Woes Against the Pharisees Part 1.

Opening:

Good-Morning again. I am so glad you are here. This is the time of our service where we open the Word of God and hear from our Lord. We have already covered the Words of Jesus where He addresses the nature of Scripture. It is clear that Jesus taught that the reading of Scripture carries the same weight and authority as if God were verbally speaking. This is the moment we hear from God. This is the time we hear from Heaven. When we gather together and read out loud the Word of God, it is a blessed time. So as we read, do not be passive. Hear the Scriptures. Hear the very Words from God, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Introduction of the Text:

With this in mind, open with me to Matthew 23. This chapter is covering Jesus speaking about the Pharisees. Jesus has had many interactions with the Pharisees. Most recently we have seen the Pharisees attempt to entrap Jesus by asking Him trick questions. Jesus has had many negative things to say about the Pharisees, but this chapter takes the cake. This chapter contains probably the most harsh words of Jesus. In this chapter Jesus pronounces great judgement upon the Pharisees. This morning we will be covering verses 1-12. I would encourage you all to go home and read chapter 23 and 24. Chapter 23 is one complete thought. It flows directly into chapter 24. These two chapters are very dense however. So please go and read them and prepare for what we will be covering over the next few weeks.

Reading of the Text:

With this in mind, I would ask the congregation to stand with me for the reading of God’s Word.

Matthew 23:1-12.

1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them. 4 And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 And they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by men. 8 But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 Do not be called instructors; for One is your Instructor, that is, Christ. 11 But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Behold, the Word of God. Let’s Pray.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, please be with us this morning. May we seek after you this morning. May we come humbly to your Word and read what you have spoken. Humble our hearts to hear these harsh words from Christ.

Lord, I ask specifically that we not assume these warning are only for one particular religious group from the first century. May we be humble enough before you to take an honest look at ourselves and see if we resemble the Pharisees. May we recognize the history of the fact that you did speak these woes against these particular men, but may we recognize our own failings and repent.

Lord, I ask that you would also give us wisdom and discernment to take these warnings and apply them by recognizing and avoiding false teachers in our day. Please be with us. Grow us, help us to grow as a church. May we reach more people with the hope of the gospel and see them worshipping you.

We ask these things in Jesus name, amen.

Transition:

This is a very important text. In this text Jesus pronounces multiple woes against the Pharisees. Depending on your translation there are seven or eight woes pronounced against the Pharisees. Perhaps it would be prudent to open with an explanation of woes.

Explanation of the Woes.

What is a woe?

What is a Woe?

Explanation:

A woe is most commonly associated with a prophetic word in the Old Testament. Often prophets would open their oracles in two different ways. They would open with “blessed” or “woe unto.” If the prophet opened with “blessed” this was a word from God of blessing. If the prophet opened with “woe unto” then it was a judgement from God.

Argumentation:

This is why often commentaries associate this passage with the beatitudes earlier in Matthew. There, Jesus pronounced many blessings. Here in this passage however, Jesus is not pronouncing blessing. Here, Jesus is pronouncing great woe against the Pharisees and in the next chapter He will continue and pronounce great woe on Israel.

These are not fun passages, but I believe they are vital. I have often said that we do not shy away from difficult passages. We come together and hear the uplifting blessings from scripture and we also come and hear the dark woes. And if we are being completely honest, the woes are much like growing pains. They may not be sunshine and roses but without them, we do not grow. A righteous man embraces a right rebuke.

Transition:

This is what the woes are. They are judgement oracles from God. And these twelve verses serve as an introduction. So rather than attempt to cover all of these woes in one sermon, we are going to cover Jesus’ introduction of the woes.

Introduction of the Woes: v 1-12

So let us dive into the text. Remember, Jesus is surrounded by the crowds. He has just been questioned by the Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus has now questioned them and silenced them. Now He is specifically speaking to the crowds and disciples. And one may expect Jesus to just dive in and directly attack the Pharisees, this is not what Jesus does. Likely one would expect Jesus to dive head first, but Jesus instead opens by showing the real authority of the Pharisees.

The Real Authority of the Pharisees. v. 2-3

Explanation:

Jesus says in verses 2 and 3, “saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;3 therefore all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.”

Jesus says that the Pharisees have seated themselves in the seat of Moses. What does this mean? There is some historical evidence that perhaps the seat the Scribes and Pharisees sat in to teach was literally called “the chair of Moses,” but this is not exactly what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying that these men sit in the chair of teaching the Law of God. Moses is often referred to in association with the Law of God. And this is why Jesus tells the people to do what the Pharisees say but not what they do.

You see, the Pharisees had legitimate authority as teachers. They knew the Law of God. And in this sense we must recognize their legitimate authority. Does this mean that Jesus is just giving a blanket statement to obey the Pharisees in everything? Obviously not. Jesus often criticized the teachings of the Pharisees, and He will do more of this as we continue in this chapter. We must see this in a similar light to the commands to obey the civil government. We cannot deny their authority. They have real authority, but it is limited.

In this light, it begins to make sense. The Pharisees were legitimate teachers of the Law. They sat in the teaching chair and had authority. In this sense, what Jesus is saying is that the people ought to obey the teaching of the Law, but not obey where the Pharisees twist or add to the Law. And the Pharisees were rather unique. They said a lot of the right things. One of their chief problems was they did not obey what they said.

Transition:

Jesus has previously rebuked the Pharisees for adding their own laws into the Law of God. Now He is focusing on the fact that much of what they taught was correct, but they were hypocrites. This is what verses 3 and 4 deal with. The hypocrisy of the Pharisees.

The Hypocrisy of the Pharisees. v. 3-4

Explanation:

“therefore all that they tell you, do and keep, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.4 And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.”

This is such a good description of the Pharisees. They would heap up heavy burdens for the people but would refuse to do them. This is especially true when we keep in mind how they would add to the Law. They would manipulate and twist the holy Law of God and would burden their people.

God has given us many commands to obey. God has also left us free in many areas. It is a great temptation to ignore the commands of God and enforce things God has left free. The Pharisees did this, but worse, they would enforce things that they themselves refused to do. And this is Jesus’ charge against them. They were not just teaching the Law of God. They were heaping up heavy burdens on their people’s backs but thought that they were above them. This is great wickedness. Clearly these men lacked righteousness.

Transition:

The Pharisees however, tried to make up for their clear unrighteousness with theatrics. And this is what verses 5-7 address. The theatrics of the Pharisees.

The Theatrics of the Pharisees. v. 5-7

Explanation:

Verses 5-7 says, “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.6 And they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,7 and respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by men.”

They did all they did just to be noticed by men. They sought approval from men. And this leads us to a very common question regarding this passage. What on earth is a Phylactery and how is it broadened? Exodus 13:9 says, “And it will be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh brought you out of Egypt.” The Jews took this literally and made small boxes that passages of Scripture would be put in. They would have a small piece of paper containing the equivalent of a verse of Scripture written on it. They would then put it in this small box and tie it to their forehead.

The Pharisees however, would make these boxes bigger and bigger. They wanted people to see how large the box on their forehead was and be impressed. They sought the people in the street to admire the size of the Phylacteries on their head. They did not care about the Scripture in the box, they wanted people to gawk and remark, “Look at the size of the Phylactery on his forehead! He must be very holy.”

They did the same with the tassels on their robes. Numbers 15:38-41 says “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.39 And it shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot,40 so that you may remember to do all My commandments and be holy to your God.41 I am Yahweh your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh your God.”

The act of having specific tassels on the corner of garments was a command of God. It was part of the symbolic Law. It was a good thing. Even to this day if someone asked me if it would be a good idea to have a specific piece of outerwear that was to remind them of the gospel or of one of God’s commands, I would emphatically say yes. That is a great idea! But again, the Pharisees miss the mark. They were not looking at this command and taking it to heart. They sought a way to twist this beautiful illustration into getting attention. They ignored what it was meant to convey and twisted it.

Illustration:

Here I want to comment very quickly on something. Do not hear this and think the act of having tassels was condemned. Jesus was not condemning having symbols and signs. If we are not careful, we may take this passage too far. In fact, I would say that more often than not in modern evangelicalism, we will take this grossly too far. I could not count the amount of times I have heard symbolic practices or acts condemned in modern church life. This is wrong. Every church has some form of symbolism. Every church has some form of religious act. You cannot avoid it, nor should you.

We are good protestants. And in being such, often we will condemn tradition as a whole. But every church has tradition. This is unavoidable. The question is not, will we have a tradition, it is will our tradition be biblical and communicate the truth of the gospel? Does our tradition emphasize the truth of the gospel or distract from it? And there is room for discussion here. There is grace for disagreement. Some churches have a very high tradition where every act is symbolic of a gospel truth. Other churches have a very low tradition where there are virtually no acts that communicate a gospel truth.

One of the struggles is wrestling through that. You can clearly er on both sides. Our tradition can be twisted to draw attention to ourselves, or we can basically stumble through with no visual representation of the gospel. So how do we wrestle through this? What is the right answer? This is a huge question in church planting. When starting a church, you must wrestle through everything. Questions you never thought you would ask, must be asked. This is because there is a palpable sense in which you realize that everything you do communicates something. Everything is communicating something. This includes things like how you dress. How I dress communicates things.

The act of special clothing items communicating truths in not exclusive to ancient Israel. Many protestant pastors still wear preaching robes or a clerical collar. Why? Those things were designed to communicate very real truths. The clerical collar holds great symbolism. Yes it shows at a glance that a man is a minister of the gospel, but it is more. The clerical collar was designed long ago to communicate that the pastor was a slave of Christ. It was a visually recognizable symbol showing that the man in the pulpit was not his own. His words were on behalf of God. He was not to act or speak on his own behalf. This is a beautiful symbol. It is holy and righteous.

There is nothing sinful or wrong about wearing this collar or not wearing it. I am not in sin if I wear it, or if I don’t. We can even disagree if it is helpful or not. It is a beautiful symbol that communicates a gospel truth at a glance. This is the same with the tassels. Jesus was not saying that the Pharisees were sinful for observing a symbolic ritual. The Pharisees were sinful for doing it to seek attention. So back to our example. If I wear a clerical collar so that you will all praise me and call out after me how holy I am, I am in sin. If I wear it as an illustration of a gospel truth to all who see it and myself, it is righteous.

Transition:

The Pharisees sought out the attention of men. This was their sin. We must not twist the Scriptures to say things they are not. Religious symbols are good and holy, but to twist them to glorify ourselves is to engage in the self Idolatry of the Pharisees. Jesus also calls out how they sought out praise. They wanted lofty titles. And Jesus condemns this. So what does this mean? Are we to have no titles?

Are We to Have No Titles? v. 8-10

Explanation:

Verses 8-10 says, “But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.9 And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.10 Do not be called instructors; for One is your Instructor, that is, Christ.”

So let me ask you this, if my son grows up and refers to me as “father,” is it sin? Should he only call me dad or pops? Of course not. In fact, we can clearly see this in the fact that Paul gives an office in the church of teacher. Clearly it is not wrong for someone to be referred to as teacher. So what is being said? The Pharisees sought out lofty titles. They loved to be referred to as “Rabbi.” It was not sinful for them to be referred to as Rabbi. Rabbi means teacher. Jesus even affirms these men as teachers in our opening verse. What was wrong was that they sought to elevate themselves. They sought to have elegant titles to show how grand and great they were. They wanted these titles to elevate their own pride.

So no, this is clearly not an outlawing of titles. If someone works and earns a doctorate, they have every right to be called doctor. They earned that title. However, if they seek to be called that in order to be seen as high and mighty, they are in the same sin as the Pharisees. But that sin is pride. There is nothing sinful about the title of doctor. It is the same in my role. I am your pastor. I sit in the role of the teacher and preacher of this congregation. There is no sin in referring to me as “Pastor.” I am your pastor. That is well and good. I would even say that there is no sin in a pastor preferring to be called pastor. What is sin is if I were seek that title to elevate myself and feed my pride. I can even say that as a young pastor in our current day, it is sometimes helpful to be referred to as “pastor.” It carries weight. It is encouraging. But our titles must never be used to feed our pride. That is blatantly sinful.

Transition:

It is why we must not lord over one another. Jesus addresses the crux of this introduction to His woes in verses 11-12. Jesus addresses humility versus exaltation.

Humility Versus Exaltation. v. 11-12.

Explanation:

You see, the chief problem here was not the phylacteries, or the tassels, or the titles. Jesus says this, “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.12 And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”

The Pharisees were trying to exalt themselves. They were trying to make themselves great. They were feeding their own pride. They wanted people to see the boxes on their foreheads and be impressed. They wanted people to see how long their tassels were and praise them. They sought out their titles so that people would honor them. They were arrogant and prideful. And Jesus addresses this. He says that the greatest among you shall be your servant. This is language that Jesus uses often. He is showing the backwards and upside down nature of the Kingdom of Heaven.

You see, by earthly standards, why are the Pharisees wrong? What is wrong with them seeking to gain all the notoriety they can? Why shouldn’t they be selfish and proud? They were well educated and wise men. Why should they do anything but try to be praised? By human standards, they were doing the right thing. Take what you can, eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. But it is not this way. Human standards are pointless.

The only standard that matters is what God has said. And God has spoken. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted. And this is the failure of the Pharisees. They exalted themselves. Jesus is saying that the bill is coming due. He is pronouncing woes upon these arrogant men. And let me tell you, the bill came due.

Transition:

These are the verses we are covering this morning. Jesus will continue His pronouncement of woe, but this is His introduction.

Argumentation of Verses 1-12:

And we must handle these verses well. Yes, Jesus was speaking specifically to the Pharisees. But these verses are a mirror. We would be fools if we did not hold up this mirror and examine ourselves. We must not assume we are not Pharisees.

We Must Not Assume We Are Not Pharisees.

Argumentation:

It has been jokingly remarked that the definition of Pharisee in the church is whoever I disagree with. And this is not wrong. That is how most Christians would see a pharisee. Are you struggling with a particular sin? Does someone call you to repent? Clearly that person is a Pharisee. But we must do something shocking. We must not assume that the Pharisees are every other Christian. We must take an honest look as ourselves. We must look at the current state of the church. There are Pharisees in the church today. But we must carefully examine things.

Transition:

We must look at this passage and ask real questions. We must look at this passage and come to real conclusions. We must hold up this mirror. First things first, do you heap up burdens on others you won’t touch?

Do You Heap Burdens on Others You Won’t Touch? v. 4.

Argumentation:

Verse 4, Jesus says this about the Pharisees; “And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.” Is this about you? Does this describe you? What are your expectations for others? Do you expect them to say and do everything perfectly while you give yourself all the grace in the world? When someone hurts you is it obviously malicious and filled with hate, but when you hurt someone it was clearly and accident?

What about your standards? Do you hold all things to God’s standards or your own? Do you heap up rules for thee but not for me? We are all held to God’s standard. But so often we twist things to make others look bad while making ourselves look good. If this is you, then you are a Pharisee. Repent of this now! Turn away from this lest Jesus’ woe fall upon your head. Fear God! Turn from your sin. If this is you, then you are guilty and will face the punishment of God just like the Pharisees did.

Transition:

And this is not all. Is your faith merely theatrical?

Is Your Faith Merely Theatrical? v. 5-7

Argumentation:

Verses 5-7. Jesus says, “But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.6 And they love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues,7 and respectful greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by men.”

Is this about you? You may not wear boxes on your head with scripture in them, but many of us wear t-shirts with scripture on them. We wear crosses around our neck. Why do you do that? There is a righteous intent and a sinful intent. Do you do that just to look like you love God? Or do you do that because you love God. If you do that because you love God, please continue! But if you do that because you want to be seen and admired, repent! You are in sin. Please hear me. There is nothing wrong with wearing things that remind you and others of gospel truths. That is a righteous act. But if you are doing it to seem holy and to feed your pride, stop it. Repent. And this is not an easy question. You must seek God and examine your heart. You must pray as the Psalmist and say “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24. You must come before God and humbly ask Him for help. But if I may give some pastoral council, If you are freely willing to come before God and ask Him to examine you, you likely are not doing it for the wrong reason. However, if you do not want to come before God and ask Him to examine you, it is a safe bet that you know where your sin is.

It is the same thing with titles. If you have a title, don’t lord it over people. But the main point is to seriously examine yourself. Is your faith merely theatrical? Maybe it is not about what you wear or a title, but is your faith concerned about what people think or about what God thinks? Are you preoccupied with the appearance of your faith or with the content of your faith? None of these are easy to answer questions. But these are vital questions. We have to be willing to look hard at ourselves. We must be willing to examine the content of our faith. We cannot look at these passages and just assume we are fine. Are you a Pharisee?

Transition:

This brings us to our next question. Are you exalting yourself or serving others?

Are You Exalting Yourself or Serving Others? v. 11-12

Argumentation:

Who do you serve? When we read the Scriptures, we see the Christian life is one consumed with serving others. This is a life that ought not to be selfish. Christ’s warning is one we must take to heart. If you attempt to exalt yourself, you will be humbled. God hates a proud heart. If you claim to be a Christian, are you concerned with the service of others? Do you seek ways to aid the people in this room or do you only concern yourself with ways they can benefit you?

Beyond this is the central question. Who’s kingdom are you building? Are you concerned with the kingdom of God? Do you even care that God is building His kingdom here? I have to be honest, I am disgusted by the amount of people in the church who are only concerned with their own interest. A person who does not care about God’s Kingdom is not a member of God’s Kingdom. Are you making much of God’s name? Or are you fundamentally concerned with making much of your own name? Be humble. Repent of your pride.

Application for Verses 1-12.

And this is my heart for you. Seriously examine yourself to see if you are a Pharisee.

Seriously Examine Yourself to See If You Are a Pharisee.

We so often start by pointing the finger at others. But we ought to start by examining ourselves. We ought to start by praying that God would convict us of our sin. The church is often accused of hypocrisy. This charge ought not to hold any water. Think about it. R.C. Sproul once said that the church is the only organization that’s fundamental requirement of its members is that they be a sinner. We are the only group that will not admit members who think they are without sin. Sadly however, the church is full of false Christians. It is full of people who think they are saved, but aren’t. It is also full of Christians who have forgotten that they are sinners. Every single person needs to hear the gospel preached every single day.

We are all sinners. We are all fallen. But there is forgiveness. The defining mark of a Christian is repentance. A Christian is not someone who felt bad during a sermon and prayed a prayer to make themselves feel better. A Christian is someone who is broken by their sin and comes to Christ for forgiveness. A Christian is someone who is made alive unto Christ. A Christian is someone who continually puts the sin in their lives to death by the power of the Holy Spirit. A Christian is one who lives a life marked by repentance and the mortification of sin. Is this you?

Transition:

But there is one final warning I leave you with. Beware false teachers.

Beware False Teachers.

If you were paying close enough attention, you wold know I have not spoken of verse 2 and 3 yet. That is because I close with this word of woe. Not all pastors are saved.

Not All Pastors Are Saved. v. 2-3

Argumentation:

This is a warning. Just because someone sits in the seat of teaching does not make them saved. Remember, Jesus said that the Pharisees had real authority. They were to be real teachers. But these men were not saved. We must not make the same mistake as the people of Jesus’ day. Not every pastor is saved. In fact, were we to see the hearts of men, we would be shocked by how many pulpits are filled with lost men and illegitimately, women.

I think we have a good idea based off of the fruit. The Pharisees were lost and they bore bad fruit. So many pastors stand in pulpits and pedal bad fruit. We must be aware of this. Almost every book of the Bible contains warnings against false prophets and false teachers. This is a real problem we must look for. Do not assume just because someone stands in the place of pastor that they are saved.

We must be people of discernment. While we can never see the content of someone’s heart, we must beware of false teachers. Remember, Jesus is addressing the crowds. He is warning them about the Pharisees. Do not submit yourself to the teaching of a false teacher. Do not watch them on t.v. Do not watch them on you-tube. And please hear me. There is a misconception that local pastors are jealous when their sheep watch other preachers. I do not feel this in the slightest. I am jealous for your hearts. I want you to listen to good teaching. I will recommend you a list of teachers that I know are solid and who I trust. You can listen to solid teaching all day long and I would not feel jealous at all. But reject the Pharisees. When someone teaches things against the clear teaching of Scripture, run far away from them.

Closing:

This is the message. Beware of the Pharisees, both in your own heart and in the church. Let’s Pray.

Prayer:

Communion:

If you are here and you are a Christian, but you feel the weight of conviction on your heart, I have good news for you. Jesus died on the cross to forgive your sins. Do you see a Pharisaical heart beating in your chest? There is grace. If you have ears to hear, hear the Word of God. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10.

This is the heart of communion. Our Lord bid us come to join Him at the table. Here we take His body. Here we take His blood. here we taste the gospel. Christ, truly God truly man, bore all of our sins. If you are weighed down in sin, repent. Confess that to God and taste of the forgiveness He has already given you. We are not hopeless. We have the fullest hope of all. In every sin, we find God’s grace there crying out, forgiven. No depth of sin is deeper than the grace of God. Abandon your sin. Find peace in the gospel. As we have seen the gospel in our observance; as we have proclaimed the gospel in our songs and catechism; as we have heard the gospel with our ears; now let us taste it and be left with the peace that in Christ we are fully forgiven.

Come and partake.

Closing Doxology:

Closing Benediction: