The Judge's Warning

Introduction

-what day of Jesus’ final week is this?

I.

-v. 1: Jesus officially switches His attention from the Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees (the leaders) to the crowds and His disciples. No longer is He debating the schemers, now He is addressing the seekers.

-We associate Pharisees with hypocrites because of this chapter. Once He sufficiently refuted the Pharisees in their traps He warned the people about them. They were truly wolves in sheep’s clothing.

(v. 2-6) They have put themselves in the place of Moses as a leader, judge, and enforcer over Israel. Jesus does give them credit, they are truly experts in the Law of Moses. Respect their position. If they tell you something about the Law then listen to them. Truthfully, they are in a position of authority and leadership, thus, obey what they command. However, do not follow their example. In this case, “do as I say not as I do” is a good piece of advice.

They expected the world of their followers but would not show mercy or give any leeway to help them out. All of their actions were prideful, to be seen and praised by men. They craved prominent seats at banquets and in synagogues and also enlarged their phylacteries and lengthened their tassels to be seen as holier than thou.

Note: phylacteries were little wooden boxes the leaders would have on their forehead and their forearm. The boxes had Scripture in them (perhaps the Shammah, “the Lord our God the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God...”, the 10 Commandments, etc.) The word phylactery is only used in this verse in the entire Bible and it means “safeguard or protection.” Many believe the Pharisees used them as a charm of protection, thinking that simply having the phylacteries on they had better protection from evil.

Tassels

-v. 7-12: This part of the passage has often been misunderstood and misapplied. Jesus is not saying to never refer to your earthly dad as father, for that is the very title God has called them by. The comparison is when you want to be called Teacher or Master or Father in place of God, the true Teacher, Master, and Father. It stems from pride, seeking to be great among men. But Jesus declares what true greatness is, not power, position, or titles, but service. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

The Pharisees fell into the trap of pride and sought the glory of men instead of the glory of God.

-Why do we practice Christianity? What’s our motivation? Do we love to be complimented on a job well done? Do we like being the one that people look to for advice or as a role model? Do we pray in certain ways or bring up the Bible simply so people will notice? Or, do we focus on God as our leader, our mission to bring glory to Him as our Father, be an example that points people back to God instead of self?

Christianity is a religion that is practiced from the inside out. We are transformed in the soul, take captive our thoughts, focus on Jesus, and change our perspective/outlook which results in a Godly, servant-oriented lifestyle. Parts of our faith are meant to be seen by others. But what is our motivation? To receive glory from people or from God?

II. Woes for the Christian (v. 13-36)

-The Pharisees had lost their way and wanted glory from men. So, Jesus presents 8 woes to them. (A good comparison is with the beatitudes)

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised Woe

Woe can mean ALAS, TOO LATE!, SHAME, OH, AH, TROUBLE, etc. It is an interjection expressing great distress or sorrow; or a noun signifying a condition of deep suffering due to a calamity that has befallen or will befall a person or community.

The prophets often used the word when condemning a city, nation, or people because they had forsaken God and His Law. It can be used as a warning to spurn repentance but also judgment for one’s continual rebellion. There can be care in the voice, yet, conviction for the reality of sin in someone’s life.

We can take these woes as warnings for our Christian walk. Use it as a self-examination guide to ensure a God-honoring Christian walk.

Woes:

1. Obstacles (v. 13).

The Pharisees shut themselves off from God’s kingdom by refusing to listen to God’s Son and His messengers. Instead of humbling themselves to enter in and bring others in, they taught their own way and deceived others into following them in their error.

Are we acting as obstacles to people’s faith? Do we get caught up in minor debates over opinions instead of focusing on reaching people’s souls/growing people’s faith? We don’t want to be an obstacle on someone’s journey toward Christ, we want to be a sign, ushering them onward. Be an encourager, a servant, a humble person who relents certain liberties to carry the weaker brother. Check to see if you are on obstacle or a sign.

2. Feigned Religion (v. 14).

They focused on internal religious practices and ended up using them as a show for people. But true, undefiled religion is to visit widows/orphans in their distress and keeping oneself unstained by the world.

Prayer is a good/important practice for our personal relationship with God, but prayer is impacted by our lifestyle. Real faith is not fancy, perfectly constructed prayers, rather, it is praying in private to stimulate our relationship with our heavenly Father so we can live out our faith and impacting lives for Jesus. Don’t feign religion, practice true religion.

3. Disciples of Me (v. 15).

Have you ever gotten a text from an overthrown Prince in Syberia who needs financial help to reclaim his throne? Do you help him? No! Because we know it’s a scam.

Illus. My grandmother (Mamaw) almost fell prey to a scammer. She got a call from a “lawyer” who said she was with her grandson, Adam. He was with his friend and they got in a car wreck. He gave the phone to “Adam” and had him tell her he was okay, but he needed $500 to help cover the cost of what was going on. But they didn’t want to worry his parents, so, they asked her not to tell anyone. Thankfully, she told my dad who called my Aunt, she affirmed Adam had never left the house and was never in a wreck. Afterward, my dad talked to the guy on the phone and called him out, which made him promptly hang up.

There are stories on the news all over the place of people who fall prey to these scams. The people keep searching until they find someone gullible enough to fall for it and they do their homework to make it sound convincing. The Pharisees were following similar practices. They searched far and wide to find someone who would buy what they were selling and indoctrinate them into following their own ways. They made “Disciples of Me” instead of “Disciples of He”

Are we encouraging people and helping them in their faith walk so they agree with us? Or so they are more like Jesus? Instead of being picky about who becomes a Christian we seek for all peoples of all nations to become a follower of Jesus and help them conform to Christ instead of to our convictions and opinions. Make Disciples of He, not me.

4. False Integrity (v. 16-22)

The Pharisees were finding every loophole and excuse to not adhere to their word. Swearing by the different things for the Jews meant they were taking an oath, saying they would most certainly do this or that and the motivation is to swear by something higher than themselves. The Pharisees began nitpicking the validity and seriousness of vows depending on what the people swore by, “You broke your vow for the temple? Not too big a deal, swearing by the gold of the temple is huge”.

It’s like if we were to say, “I swear on my mother’s grave..” You might often hear something like, “I swear to God I’m telling the truth..” If you have to try and convince someone to trust what you’re saying then the problem is not the words but the integrity to stick by them. Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount to Matthew 5:37 “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” Don’t look for an excuse to get out of your word. Be more careful with saying, “This is what I’ll do.” Have the integrity to do what you say and let your “yes be yes” and your “no, no.”

5. Checklist Faith (v. 23-24)

The Pharisees looked like they were doing all the right things: tithing more than required, fasting twice a week, adhering strictly to the customs of hand washing and not working on the Sabbath, etc. But they neglected the weightier (more important) things God wants: justice, mercy, faithfulness. Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

Don’t fall into the checklist mentality for Christianity: “I came to church this week, I tithed, I took communion, I prayed for my meals. I’m a good Christian.” Don’t neglect those things, for they are good and beneficial. Christianity is more than a checklist and more than a weekend habit. It’s a lifestyle of Godliness where we do justice, show mercy, and live faithfully.

Both the gnat and camel were unclean animals. The hyperbole shows us that you are just as guilty of breaking the Sabbath if you kill a gnat or a camel. Don’t hyper-fixate on one aspect of Christianity at the neglect of others. Grow in all manners of faithfulness.

6. Works-Based Salvation (v. 25-26)

The Pharisees had crucial customs that were strictly followed. If they did all the right things they were good. All of it was external, “I trust in my actions. They are righteous, so, I’m good with God.” How gross is it to wash the outside of a coffee mug while letting the stains on the inside grow mold over time and then drinking straight from that? Instead, if you focus on washing the inside then the suds will overflow to the outside and both become clean.

Our lifestyles are the end result of an inward transformation. Action alone is a trust in my work, my ability, but our souls are dead in sins. Christ purifies us of our sin, making us new, whole, and clean. Our faith in Him leads to salvation and we live for Him because we are saved, not to be saved or stay saved. God's grace is what saves and God’s grace keeps us saved. We receive God’s grace because of faith and hold onto to it because of faith. It is that same faith that then prompts us to live for God. It is a lifestyle motivated by faith, not through earning my own way but from gratitude for the gift of God.

7. It’s All an Act (Weekend Faith) (v. 27-28)

It’s easy to be holy one day a week. The Pharisees put on a good show, but that’s all it was, an act. Inwardly they were prideful, selfish, arrogant, greedy. In other words, they were spiritually dead.

Again, it’s easy to put on a show on Sunday morning, acting like we’re holy and better than we are. The church is not a place for perfect people, but for sinners who are saved by grace with real struggles and imperfections. The church is a spiritual hospital and we are all sick. Jesus is the solution, He is the Great Physician. Don’t put on an act with people like everything is okay, we’re all in the same boat.

James 5:16 “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” We have Christ’s righteousness, therefore, God hears us. Jesus saves, making us alive inwardly so that our actions on the outside can make an impact on the world around us. Be an encouragement to each other and pray for one another as we strive to be Christlike together.

8. Wearing Blinders (v. 29-36)

The Pharisees convinced themselves that they would have gone against the crowd in the O. T. when they persecuted the prophets. They declared they would have listened to Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, and the rest. Jesus makes it clear that their actions tell otherwise. They followed in the same sins as their forefathers, case and point, they rejected John the Baptist and Jesus.

The Lord even prophesies of the church age (v. 34-36). He was sending messengers, writers, and people who had the wisdom of God (His apostles with the gospel) and the Pharisees would again reject them, persecute, and kill them. All of that would happen within their generation (in fact, it started happening in the next year).

How often do we tell ourselves things like, “If persecution ever broke out I’d never deny Christ.” or “If I were a Pharisee I would have listened to Jesus.” Be careful of pride lest ye fall. Our actions are telling. Do our lives reflect our confession of Jesus as Lord or are we denying Him from Monday to Saturday?

We can often put blinders on to see what we want and avoid what we don’t. Pray that God make known to you secret sins you’ve become blind to. Pray for God to give you courage and boldness to deny sin and confess the Lord with your life. Pursue Christ daily.

Conclusion

This is not a guarantee you are like the Pharisees, it’s a warning so we do not receive the Woes of the Christian, but can confidently move forward in life knowing we will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The 8 woes provide great self-examination so we can identify an area of struggle and seek the Lord’s help in overcoming it. None of us are perfect but we are forgiven. Seek to grow in Christlikeness, pursue the Well Done and one day you will hear it from our God’s lips.

-which/how many manuscripts do not have v. 14? 15 yes versus 9 no.