Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in. Luke 16:16

This statement by Jesus must have irked the Pharisees and religious leaders no end. It’s statements like this that got Jesus crucified. These two sentences in this verse present the history of religion in a nutshell.

The first sentence represents what is called the Old Covenant in the Bible. It consists of the law of Moses and the prophets. Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and religious leaders of the Jews here who were those who were entrusted with these things. The Pharisees erroneously thought they had made themselves righteous based on the law, but they never realized that the law is there to show us all how unrighteous we are. In other words the Old Covenant shows us that we need another way.

And with the second part of this verse, Jesus is announcing a new age and a new arrangement for knowing God — called the New Covenant — a way made possible by His death on the cross and resurrection three days later. All that is necessary to be considered righteous by God with this new arrangement is to repent of your sins and believe in Jesus, thus making possible the last phrase of this verse, “and everyone is eager to get in.”

This is the part the Pharisees disliked the most about what Jesus was teaching. With the New Covenant, God has flung the door wide open to the kingdom of heaven and all are welcome. The Pharisees simply couldn’t stomach the fact that sinners, and scoundrels, disabled and diseased — the literal scum of the earth — were all being let in. That’s after working so hard to keep only respectable people in the kingdom, like them. The original language of this verse has the impression of multitudes of people forcing their way in. Like they’re all crowding in at the door trying to get through. It’s no surprise that Jesus characterized the Pharisees as standing at the door to the kingdom, more interested in keeping people out than letting them in. And here they are eagerly crowding into the kingdom and the Pharisees can’t do anything about it.

This Easter, as the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached everywhere, look to stand at the door and welcome them in.