Why the Scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' Day Will Never Enter the Kingdom of the Heavens

Matthew 23:13-36

13. “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of the heavens from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

15. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

29. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30. and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31. So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?

34. "Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, 35. so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36.Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."

Posted September 25, 2025
Updated September 27, 2025