Matthew 23:13
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the kingdom of heaven* before human beings. You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter."
Any time Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, I try to put myself in their place. Sadly, most of the time it's the easiest role in scripture to identify with. Throughout today's gospel reading, Jesus is calling them out for the misleading and judgemental things they are doing. It would've been easy for Him to just write them off as hopeless. But He didn't write them off. He gave them instruction with love.
How often do we look at something or someone as hopeless and think, "I've got better things to do with my time and effort. That situation is beyond saving." Those Pharisees were just as valuable to God as you and I are, and sometimes, if WE look in the mirror we'll see more of a work in progress than a finished masterpiece.
Jesus comes to the scribes and Pharisees AND US to tell us we messed up. But let's not forget that He comes to them from a place of love, of service, of self-sacrifice - a pretty good rule of thumb.
