47: Jesus Judges Hypocrisy (Mt 23:27-39) Part 2

Kairos & Marguesas

Bar Owner Believes in Prayer - Church Doesn’t

In a small town in America, a person decided to open up his bar business, which was right opposite to a where a church met. The church started a campaign to block the bar from opening with petitions and prayed daily against his business.

Work progressed. However, when it was almost complete and was about to open a few days later, lightning struck the bar and it was burnt to the ground.

The church folk were rather smug in their outlook after that, until the bar owner sued the church authorities for $2 million on the grounds that the church through its congregation & prayers was ultimately responsible for the demise of his bar shop, either through direct or indirect actions or means.

In its reply to the court, the church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection that their prayers were reasons to the bar shop’s demise.

In support of their claim they referred to the Benson study at Harvard that prayer had no impact on others!

As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork and at the hearing and commented:

"I don’t know how I am going to decide this case, but it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer and we have an entire church and that does not."

Hypocrites bend what the Bible teaches to fit their beliefs, behavior & cultural expectations, instead of bending their beliefs, behavior, & cultural expectations to fit what the Bible teaches.

As we saw last week, Jesus is tired of the the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, obeying fog-filled man-made traditions over the clarity of the Scriptures.

For example, you’ll remember that they were more concerned with tithing their small herbs - not specifically mentioned in Scripture, while neglecting what was CLEAR - treating others with justice, mercy, & faithfulness.

Then there’s that hilarious hyperbole of straining out at gnat but swallowing a camel to demonstrate the ridiculousness of what they’ve been doing.

I forgot to mention one really cool insight, that Jesus likely used these 2 words because of the drastic comparison & because -

in Aramaic that Jesus was likely speaking - the words are so similar: gamla (“camel”) and galma (“gnat”). [1]

We finished with Jesus saying this:

CATCH THE CONTEXT

Matthew 23:25–26 (NIV) 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. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Jesus continues…

WHITEWASHED TOMBS

Matthew 23:27–28 (NIV) 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. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

In the springtime just before Passover, it was the custom to prepare for the many pilgrims who would be making their way to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. Roads would be fixed and a general cleaning would take place in Jerusalem.

Included in that city-wide cleaning were tombstones, cut into the rock formations near the roads just outside the city. Over 800 rock-cut tombs from the time of Jesus have been discovered - owned by the very wealthy.[2] There were certainly many more that haven’t been recognized due to deterioration & construction.

Jewish tombs are a good distance outside the walls of Jerusalem, across the Kidron and Hinnom valleys - facing the city.

Some tombs in the Kidron Valley monuments facing Jerusalem, are very large and ornate cut into the rock, dating to 100-200 B.C. before before the ministry of Jesus. The tall, rocket-shaped structure is 65 feet high!

Here you see old tombs of individuals up above the Kidron Valley, on the Mount of Olives

The largest number of tombs found from the time of Jesus are on the Mount of Olives, facing Jerusalem.

Some of us have been to this area and have seen thousands and thousands of small tombs facing Jerusalem.

Tombs would be whitewashed, making them look clean & further beautifying the sparkling city. But this also made the tombs stand out to visitors, warning them to avoid touching them. Those who touched tombs were considered unclean and would not be allowed to participate in the seven days of the Passover festivities. [3]

Regardless of the clean white appearance, the reality is that INSIDE, they contained the smelly, decaying bodies of the dead.

This is what Jesus compares the teachers of the law and Pharisees to - whitewashed tombs. Jesus tells them, “You look great on the outside - nice and clean - but you are full of decay & death on the inside.”

In other words, “People should really avoid you as they do a whitewashed tomb – because your lives and teachings lead to death.”

HONORING DISHONORED PROPHETS & KILLING THE ONE THE PROPHETS FORETOLD

Matthew 23:29–30 (NIV) Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 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.’

Here’s the irony to the situation: the religious leaders now honor the prophets and other righteous people whom their ancestors once persecuted. And while the scribes & Pharisees claim they would honor those who spoke on behalf of God, the same men are now persecuting Jesus - the One who speaks not only on behalf of God, but IS God (the Son) in skin.

FUTURE PERSECUTION TO JESUS & HIS FOLLOWERS

Matthew 23:31–34 (NIV) So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started! “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 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.

Here’s what it all comes down to. Although these men claim to condemn their ancestors’ treatment of Godly messengers, they are following in the footsteps of their forerunners. And now Jesus tells them that it’s time for them to complete what their ancestors started.

The text translated here says in a more formal equivalent - “fill up, then the measure of your ancestors” (NET). In other words, the CUP full of sins has been piling up and they are going to cause it to overflow

As they unleash their hatred on Jesus, and later on His followers.

Jesus considers these men to be His deadly enemies - snakes, vipers. And in just a few days, Jesus will be the One who is killed by crucifixion.

Others would follow, including many of His 1st century disciples. For example,

the apostles get flogged under the authority of some of the Sanhedrin (Acts 5:17-42).

James the apostle is beheaded by Herod, and Peter is arrested, while many of the unbelieving Jews applauded (Acts 12:1-3).

Steven gets stoned to death (Acts 7:51-8:1), while Saul of Tarsus affirms it - later Saul repents, follows Jesus and is better known as Paul - the writer of 13 letters - just over 2/3rds of the New testament (69%). [4]

Paul writes about the persecution he faced from unbelieving Jews - being run out of town (cf Acts 9:23–25), thrown in prison on multiple occasions, being flogged 5 times, being stoned so badly he was left for dead (2 Cor 11:23-27, Acts 14:19).

PERSECUTION is coming through these leaders to Jesus & His followers.

BUT… PAYMENT is coming to these leaders & their followers through God Almighty!

JUDGMENT COMING TO ‘THIS GENERATION’

Matthew 23:35–36 (NIV) 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. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

Abel was the 1st person to be murdered in the Hebrew Scriptures. If the order of the Hebrew writings was the same in Jesus’ day as in the present Hebrew Scriptures, then Abel (Genesis) to Zechariah (Chronicles) would represent the entire OT collection.

Abel's murder is recorded in the 1st book of Scripture - Genesis. (cf. Gen 4:8-11)

Zechariah was a high priest who confronted his sinful people in 2 Chr 24:20-22, saying:

2 Chronicles 24:20b-21 (LSB) “Thus says God, ‘Why do you trespass against the commandments of Yahweh and do not succeed? Because you have forsaken Yahweh, He has also forsaken you.’” So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of Yahweh.

The Temple courtyard is between the Temple and the altar.

2 Intriguing Similarities

Abel was murdered by his own brother. And since then there had been many Jewish ‘brothers’ who were murdered by their own people including Zechariah.

Both Abel & Zechariah were killed because they were RIGHTeous before God, while their enemies were NOT. Abel’s LIFE & Zechariah’s LIPS confronted their enemies with truth.

And now here comes Jesus, a Jew among Jews, the greatest example of righteousness to ever walk the planet, Who has been confronting them with His LIFE & LIPS.

Every righteous prophet from Abel to Zechariah pointed to God’s TRUTH - Who is now STANDING in from of them - Jesus, the Messiah. And, as Jesus knows, these men who had condemned their ancestors persecution of righteous prophets are about to complete what their ancestors had begun - killing the RIGHTEOUS ONE the prophets had spoken & written about.

And since these men & their followers REJECTED and KILLED the One the Scriptures pointed to, JUDGEMENT would come on this generation, the very generation that Jesus had spoken to and performed miracles among.

Jesus finishes His passionate judgement with these words:

JUDGMENT ON JERSUSALEM

Matthew 23:37–39 (NIV) 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.’”

What does Jesus mean by THAT? Show up next week and find out!

You don’t want to miss the next several weeks as we jump into the DEEP END of the pool and explore

“The Judgment of Jerusalem” much further, even taking several weeks to attempt to rightly interpret one of the most intriguing, misunderstood, and misinterpreted passages of all time dealing with…the END of time - or so many people think.

Let’s briefly deal with a little of this passage today and then wrap it up until next week.

Jesus wants to PROTECT the people of Jerusalem, as a hen does her chicks under her wings. But the majority of the religious leaders & their followers were not willing to receive Jesus as their Messiah. Because of this, the ultimate culmination of killing the prophets sent by God is to disgrace the Son of God rather than honor Him.

And your house is left to you desolate - What’s THAT mean? Find out next week.

And what’s up with “You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”? Why would Jesus say that about the FUTURE if that had already happened in the PAST? - earlier in the same writing (Matthew 21:9) - things that make you go, “HMMMMM”.

Here’s all I say on that until next week - despite the FUTURE JUDGMENT Jesus talks about, there is a FUTURE HOPE that is coming too! I HOPE you’ll be here or listen in next week (for Matthew 24)!

Merrill Tenney writes in his book, “The Genius of the Gospels,” [5]

The genius of the Gospels lies not in their rhetorical or philosophical qualities, but lies rather in their presentation of Christ who is unparalleled in all other literature. His supernatural origin, His sinless life, His penetrative teaching,

His triumphant death and resurrection might seem to belong to fiction; and if the Gospels were fiction, they would rank among the world’s greatest stories.

They are, however, sober history, and are consequently all the greater.

The Gospels did not make Jesus; He made them. Because of Him they are distinctive, and through their individual emphases and peculiarities He bids the successive generations of men to come to Him.

And now JESUS bids US - You and Me - to come to HIM.

As we have said many times here - within your lifetime, you will stand before the King. Either:

1) You will die begin the other side of your eternity in heaven or in hell. OR…

2) Jesus will return to judge all who reject Him and rescue those who trust in Him.

Will YOU - like the 1st century disciples of Jesus - sell out & follow Him? OR…

Will you wait too late, and face the wrath & justice of His judgment?

PRAY

______________

Craig Blomberg, Matthew, vol. 22, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 346.

Paul H. Wright, “Indicting Hypocrisy with Imagery from the Temple Mount,” in Lexham Geographic Commentary on the Gospels, ed. Barry J. Beitzel and Kristopher A. Lyle, Lexham Geographic Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016), 424–425.

Douglas Sean O’Donnell, Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth, ed. R. Kent Hughes, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 689.

Samuel Macauley Jackson, ed., The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology and Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Biography from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (New York; London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1908–1914), 160. * Of the 183 pages given to the Epistles in Westcott and Hort’s Greek New Testament, St. Paul fills 127.

Merrill Chapin Tenney, The Genius of the Gospels, The Fifth Annual Mid-year Lectures Delivered at Western Conservative Baptist Theological Seminary (Eerdmans, 1951), pp. 118-119.

Discussion Questions

Before we dig deeper, what stood out to you from today’s teaching - challenging, encouraging, or leaving you with questions?

Read Matthew 23:27-28. How did the background about whitewashed tombs help you to understand what Jesus intended? Why did Jesus compare the Pharisees to whitewashed tombs in the sermon?

In what ways can we avoid the danger of being like whitewashed tombs, as warned by Jesus? What steps can we take to prioritize inner spiritual growth over outward appearances?

Read Matthew 23:29-36. What did Jesus know was coming that caused Him to be so swift & focused on judging these men? Take a moment to look back in the Scriptures to see what faced the followers of Jesus years later - apostles flogged (Acts 4:17-42), Steven stoned (Acts 7:51-8:1), James the apostle beheaded (Acts 12:1-3), & Paul faces multiple persecutions (Acts 9:23-25, Acts 14:19, 2 Cor 11:23-27).

To whom was “this generation” (v36) referring to & why was Jesus holding them accountable for all the righteous who were murdered by their ancestors? Why are they held more accountable for what they are going to do to Jesus & His disciples compared to what their ancestors had done to other prophets?

Read Matthew 23:37-39. How do you know that the ultimate desire of Jesus wasn’t to judge Jerusalem guilty? Ultimately, why ARE they going to be judged guilty?

What does God want YOU to do with what we studied today?

How can we pray for/care for one another this week? (Pray for one another.)