Woe to you, hypocrites, scribes and Pharisees, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You do not enter, and you do not allow those who desire to enter to go in.
Jesus begins the series of condemning words with the expression “woe,” directed at religious leaders who served God in outward form but, in practice, hindered people’s salvation. They were “shutting the kingdom of heaven” through their false steps, pride, and by frightening people with the heavy burdens of the law. The Pharisees should have been guides on the way to God, but they became a barrier by distorting the truth. “You yourselves do not enter” means their hearts are closed to faith, and “you do not allow those who are entering” means that their conduct and teaching become such an example that they draw people away from faith. This word shows the gravest sin of religious hypocrisy, when a person not only does not live by the truth, but also prevents others from living by it.