HG137-138a Matthew 23:1-39, Mark 12:38-44, Luke 20:45-21:4
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1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 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.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
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.
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.
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.
37 “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. 38 Look, 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.’”
The grace and mercy of the Lord to the Pharisees and Scribes is really worth noting. It may seem to us that there is no grace and mercy here especially with the non-stop ‘woe to you’s but it really is. How? Jesus is telling them beforehand that if they do not repent they will end up in hell. Judgement is coming, Jesus is saying. Are you ready? Why warn them of judgement rather than let it overtake them when it comes? This is grace and mercy. Jesus is giving time for repentance. Grace always comes before judgement.
Jesus is hoping that they, and of course, we will
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
As a result we can say with Paul that I am found...
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
We have been imputed with being right with God. Indeed the bible uses an accounting term, meaning, counted as being right with God. This was done when God forgave us all our sin because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus on the cross on our behalf. He became sin, we became righteous in that great exchange. And this was also graciously extended to these Pharisees, for these were self-righteous but, we know, of course that all have sinned.
It would help to give a little background to today’s passage.
It is Tuesday. On Sunday thousands of people proclaimed Him as the Messiah, Monday, He cleared out the temple of the money changers and business owners, now He was teaching and healing in the Temple. The religious and civic leaders were not happy about this to say the least. The leaders felt threatened by Christ, fearing the people might rally around Him as the Messiah and rise up against the Romans. Such action, of course, would cause the Romans to march against Jerusalem and blame the Jewish leadership for not maintaining order. Then after putting the insurrection down, Rome would remove the present Jewish leadership from office. In the minds of the leaders, Christ was a threat to their position, power, wealth, and security. (LMW)
How could they give this up? They couldn’t, so they had to try to discredit Jesus which they had tried to do with the tax question but Jesus had won through every plot, so now there was only one thing for it - Jesus had to die.
1-12
In these verses we see that Jesus exposes hypocrisy and exalts humility.
Jesus seeks to warn those who would follow the Pharisees’ and Scribes’ way of living will also share in their unnecessary suffering. Jesus made it clear; do not live as these do but do do what they say and do not turn a deaf ear when they are teaching directly out of the Old Testament. Their hypocrisy is in that they talk a good talk but walk a bad walk.
The religious leaders were teaching things which are not part of the Old Testament. They were adding to it. In sowing seed they were also sowing tares.The Pharisees were teaching many other rules and regulations which are not found in the Scriptures but were rather based on a detailed, minutia of interpretation of the law and adding more and more rules.
Indeed, as Christians, we are liable to do the same and become legalistic saying that we have to do this or that when there is no basis for it in Scripture. Indeed, these rules we impose on others are not of God and in fact limit the work of God for the people of God go round feeling encumbered and unable to do truly anything for God because we say we can’t do this or that because of such and such a rule and fear sets in. But Baptist Churches came into existence against such notions which were imposed in the Anglican Church. That’s why we are still called ‘non-conformists’. The rules of people are burdens but God’s are not:
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
What is it to be non-conformist? That means that when there are laws or rules which make the Christian life lack freedom to preach the gospel, the civil law, church law and rules were discarded in favour of freedom. And this brought persecution to them. After all they were breaking the law.
Are we are going back to being under the law causing a lack of freedom even here for the preaching of the Gospel? These days there are many rules being imposed upon the church within and without and some make sense but it is making our work harder. Do we want to be oppressed or do we need to use the freedom we have in Christ as new creations? Even if this means going to jail or being fined. Indeed Paul spent quite a bit of time in jail. And so did many of our forbears like John Bunyan, who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress and William Tyndale, who translated the bible into English, which was against the law.
We have to be careful not to lay more and more red tape that gets in the way of ministry and mission of the Church. The mission comes first. The woes to the Pharisees was because they were loading the people down with all their rules and regulations. God is not about rules but about freedom in Christ to know Him, a price paid already in full.
Even in Paul’s day he had to deal with this malady and condemn it:
6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,
9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage?
The motive of the Pharisees was that of their self-importance. They were so important that Jerusalem could not do without them, they thought. But, of course, they were also fearful of losing their position, power, wealth, and security.
Well, Jesus is not impressed by such people. All that they did was so that they were seen by others. These Pharisees wanted to receive praise from people. After all, who doesn’t? But for these people it was their very motive for all that they did. Their hearts are not spiritual at all but they pretend to be. They love it when they are recognised and given respect and where they are treated by dignitaries with all pomp and ceremony. It boosts their sense of self-importance. Last week I attended a civic service for the Lord Mayor and there was plenty of gold and pomp on show. This is the world’s way, it should not be ours. But is this not found in some churches?
Jesus speaks of the ostentatious clothing the Pharisees wear to stand out and make themselves be seen.
Preaching the Word: Matthew—All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Exposing Hypocrisy
If the picture of a modern-day bishop—with his red hat on his head, silver shepherd’s staff in his hand, large golden cross on his chest, and fifty-nine nickel-sized rosary beads around his waist—comes to mind, your mind is not far from the matter at hand.
The pope at his ascension to his new position
Preaching the Word: Matthew—All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Exposing Hypocrisy
entering the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican Palace on his pontifical chair under a white canopy borne by eight clerics to be crowned with the traditional three-tiered Papal Tiara as a Cardinal says, “Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art the father of princes and kings, the ruler of the world, the vicar on earth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ
Indeed we read what Scripture says after describing Rome as the place where a woman resides in the last days and tell me this not Catholicism
4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. 5 And on her forehead a name was written:
MYSTERY,
BABYLON THE GREAT,
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH
But, for all our pointing at them, we remember that by pointing three fingers point back at us. What in our lives draw attention to our outward appearance rather than to Christ? Do we distract away from Him when we should know that all glory and honour belongs to God and He will not give His honour to another?
The fact is that someone has to rule, someone has to be in the high places, for that is how it is. It is not a problem for you or someone to be in a position of authority but how it is used and how much one loves being it and the pride with it. Humility alludes most of them.
By laying all these things upon the people, that which they themselves were not willing to do or participate or help, they forgot mercy. These pharisees missed out on the love of God. They did not have a clue. God to them must have seemed like an ogre who would come down like a ton of bricks upon any who fail, except them, of course, for they were the religious leaders. But, of course, it is natural to fail, or as it is oft put, to err is human. Where was grace and mercy, kindness and love and faith towards God?
I have said before that since we are created by God we are duty bound to obey God for we were created by Him and for Him. But, this same God loved us when we failed and even when we were in rebellion, even when we were still His implacable enemies, He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin, to turn the wrath of God from us and lay it upon Jesus on the cross that the due punishment that should be meted out upon us was instead cruelly laid on His Son. Now we obey Him because we love Him for He first loved us. Jesus said about the Pharisees, yes, obey the law, but have mercy for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
If you have come to Christ, even though you fail Him still, you are still accepted in the beloved, still loved, still have forgiveness, still have eternal life. There is no sin too small or too great that He cannot forgive. There is only one sin unforgivable and that is the obstinate, deliberate, attributing of the things they know are the Holy Spirit’s work by rejecting the good news of Jesus Christ. If you, till your death, reject the gospel, there is then no place for forgiveness., no place in Heaven for you No Christian can commit such a sin. A Christian is sat in heavenly places, glorified with Jesus Christ and can have confidence of going to Heaven.
But these Pharisees, along with every false leader, are not going to Heaven but have reserved themselves a place in hell. They think it is their good works that will get them to Heaven. They only care about themselves and the things that caused them to reject Jesus; their position, power, wealth, and security but these would be taken away from them in AD70 as promised by Jesus in this passage in verses 35 and 36.
These woes were declared in the hearing of the disciples and people so that they could insulate themselves against the coming judgement by the Romans and by God. If you see church leaders who seem more concerned about their position, their power, their wealth, and their security rather than the souls of people; if you find church leaders who are self-important and don’t count everybody as precious in the sight of God and special before Him, then listen only to them when they declare God’s Word in truth but reject everything else.
Jesus holds out His hands and His heart is desirous that we would respond to Him but, we all have to decide. We can, like the Pharisees, reject Him. Or we can receive Him into our lives.
30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
Rather than self-seeking, it is time to seek the Lord.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Benediction
Benediction
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Bibliography
Bibliography
Leadership Ministries Worldwide. (1996). Matthew: Chapters 16:13–28:20 (Vol. II). Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
O’Donnell, D. S. (2013). Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.