Calling out the Phonies

Jesus speaks about the Scribes and the Pharisees.

This is the climax of his public showdown, where he has demonstrated dominance in public debate by answering all challengers, and stumping all opponents.

Jesus speaks to his apprentices and the crowds.

Now Jesus turns his attentions away from the defeated debaters to teach his disciples about his opposition: why does he oppose these leaders?

The scribes and Pharisees are hypocrites: they teach what is good, but they don’t do what is good.

Jesus laments the stubbornness of the Pharisees. This is a call to repentance, not a final judgment.

He’s sad and angry, not proud and judging. Judgment will come at the end: for now we remember that each of the parables Jesus has given is a call to repentance before the religious leaders finally prove their opposition to God matches their ancestors opposition - will they kill Jesus, the one whom God sent?

How’s that for a mic-drop moment? Jesus sure knows how to call people out. Technically this isn’t the mic drop moment – that’s not till the end of chapter 23. Jesus is just getting wound up for the confrontation that he’s about to launch. We’ve been building up to this moment for a few weeks as we’ve heard Jesus answer the challenges of Pharisees, Sadducees, and politicians. Small-town Jesus comes to the big city, acts like he owns the place by turning over the tables set up in the temple, and the leaders all get their brightest people together to put him back in his place. Only, every time they think they have him cornered, he escapes their trap and proves himself wiser once again! This builds and builds through the story of Jesus’ life, up to the end of chapter 22 where Matthew just quietly observes, “46 No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.”

In a sense, Jesus proves that he can take the heat. He carves out this space in the temple, proving in public that he can teach and debate and quote Scripture toe-to-toe with all of the Scribes. And here in chapter 23, having proved capable against every test they could throw at him, he turns his attention to the crowds and the disciples. He tells them why he has such a bone to pick with their religious leaders.

Before we take a closer look at what Jesus SAYS in this passage, I want to highlight what he has been DOING all through this section of Matthew. Jesus stands up to abusive religious leaders. To use language that fits our time, Jesus looks at pastors, professors, teachers, who use their power for their own benefit, and he confronts them. He looks at leaders who abuse their people, and he says “no.”

I don’t know the whole history of Calgary East Church, but I can see in our records a history of people being hurt. I don’t know the whole history of the church in Canada, but we know that various churches played a role in residential schools and in crimes committed against children and families. It is not a rare thing for fresh stories to hit our news feeds, telling the story once again of another pastor who used their position to make money, or to exploit someone sexually, or to manipulate a congregation to serve their own purposes. All that to say, Jesus isn’t just talking about something that USED to happen. He’s confronting human sinfulness as it infects religious institutions. He confronts corrupt leaders because he sees the suffering that they cause “in the name of God.”

If you’re one of those people who has been hurt by the church, Jesus sees you. And he doesn’t shrug his shoulders and say, “Get on with your life. It’s in the past.” He confronted the leaders in Jerusalem, and this passage stands as a reminder to every other leader that they will answer to Jesus for how they serve, or how they refuse to serve.

So how does Jesus go about this? He’s just won a whole series of public debates, and now he turns to teach his disciples and the crowds about true leadership.

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat.”

That means they are appointed and trained to teach the Bible. They know what it says.

So you must be careful to do everything they tell you.

If they’re teaching God’s Word, listen! Receive it for what it is! But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

You can listen to their teaching and really benefit from it, but if you look at their lives and try to follow it, you’ll end up straying away from God. They KNOW God’s Word; they TEACH God’s Word; they don’t LIVE God’s Word. Jesus doesn’t have much problem with the Pharisees’ theology: he has a problem with their lifestyle. He warns his listeners not to follow their example.

They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

This isn’t a new concern for God. If you want to look at a beautiful parallel passage from the Old Testament, go read Ezekiel 34, where God says through his prophet, “Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? . . . My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them . . .” The shepherds in Ezekiel’s time looked out for themselves, and Jesus says the same of the religious leaders in his time: Everything they do is done for people to see. It’s all about their ego, their reputation, their status, so instead of SERVING people and pointing them to God, they USE people and draw attention to themselves.

Eugene Peterson’s “the Message” paraphrases the passage like this: “Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor’ and ‘Reverend.’” It’s all for show. And Jesus calls it what it is.

We talked about the “snakes and ladders” game back when we were studying James. Religion is a breeding ground for status games: “I’ve been saved for 37 years, and Jesus and me are LIKE THIS.” “I remember when we did that mission – boy did we ever sacrifice to help those people.” “We’ve been members of this church for as long as I can remember.” “Oh, you haven’t been entirely sanctified yet? Let me tell you, you’re missing out!”

Sure, we celebrate salvation and the testimonies of lives being changed. Absolutely, we celebrate generosity and the ways that God has moved through our church to help others. We celebrate faithfulness and commitment. Of course we celebrate freedom from sin! But Jesus warns us that we can use all these good things to boost our own ego, our own reputation, our own glory, instead of letting these gifts serve the glory of God. More than that, he warns us that when our service becomes an arena for our glory, we’re just a step away from letting our “ministry” be set on fire by hell.

It’s worth hearing how fiery Jesus gets in the second half of this chapter. You might want to buckle up.

“13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14]

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. “

· All seven of these accusations highlight the way that something GOOD can be corrupted into something terrible when it’s put into the service of religious ego.

· Religious discernment becomes refusal of God’s kingdom.

· Evangelism becomes propaganda for hell.

· Reverence for God becomes reverence for religious sophistication.

· Tithing becomes a badge of commitment that is so shiny it blinds you from seeing the poor crushed at your feet.

· Purity of heart becomes showy piety.

· The new heart of love, joy, and peace becomes an empty Sunday-smile in an empty Sunday-best dress-up.

· Sober confession of past wrongs becomes delusional denial of responsibility.

And in all seven cases the heart gets more and more closed to hearing God’s Word, no matter what prophet comes to show you the truth. Reverence and worship of God is replaced by a new throne: reverence for reputation, for power, for wealth. True worship is traded for self-worship.

Just in case you think Jesus is going too far, and he’s gloating over his opponents, he shows us again how soft his heart is at the end. Yeah, he’s angry about abusive religious leaders, and he’s angry about the way that those leaders have set his people wandering, but listen to his heartbreak at the end of chapter 23:

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you. How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Jesus gives both barrels to the Scribes, the Pharisees, and anyone else who would use the name of God for their own selfishness. But even his anger is a mercy: he’s calling Jerusalem to change directions and turn back to God before it’s too late and they face the destruction that they deserve. He still calls them, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

For us then, can I highlight some takeaways?

- Jesus sees the pain that leaders cause when they make their leadership all about themselves. In this passage he particularly confronts the abusers and warns his disciples against becoming abusive leaders. Jesus sees your pain when someone mistreats you.

o And that’s not all. It’s great to know that we’re not alone, but Jesus fulfills the promise that God made in Ezekiel’s time! “I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.” Jesus offers us healing, for our bodies, for our minds, for our hearts! He came to bind up the broken-hearted, and he still does!

- Jesus warns his disciples to be discerning about who they follow. You can always follow God’s Word, and appreciate faithful teaching, but be careful to consider how your leaders are living before you follow their example.

- And Jesus gives us these instructions for how to be his disciples, to follow his teaching:

8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The mark of Christlike leadership is humility and willingness to serve. “Greatness” in the kingdom comes by making ourselves small, and making a big deal about Jesus. That might sound counter-intuitive – is Jesus speaking out of both sides of his mouth? “Don’t look for glory, but glorify ME?”

But it doesn’t take long looking at Jesus’ example that he lives out the same humble “greatness” that he teaches: he befriends people who no one else will pay attention to; he embraces people that people usually think are too dirty to be embraced; he serves food to crowds of people, heals people who are desperately sick, stands up for people who can’t stand up for themselves. Finally, he willingly laid down his life in the most humiliating way possible, naked and helpless on the cross.

Jesus comes to us as one who serves, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Today we remember and celebrate our servant-king at his table, where he hosts us by his Spirit.

- As you come today, reflect on the reality that Jesus loves you enough to serve you in this way: he even died for you!

- As you come today, reflect on the ways that you need healing. At the table we remember Jesus’ words for the leaders who abused him: “father, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.” We remember that Jesus taught us to pray for those who persecute us, and to receive God’s healing by extending the forgiveness that he’s given us. Come to the table and pray, “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”

- As you come today, you might have a confession to make, where you’ve let religious position or ambition cloud your vision of God. Jesus shed his blood to forgive you and cleanse you. Come, confess, and receive the forgiving love of God!

LORD’S SUPPER

On the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took

the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and

said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of

the covenant, which is poured out for many for the

forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.”

The Meal

Before the partaking of the bread, let the minister say:

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

Before the partaking of the cup, let the minister say:

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.