John Calvin Commentary Matthew 23:13

"But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter[.]" — Matthew 23:13 (ASV)

You shut up the kingdom of heaven. Christ pronounces a curse on them because they pervert their office to the general destruction of the whole people. Since the government of the Church was in their hands, they ought to have been, as it were, porters for the kingdom of heaven.

What purpose is served by religion and holy doctrine but to open heaven to us? For we know that all mankind are banished from God and excluded from the inheritance of eternal salvation. The doctrine of religion may be said to be the door by which we enter into life, and therefore Scripture says metaphorically that the keys of the kingdom of heaven are given to pastors, as I have explained more fully under Matthew 16:19.

We ought to abide by this definition, which appears still more strongly from the words of Luke, where Christ reproaches the lawyers with having taken away the key of knowledge. This means that, though they were the guardians of the Law of God, they deprived the people of its true understanding. As, therefore, in the present day, the keys of the kingdom of heaven are committed to the custody of pastors, that they may admit believers into eternal life, and exclude unbelievers from all expectation of it, so the priests and scribes anciently under the Law held the same office.

From the word knowledge we infer how absurdly the Papists forge false keys, as if they possessed some magical power apart from the word of God; for Christ declares that only those who are ministers of doctrine have the use of keys. If it is objected that the Pharisees, though they were perverse expounders of the Law, still held the keys, I reply: Though, with respect to their office, the keys were entrusted to them, yet they were suppressed by malice and deceit, so that they no longer retained the use of them.

And therefore Christ says that they took away, or stole, that key of knowledge, by which they ought to have opened the gate of heaven. In like manner, heaven is shut by Popery against the wretched people, while the very pastors—or, at least, those who hold that office—by their tyranny prevent it from being opened. If we are not excessively indifferent, we will not willingly enter into a league with wicked tyrants, who cruelly shut against us the entrance into life.