Woes to Them, Questions to Us
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We are in the last week of Jesus’ life here on earth before he goes to the cross. In Matthew 21 we saw that he entered Jerusalem, the place in which he would be crucified to shouts of HOSANNA!
Matthew 21 also showed us Jesus cleansing the temple because is was being used for the wrong reason. He said the temple was designed to be a House of Prayer.
His authority was questioned by the chief priests and the authorities and also in Matthew 21 and teh beginning of Matthew 22 Jesus tells three parables showing there there will be some who follow and some who will not. Some will reject Him and some will follow Him. But by rejecting Him, they are rejecting God and on teh last day God will reject them.
Last week in Chapter 22 we saw the Pharisees, the Herodians, the Sadduccess and the Sanhedrin all asking he questions to test him. To try to bring a charge to get rid of him. He knew what they were trying to do, so he didn’t directly answer their questions.
It is clear that these religious leaders are trying to silence Jesus. They don’t recognize that he is the Messiah. The one that has been prophesied in their own Scriptures. Instead they are wanting their own way, their own individual beliefs, and their own exaltation of themselves. But Jesus calls them out on their on hypocrisy. And that is what we are going to see today.
But his words to the Pharisees then are the same things we should consider today. But before we open our Bibles, lets stand and proclaim what we believe about God’s Word.
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Open your Bibles to Matthew 23
Jesus pronounces “woes” on the Pharisees. A “woe” is a word that point to condemnation, damnation, or judgement on someone. Jesus used this as a warning because of their hypocrisy. To be a hypocrite is to say you are one thing, but you are really a different thing. If I were say I am the best footballer at A Place of Hope, better than any of you boys, maybe if I kept saying it over and over you may believe me, until I walked out onto the pitch, then you would see I am not a good footballer.
These Pharisees raised themself up as being the highest religious leaders. People would look at them and marvel at how religious they were. But it was only when the only perfect person, Jesus, God, pointed out their hypocrisy that their true self was shown.
As we look at what Jesus says to these hypocrites this morning, we need to examine ourselves and see if we are doing the same thing they were doing. We need to ask ourselves HAVE WE MISSED IT? ARE WE BEING DECEIVED? ARE WE HOLDING OURSELVES AS RELIGIOUS BY OUR OWN STANDARDS or BY GOD’S STANDARDS?
But here is a very real question we all need to consider this morning?
Exalting Jesus in Matthew A Serious Caution
It is possible for you and me to believe genuinely that we are doing God’s work, obeying God’s Word, and accomplishing God’s will, yet to be deceived and to experience eternal damnation.
The Scribes and the Pharisees believed they were actually following the Law of God, yet even in everything they did…they were deceived.
Before Jesus pronounces the first woe on the Pharisees we need to ask ourselves the first question.
Do we fail to practice what we preach?
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
Jesus said they were sitting on the seat of Moses which means they were teaching the Law of Moses. That wasn’t a bad thing. In fact he said obey what they are teaching....BUT he said do not do the works they do. They were saying one thing, which was good, but they were living another way. They were putting burdens on the people that the Law did not require. They were making up their own traditions and setting it beside the Law of Moses and saying it was from God. That is why Jesus said Matthew 11:30
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The Pharisees were placing more on the people that the Law of God required. They were not practicing what they preached!
They preached but they were not living it out. Let me ask you… as we are sitting here today, and you read the words of Scripture, and you say, I believe it. Do you practice it when you go out? Do you practice it at school, on the road, among your friends?
We need to ask ourselves, is there a consistency in what you believe and how you live?
2. Are we happy with the approval of God in our lives?
Matthew 23:5–7 (ESV)
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
First I want you to see the two words: phylacteries and fringes. (PHIL LACK TOR-EES) These were small boxes that they wore on their heads and arms during prayer. Inside the boxes were written Scriptures from Pentateuch (First 5 of the OT)
This is something that Jesus said about that Pharisees all the time… they were always doing things to be seen by others. They would place themselves in the highest seats at places, even in the temple, and loved to be recognized by other people in the marketplace.
Do you remember what Jesus said to his disciples on the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 6:1–4 (ESV)
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
These Pharisees were only concerned with how they were seen in other peoples eyes. Now wearing these phylacteries wasn’t bad, but Jesus said they had been doing it so that they would been seen as regarded higher that the other people.
What would be more important for you? The approval of ONLY GOD and not people, or ONLY PEOPLE and not God?
Exalting Jesus in Matthew Key Questions (Matthew 23:1–28)
It is a deadly thing to desire the applause of men, for once you receive it your flesh enjoys it, and you want it more and more. As a result, you become less and less content with the approval of God.
3. Do we see ourselves as higher than others?
7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
Because you may believe and others do not, in your minds do you place yourself higher than the unbeliever? That’s what these Pharisees were doing, looking down on others because of their religion. The basis for this was pride. A Man named C.S. Lewis one said this.
Pride is the “great sin.” “If you think you are not conceited, it means that you are vey conceited indeed.”
In other words if you don’t think you are better than other people, you probably think you are better than people.
We need to be careful not to place ourselves as higher than other people. When we do that, we will have a false perspective. We will not see the world as Jesus saw the world…everyone is equal before God, and everyone should hear the true gospel. He alone is superior.
So this third question about placing ourselves higher than others brings the fourth...
4. Do we humbly serve others or are we focused only on ourselves?
11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Jesus has expressed this idea many times in Matthew’s gospel. The first shall be last, serving one another, the meek will inherit the Kingdom of God.
This humility is expressed in the way we serve others. As John writes his gospel he includes the humility of Jesus and his example of washing their feet. After he did this he said,
16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Humble service is the way to Christ. Does this discribe you?
Now Jesus goes from talking ABOUT the Pharisees to talking TO the Pharisees.
Matthew 23:15 (ESV)
15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.
That word proselyte would have been an unbeliever. So Jesus was saying that they go and and bring someone from unbelief in the Jehovah God, now to a believer. But in doing this, then they became to put all of these rules and regulations on them that they were never meant to carry.
5. Are we hindering people’s salvation?
Do we tell people about the true Jesus? Or do we show a picture of the Jesus they want? A Jesus who is only about giving someone what they want?
Sometimes we might say, trust in Jesus and everything will go well for you. You will be happy, wealthy, healthy. But that’s not what Jesus said. Jesus said:
John 16:33 (ESV)
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
I am a 57 year old man who has heart disease. I have diabetes. But I also have Jesus. I will never be wealthy. But I have Jesus. I am not always happy. But I have Jesus. And I am certainly not healthy. But I have Jesus.
The world needs to hear and understand that Jesus is not the answer to what you WANT, but he is the answer to what you need… Because our need is not money, health or happiness…our need is salvation and redemption. And that will only happen through Jesus Christ
Exalting Jesus in Matthew Key Questions (Matthew 23:1–28)
To follow Christ, to enter into the kingdom of heaven, costs you everything you have in this world, and to preach anything less than that is to preach a false gospel.
We need to make sure that first we understand what the truth of the gospel is and why Jesus went to the cross, and then we need to be able to express that truth and recognize when what is spoken is not the truth of the gospel.
Look at Matthew 23:16-24
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
6. Do we ok sin according to our traditions or do we flee sin according to God’s truth?
Jesus is pointing to breaking oaths or breaking promises and thinking it is ok. But he makes it clear that when we break a promise or our word, we forget that we are accountable to God. Especially when we sin. I Talked about this last week. We know it’s a sin to cheat. Right? Yet people cheat on the WAEC or the Jamb, or in many others ways and they say, well everyone else it doing it, so it’s not a big deal. That is how we do it here in Nigeria. It is a big deal. When you cheat, when you steal, you may think, nobody knows, I am not hurting anyone. No one will care. Someone does. God. Because sin is not sin because it is something you have done against someone else…sin is sin, because you have done it against God.
7. Do we pride ourselves on following the easy things God expects or do we take time to express costly love?
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Tithing was easy to the Pharisees. They put what was required by the law, but Jesus said that wasn’t the end of what was expected of the believer. Look what he says they are missing: justice, mercy, faithfulness.
So do you look at yourselves and say, I go to church. I sing on the praise team. I go to Bible devotion. I pray. But do you show justice, mercy, and faithfulness to the poor and needy?
That is not easy. That is a faith that is costly.
Because when we do that, when we are real towards people we show who and whose we truly are. We are not like the Pharisees that are hypocrites who
English Standard Version Chapter 23
clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
or
English Standard Version Chapter 23
are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
Jesus finishes his words to the Pharisees and they are not nice.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
From the first murder in the Old Testament (Able) to the last (Zechariah) Jesus was showing that people were murdering God’s messengers, and now they were about to kill the ultimate messenger: the Messiah Jesus.
It’s easy to look back at these scribes and Pharisees and shake our head and say what were they thinking? Why wouldn’t they honestly follow God and his true teaching through his Son Jesus.
But for some of us. We are they. We easily go for the worlds approval more than God’s approval. Do we ok sin because of our own traditions? Are we humble before others? Do we practice what we preach?
Jesus then brings a lament over Jerusalem. A lament is a song of sorrow.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
Jerusalem was the major center of the Jewish people. The Jewish people is who God chose to bring forth the Messiah into the world to be a substitute for our sin and seperation. Jesus looks at Jerusalem and is sorrowful.
They kill the prophets. They stone those who are sent. But Jesus says that one day you will see. Because after his death, the next time they will see him is when he returns and they will say....‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So the question is…on that day when you stand before Jesus, will you stand before your consuming Judge or your welcomed King?