I was reading in Matthew 21 this morning and something Jesus said caught my attention: "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you" (Matthew 21:31).
Who is the "you?" Because whoever it is, tax collectors and prostitutes have a better place in the kingdom of God. Right now I do not have much good to say about our tax collectors in the United States and I completely understand why the Bible puts them in the same class as prostitutes. This still doesn't answer the "you" question though.
Who is the "you?" "When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them" (Matthew 21:45). The "you" are religious people. Not just religious people, but pious religious people. People who just don't get it.
The "you" are those who are unwilling to follow Jesus. They prefer to stay focused on what they know and are not easily persuaded. They are people who just want to go to church, not be the church. They have wrapped themselves around tradition, rituals and the law. They may talk about grace, but they don't live by grace.
Jesus also says about the "you" and their refusal to buy in, "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from "you" and given to people who will produce fruit" (Matthew 21:43). Wow! If you are not going to follow the way of the Father, the kingdom of God will be passed on to those who will follow. In this case, he is talking about tax collectors and prostitutes who surrender themselves to the mission of God, giving up the ways of their past.
While we as the church keep looking at the tax collectors and prostitutes of the world with judgement, God is using them to advance His kingdom.
Francis Chan asks this question in "Crazy Love" (I read this this morning also), "I wonder how many church doors God wants to shut today?"
How does God look at "you?" Is it the same way Jesus looked at the most pious and religious or is it like the tax collectors and prostitutes?
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