"Hypocrisy" Matthew 21c Jan 19 2025

Greetings & Scripture

Good morning

We are finishing up Matt 21 today

This will be my third sermon on this chapter - and it is full of drama

This is also my 35th sermon on Matt

Matt 21 covers two days and it begins with the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem -

Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey

And the people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest!”

And the chapter ends with the chief priests and the Pharisees cowering in fear of the people

This is the final journey of Jesus into Jerusalem before his death on the cross

Last week - Jesus cursed the fig tree, which begins Day 2 of Jesus’ final journey into Jerusalem

Today: We’ll look at three main sections of the remaining part of the chapter

They are all connected:

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

The Parable of the Two Sons

The Parable of the Tenants

I want to read our verse this morning, pray, then get started

I want us to go way back to Chapter 3 for this week’s verse

This goes back early in the Gospel story - when JTB warns the Pharisees and Sadducees about repentance -

And he makes an interesting metaphorical statement about trees that do not bear fruit

As we get into today’s message, I want you to keep in mind:

The fig tree we just learned about

Two main themes that have been so closely woven into the Gospel of Matthew

Repentance

Bearing fruit

This is why I love preaching from entire books of the Bible

I’m going through Matthew just as you are

And the Lord reveals overarching themes and truths as I prepare for my messages

It’s not hard to see - you just need to pay attention to detail

It’s these themes that present themselves when looking at the book as a whole

They’re the sort of thing you might miss if you preach a parable here, then skip over to another book of the Bible for a different lesson there

We’ve seen other themes in Matt

But let’s look at those two themes of repentance and bearing fruit

Let’s start with verse 5 from Chapter 3 of Matthew

Remember, this is a conversation between JTB and the Pharisees & Sadducees

Matthew 3:5–10 ESV

Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

(Pray…)

Passover

The title of my sermon this morning is “Hypocrisy” - in this case, the hypocrisy of the religious elite:

The Pharisees

Sadducees

Chief priests

The elders of the people

Several chapters ago -

Back when Jesus was ministering to people on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee, he didn’t encounter these religious elite so much

But now, he’s in Judea - in Jerusalem, the capitol of religious activity

Jerusalem is the kind of place where the Son of God will get himself killed for all the things he said and did

It’s also Passover

This is the most important Jewish holiday

The Passover is a celebration of the Lord who delivered his people from hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt

This is the last week of Jesus, known as the Holy Week

Also known as Passion Week

The Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples was probably on the day of Passover

It brings new meaning to the Lord delivering his people from slavery

It’s all directly related to why we do communion

Jesus died on a cross to deliver us from sin and shame

He brought to us - a new Covenant - based on his precious blood shed on the cross

By the way,

Jesus doesn’t die on a cross until Matt 27 - and we’re still in Chapter 21

We still have a lot to cover

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

As we continue in Matt 21, we also continue with this major theme of the true followers of the Lord bearing fruit

And this bearing of good fruit only comes from true repentance, which comes from a true faith in Jesus

This first section this morning - is known as The Authority of Jesus Challenged

This is the same day - and right after Jesus cursed the fig tree

Jesus enters the temple and it’s the chief priests and the “elders of the people” who come and question Jesus

The only reason they come to him is to try and trick him

And the only reason they are trying to trick him is because they are phonies and they are jealous of Jesus and his ministry

They are jealous of how the crowds are reacting to him

They ask, “By what authority are you doing these things - and who gave you this authority?”

Jesus masterfully turns their question on to them

They ask him where he gets his authority

And Jesus tells them that he will answer them if they can answer his question

“The baptism of John, from where did it come from? From heaven or from man?”

Then they huddle and have a little pow-pow with each other

They figure out that they are stuck

If they say, “John’s baptism came from heaven,” then Jesus will ask them, “Then why didn’t you believe John?”

If they say his baptism was from man, then they have a bigger problem because the people believed John was a prophet

And they will look bad in front of the people

But they actually come up with a genius answer to give Jesus

Verse 27 reveals their incredible answer

Here is what they said: “We don’t know”

And Jesus said, “In that case, I will not tell you on what authority I do these things”

The Parable of the Two Sons

Then Jesus gives them the Parable of the Two Sons

Keep in mind, he’s still talking with the chief priests and he elders - this is the same conversation

And Jesus says to them

Suppose a man had two sons

To the first son: “Son, go work and in the vineyard today.”

First son: “I will not!”

- But later, he does help his dad

Then the 2nd son says he’ll help - but later, “Nah, I changed my mind”

Jesus then asked the religious leaders, “Which of the two did the will of his father?”

They’re like, “The first”

Then Jesus drops an absolute bombshell right before them

Matthew 21:31–32 (ESV)

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.

Jesus is saying that there are tax collectors and even prostitutes who are more pleasing to God than they were

That at least they saw their need for God - and turned from their past sins

They admitted their mistakes - they repented and essentially said, “We don’t have all the answers. We need a Savior.”

But the problem with the chief priests, and the elders, and the Pharisees, and the Sadducees - is that they never came to a place where they recognized their need for a Savior

They thought that by adhering to the law really good, that they could please God

Dear friends - if you’re relying on your good works to get you into heaven, you’ve missed it

Repenting and turning to God, and placing your faith in God, etc is the same thing as saying, “I don’t have the answer. I’m not the answer! I give up - I need you Jesus!”

We are saved by grace through faith

The righteousness God sees in us is the righteousness imputed to us by Jesus - it’s his righteousness

The Pharisees were trying out their own righteousness

But man’s righteousness is like filthy rags

God chooses us and gives us faith

And it’s that faith that unlocks all of God’s grace and forgiveness and redemption

That even a prostitute can please God - by turning to God, and by turning from her old ways

The sin of the Pharisees was their own form of righteousness - some people just need to repent of their own self-righteousness

That’s the hardest thing to do because they feel like they’re doing everything right

They’re trying so hard

At least a prostitute can point to all the bad things she’s done in the past

And don’t get me wrong - I am not preaching against being obedient

“Saved by grace,” yes!

But all the more reason now to walk in obedience!

Grace through faith gets us into heaven - but once you’re saved, it’s time to live for Jesus

The Parable of the Tenants

And Jesus gives them another parable - as if the last one didn’t teach them a lesson

They’re standing there with their mouths open - they have nothing to say

It’s like playing chess with someone who is seven levels ahead of you

And they’re standing there, dumbfounded

And Jesus says, “Here’s another parable.”

33 There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.

34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.

35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another.

36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.

37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’

39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

And the chief priests and the elders said to Jesus, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

And this is what Jesus said to them:

Matthew 21:42–46 (ESV)

“Have you never read in the Scriptures: “ ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.

Now that’s the end of Chapter 21

Notice that this all ends with the religious leaders afraid of the people

These same leaders who feared the crowds - are the same ones - with the audacity to walk up to the Son of God and ask him, “On whose authority do you do these things?”

“How dare you heal on the Sabbath”

“How dare you come teach the people, in OUR temple, these strange teachings”

BTW, How many times did I mention, or read about fruit(s) in this last story?

I count three times

And JTB mentioned it in Chapter 3 when he said, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance”

And later, where JTB says, “Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

And last week, we learned about the fruit of the fig tree

And in verse 43 where I just read - Jesus:

“The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits”

Just like in the Parable of the Talents where the master takes away the one who had one talent and never did anything with it

And similar to how Jesus cursed the fruitless fig tree when he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again”

Do you see a pattern here? Do you see a theme emerging?

Again, this message is not about self effort - I’m not here to tell you to get out and produce fruit

This message is against the religious phonies and hypocrites in the church

This message should also give you encouragement

We have nothing to fear as Christians

We’re not wrapped up in the world’s problems because we’re focused on heaven

Aches and pains and physical ailments are no fun - but they’re temporary

I’m almost 61 years old and I’m already feeling the pains

Some of you have experienced pain for many years

It’s all temporary - compared with eternity, this is nothing

We don’t fear death - because we know we will see Jesus

We will see Jesus face to face - we’ll be reunited with loved ones who are already there

There’s no fear for the Christian

The question here is - what is a true Christian?

Jesus is saying that his true followers - the ones who truly abide in Christ - will, by definition produce fruit

Because he is the Vine and we are the branches

Now, what do I mean by producing fruit?

Think of your life

Is it your desire to walk in the Spirit? Are you guided by him?

Do you have an affection for the Lord and are his ways deep in your heart

Do you trust in Jesus? Do you depend on him?

Do you obey the Lord because you love him, and not out of a legalistic obligation?

In your own ways, do you love and serve others?

(Pray…)

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Communion

(Pick one…)

Matthew 26:26–28 ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Luke 22:19–20 ESV

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.