders who are not entering the Kingdom are
also stopping others to enter by shutting the
door of the Kingdom of heaven in their faces.
How is this done? I think it's done by
continually setting up certain restrictions
and limitations on who can get in and who
will not. I did this as a teenager. I had
been taught that no one could come into a
relationship with God, unless he goes down
front at the altar call at the end of the
service and confess Jesus publicly before
men. Either you go down front at the altar
call or "invitation" or you won't get into
heaven. In many discussions with my good
friends I made this clear to them and
basically kept them from entering the
Kingdom. The man-made "rule" or "requirement"
I had embraced served to be a major barrier
to my friends being attracted to Jesus.
Also, in much of my ministry over the years I
shut the door of the Kingdom on many by
sharing a chart regarding Jesus being either
"liar, lunatic or Lord". I cleverly drew the
chart and then made fun of anyone who tried
to make up a different conclusion, other than
liar, lunatic or Lord. I would say that many
today see Jesus as just a good teacher or a
great example and Jesus simply didn't leave
this alternative to us. You must choose one
or the other-liar, lunatic or Lord. Jesus was
the Lord, the Son of God and there is no
other alternative.
What I was missing was the simple and clear
example of Jesus' early disciples. They
didn't make the decision that Jesus was the
Lord or the Son of God at first. They saw Him
as a good example, great teacher and a great
man of integrity-flawless in every way. They
didn't see Him as the Lord or the Son of God,
UNTIL sometime later. Then, Jesus asked them,
"Who do you say that I am?" Peter said, "You
are God's Messiah, the Son of God." Jesus
strokes him for this answer, but points out
that Peter didn't think this up on his own
nor did he get it from any other person. God,
the Father, gave him this insight and
conviction.
Why? Because Peter and the others
had been following Jesus over these years and
God transformed their thinking and their
hearts to see Jesus as the Son of God. In
other words, for a person to see and accept
Jesus as the Son of God, it will be an act of
God that will bring about this result. It is
not something you are taught by others. This
is not my thinking, but the thinking of Jesus.
So, why should we shut people down for not
believing Jesus is the Son of God right from
the get-go? Why not let people follow Jesus
at their own pace? And as they follow Jesus,
God will change their hearts just as He did
the disciples. This is how we shut the door
of the Kingdom on well-meaning and interested
people in Jesus. Do you see how easy it is to do?
By the way, missing this understanding of how
a person's heart is transformed or
"converted" causes a lot of problems. How
haughty is it to think that anyone-Christian,
minister or missionary-is able to "convert"
or transform another person's heart. It is
and must be a work of God.
Recently, a Buddhist friend, seeking to know
Jesus and His teachings, decided to attend a
bible study in her community. She went out
and bought a bible to read and take with her
to the study. When she showed up, she was
initially welcomed and then was told that she
had the "wrong" bible and she must go get a
different one. At the Christian bookstore
someone had suggested to her that she might
enjoy starting out with "The Message". Now,
this group of Christians essentially shut the
door of the Kingdom in this young lady's
face. I don't think Jesus is lifted up by
this kind of thing and it certainly is not
perpetuating the Jesus movement!
This fifth reference to entering and not
entering the Kingdom boils down to this:
1. Those who don't have it together will
enter the Kingdom first.
2. Those who think they have it together
through what they know/believe and what they
do may not enter the Kingdom at all.
3. And these religious "know-it-alls" tend to
shut others out of the Kingdom, too.
Two things to beware of:
FIRST-Don't deceive yourself into thinking
that your belief system or your behavior will
get you into the Kingdom.
SECOND-Don't divert others away from Jesus,
because of your dogmatic belief system.
Be careful to follow Jesus and put your trust
in Him and Him alone. He is the only way
you'll ever get out of this world alive!
That's why He said: "I am the way, the truth
and the life."
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The fourth reference Jesus makes concerning
what it takes to enter the Kingdom of heaven
has to do with the rich. Three of the Gospels
record this one. The context for this Kingdom
entrance principle is in relationship to a
conversation Jesus had with a young, rich
man. Let's listen in to this conversation:
Just then a man came up to Jesus and
asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to
get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about
what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only
One who is good. If you want to enter life,
keep the commandments." "Which ones?" he
inquired. Jesus replied, " 'You shall not
murder, you shall not commit adultery, you
shall not steal, you shall not give false
testimony, honor your father and mother,' and
'love your neighbor as yourself.'" (NOTE
that Jesus equates eternal life with entering
life and then later in this passage he speaks
of entering the Kingdom of God.)
The young man shockingly states: "All these I have kept,"
the young man said. "What do I still lack?" Jesus answered, "If you
want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." By "perfect" Jesus means to be complete and whole in your search for life.
Then, note the man's final response to Jesus'
words: When the young man heard this, he went
away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus knew the man's heart and that he was holding on to his
riches-his stuff-very tightly. In other words, his stuff had become his
security, maybe even his god. For sure, his stuff had distracted this
rich, young man away from filling up his heart with the ultimate desire
to give it all up and follow Jesus.
Then, Jesus makes the following observation recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke: In Matthew 19:23-24: Then
Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a
rich man to enter the kingdom of
heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Then, in Mark 10:24-25: Jesus looked around and said to
his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of
God!" The disciples were amazed at his
words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the
kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Then, again in Luke 18:24-25: Jesus looked
at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich
to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God."
Whether the image here truly is a camel or a rope going
through the eye of a needle, the essence of what Jesus is saying is
still the same. IT IS DIFFICULT FOR A RICH MAN TO ENTER THE KINGDOM OF
GOD! The difficulty for the rich person is that he tends to trust in his
riches for security and tends to think that
people, places and things can make him happy or whole and complete.
Do you want to enter the Kingdom of God? If
you are rich and have a lot of stuff, then
hold on to that stuff "loosely", so that you
are not trusting in your riches, but in God
for a complete and full, eternal life.
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All four Gospel writers record the third
reference Jesus uses to show the way to be
able to enter the Kingdom of heaven. In
Matthew 18:3: And he said: "I tell you the
truth, unless you change and become like
little children, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven."
Then, again in Mark 10:15 Jesus says: "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke repeats Jesus' words from Mark: "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."
Then, in the Gospel of John, in a very
familiar interaction with Nicodemus, Jesus
uses a little different metaphor to say the
same thing. He says in John 3:5: "I tell
you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom
of God unless he is born of water and the
Spirit." He goes on to say: "That
which is born of the flesh is flesh and that
which is born of the spirit is spirit."
Jesus is referring to being "born again" and
means something different than what is
normally believed. Being born again is not a
salvation experience-a special faith event
where a person passes from death to life.
Being born again is just what it says. You
are born all over again, so that you are like
a little child again with all of the purity
and simplicity of being this childlike person.
What does that mean to be childlike? A little child
naturally trusts, knows very little, and is eager to mimic what he or
she sees. In a very real sense, for an adult to become childlike is to
be willing to unlearn and start over again with respect to what it means
to follow Jesus and not remain dependent upon the religious system from
which he or she originally came.
So, in the case of Nicodemus, who was probably the head of a
rabbinical school, Jesus was challenging him to rethink his entire
spiritual education-to start over and learn the ABC's of what it means
to grow up
spiritually into a personal relationship with God through His Messiah
Jesus. Once a person turns from his ways and begins to act as a little
child, then he is being born again.
A few weeks ago I had breakfast with a man
who has rejected religion in the form of
Christianity. As he says, "I just can't stand
being approached by the 'born-againers' who
keep trying to save me from going to hell."
As we have been meeting together he is
becoming fascinated with trying to understand
who Jesus really is. He continually tells me
he knows nothing and wants to learn this
Jesus lifestyle and the basics. As we
discussed what it means to be born again, I
suddenly realized that my friend was in the
process of being born again. He's becoming
like a little child with respect to spiritual
things.
Becoming as a little child with Jesus means
the following:
1. You don't know everything.
2. All that you have been taught needs to be
stripped away.
3. You want to learn all you can about this
new life with Jesus.
4. In order to learn more about the ABC's of
walking with Jesus, it's most helpful to
watch Him carefully and mimic what you hear
and see.
5. Learn to simply trust Jesus for your
life-your strength, direction and future.
Adults think they know everything and have
the ugly habit of trusting themselves.
Children know they don't know everything and
therefore gladly develop the beautiful habit
of simply trusting.
Do you want to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Become like a little child!
