At the end of chapter 22, we saw the Pharisees silenced by the question Jesus put to them. In fact, their disciples, along with the scribes, Sadducees and Herodians had all been silenced. They all had decided from that day not to question Jesus any more.
As we move into this chapter, we should remember this is Passover week and the city is overrun with visitors. The cross is but a few days away at this point. That means time is precious and it won't be wasted. And so we can see the words that were spoken were very important to Jesus.
Matthew 23:1-4
As we move through this chapter we should remember that Jesus is speaking to the multitudes and His disciples. We don't want to fall into the trap of thinking this was speaking against the religion and to those people; and that this somehow doesn't apply to us. We can apply these principles and ideas to our life.
In the synagogue there was a seat where the lead teacher sat. This was the seat from which the law was taught. This was called 'Moses seat'. These men sat in the place of Moses teaching the law to God's people. These people were to have a respect for that seat, even if they didn't have respect for the man. Because of that, they were to listen to the instruction of the word. But the works that were seen in these men was not consistent with the word. They created heavy burdens, stacking rules upon rules and defining every minute detail of the law. It was so burdensome, no one could remember it, let alone keep it. Yet they heaped it on men and expected them to keep the law while they wouldn't lift a finger to help you. Their expectation of others far exceeded what they expected of themselves.
William Barclay wrote of the seven different types of Pharisees from the Talmud:
- There was the Shoulder Pharisee. He was meticulous in his observance of the law; but he wore his good deeds upon his shoulder. He was out for a reputation for purity and goodness. True, he obeyed the law, but he did so in order to be noticed.
- There was the Wait-a-little Pharisee. He was the Pharisee who could always produce an entirely valid excuse for putting off a good deed. He professed the creed of the strictest Pharisees, but he could always find an excuse for allowing practice to lag behind. He spoke, but he did not do.
- There was the Bruised or Bleeding Pharisee. The Talmud speaks of the plague of self-afflicting Pharisees. These Pharisees received their name for this reason. Women had a very low status in Palestine. No really strict orthodox teacher would be seen talking to a woman in public, even if that woman was his own wife or sister. These Pharisees went even further; they would not even allow themselves to look at a woman on the street. In order to avoid doing so, they would shut their eyes, and so bump into walls and buildings and obstructions. They thus bruised and wounded themselves, and their wounds and bruises gained them a special reputation for exceeding piety.
- There was the Pharisee who was variously described as the Pestle and Mortar Pharisee, or the Hump-backed Pharisee, or the Tumbling Pharisee. Such men walked in such ostentatious humility that they were bent like a pestle in a mortar or like a hunchback. They were so humble that they would not even lift their feet from the ground and so tripped over every obstruction they met. Their humility was a self-advertising ostentation.
- There was the Ever-reckoning or Compounding Pharisee. This kind of Pharisee was forever reckoning up his good deeds; he was forever striking a balance sheet between himself and God, and he believed that every good deed he did put God a little further in his debt. To him, religion was always to be reckoned in terms of a profit and loss account.
- There was the Timid or Fearing Pharisee. He was always in dread of divine punishment. He was, therefore, always cleansing the outside of the cup and the platter, so that he might seem to be good. He saw religion in terms of judgment and life in terms of a terror-stricken evasion of this judgment.
- Finally, there was the God-fearing Pharisee; he was the Pharisee who really and truly loved God and who found his delight in obedience to the law of God, however difficult it might be.
There were 6 types of bad Pharisees and one good type. These 'types' reflect the heart of these men. Since we know the heart of man has never changed, we might be able to find similar 'types' in our churches today. But the really important 'type' to consider and understand is your own. Are you the God-fearing Christian?
Matthew 23:5-7
The Phylacteries were little leather boxes in which were kept little scrolls. They bound these little boxes on their heads and hands in response to their strict and literal interpretation of Deuteronomy 6:8:
6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
They made broad phylacteries in order to appear more righteous. They made the tassels on their garments longer also. The tassels come from Numbers 15:37-40:
37 Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 38 "Speak to the children of Israel: Tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a blue thread in the tassels of the corners. 39 And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God.
The tassel was to remind them to be holy, it didn't make them holy. But they were did this to adorn themselves so as to appear not just righteous, but more righteous than anyone else.
The men loved their seats of authority and the respect they were given. They adored getting the seat of honor. They loved their titles and to be seen and greeted for all to recognize them and greet them and honor them. They loved the fame and attention.
Matthew 23:8-10
As a title, these disciples had One Father in their faith and that was their Father in heaven. These Pharisees sought honor for being a spiritual father to the Jews, as if they were single handedly responsible for men and women coming to God. They were to have One teacher and that was Jesus. The word for teacher particularly refers to a tutor, someone offering individual mentoring and teaching. In seeking their own honor, these Pharisees took credit for teaching and leading the people. As the disciples heard this, and we hear this passage, we can see there shouldn't be anyone seeking a title within the church. The disciples of Jesus don't seek honor for himself but seeks only to honor Jesus.
Matthew 23:11-12
The Pharisees wanted to have people serve them. In the world honor is measured by the number of people who exalt the person or serve them. But in God's kingdom, those who exalt themselves will be humbled. Honor is measured by the level of service in the kingdom. The humble servant will be Exalted.
Jesus now begins to pronounce woes on the Pharisees. A woe not only expresses wrath but also sorrow. It's a righteous anger with the basis of love.
Matthew 23:13
Jesus called these men hypocrites. They were playing a part, supposedly followers of God, supposedly leading people to God, but they did neither. Not only did they not lead people to the Kingdom of God, they barred the door; and they were on the outside also.
In Matthew 5 Jesus gave us the Beattitudes; these revealed the Christian character. With each character trait was a reward accompanying the joy that made no sense in this world and its ways. In the first beatitude Jesus said:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The word for poor here is one that means abject poverty. It is the picture of one who has nothing and is on their hands and knees begging. Except this poverty is financial, it's spiritual. It's recognition that we have no righteousness whatsoever. Our righteous account is one of abject poverty. It's this recognition that brought us to repentance. We recognized our way was wrong, we agreed with God and turned around.
Being poor in the spirit is the key to the kingdom; it opens the way. These Pharisees had no understanding of being poor in spirit. For that reason, their were blocked from the kingdom which precluded them from leading others there.
Matthew 23:14
The second beatitude says:
Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
The second beatitude speaks of a blessing for those who mourn. This is mourning over sin and the affects of sin. It is mourning for the sinfulness of this world. It's a deep longing for the kingdom of God. Those who mourn will in fact find comfort.
The Pharisees did not mourn. They in fact celebrated their place in this kingdom and this life. They offered the appearance of compassion for the widows and offered their long prayers to make an appearance. While there was comfort for the mourner, there was only condemnation for the Pharisee. It should be noted also that this was a 'greater' condemnation. David Guzick put it this way:
Under this concept we can say that no one will have it good in Hell, but we can trust that some will have it worse than others will.
Matthew 23:15
The third beatitude says:
Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
The meek are full or power, but its power under control. God is that source of power. The meek are teachable, recognizing their mistakes and learning from them. Yielding to the guiding hand of the master and resisting our own leading. The meek have nothing to prove, especially to the world. These people will inherit the earth.
Jesus characterized the Pharisees as opposite of this. They traveled the earth to win someone to their way of thinking. In doing so, they made that person a son of hell. They were no closer to God.
Matthew 23:16-22
The next beatitude says:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
This bliss of the Christian life comes from experiencing a deep hunger and thirst for righteousness. When we are covered in the filth of sin, we long to be washed clean. The reward of this hunger and thirst is that the Lord promises we will be filled.
The Pharisees sought after a false righteousness; they had no real hunger. They made big showy oaths that sounded impressive. Yet in reality they were empty oaths. They created a system where they could make a big other but then excuse themselves from it. They didn't want to perform the oath, they just wanted to impress others with it. It was like a child having their fingers crossed when they made a promise. But Jesus says that every oath will be collected. The Pharisees could not excuse themselves from oaths.
Those hungry for righteousness will be filled; those filled with self righteousness will be emtied.
Matthew 23:23-24
The next beatitude is verse seven:
Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
The cultural understanding of this mercy Jesus spoke of was like stepping into another's place; stepping into their body and their life and circumstances. It was feeling the pain and emotions with them. It was, in a sense, sharing in their plight. This is what Jesus did; He joined us is in our situation, becoming fully man so that He might remain sinless and become our propitiation. Hebrews 4:15 says; 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
We are to be like Christ in this; we are to join others, as if we could step into their life or this very skin and attempt to feel what they feel. The world would be a very different place if this kind of thinking was commonplace. This kind of mercy takes a deliberate effort of our will and our mind.
The wieghtier matters of the things of God were set aside because the Pharisees were meticulously measuring out their tithes. Jesus compared this to straining out a gnat and eating a camel. What a comical picture. Its said that a careful Pharisee would strain his drink through a cheese cloth to remove the gnat so that he didn't defile himself. How ridiculous if you then went on to swallow an entire camel. Yet that's the appearance. They were messing with this meager tithe while justice, mercy and faith went untouched.
While the merciful will be blessed with mercy, there is no such blessing for the Pharisees, only woe.
Matthew 23:25-26
Matthew 5:8 gives us this beatitude:
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
The word 'pure' means free of guilt or sin; it's untainted, not mixed or blended with filth. There is no corruption and nothing false in motivation. It implies a singleness of purpose. It is Christ centeredness without distraction. This is not an easy place to be. Nor is it a place we can arrive at on our own. To be pure of heart is a gift from God that comes from spiritually poor, those who mourn and are meek; seeking righteousness and offering mercy. When we are poured out, emptied of our self, God will fill us with His righteousness and give us a new heart.
We can imagine a beautiful, ornate cup that looks very useful and purposeful. Yet, when you look in the cup it is full of vile and nasty gunk! It was such with the Pharisees. There was no purity from within. They were simply a show on the outside. As the pure in heart shall see God, the defiled of heart shall not.
Matthew 23:27-28
The next beatitude is in Matthew 5:9:
Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
The cultural understanding of peace would be not just an absence of war, but a presence of all good things. Shalom, was the Hebrew word with this meaning. We need to take note the blessing is on those who bring about peace. How often do we not interfere with situations because it was easy to say it was none of our business? God makes peace our business. Every day life as a Christian is includes our role as peacemaker with those around us. Those who are peacemakers will be called sons of God. To be a 'son of God' is to bear the likeness of the Father; like Father, like son. When we are peacemakers, we are reflecting our Father in Heaven and doing a God like work.
On the outside, the Pharisees had the appearance of sons of God. But Jesus reveals them to be hypocrites. They were like whitewashed tombs. It's said that during the Passover the tombs would be whitewashed to make them visible to many visitors unfamiliar with the location of graves. To stumble upon a grave would make them unclean and keep them from worship in the temple. So the tombs were whitewashed, but on the inside they were full of corruption and uncleanness. In the same way, these men weren't what they appear. They were full of lawlessness.
While the peacemaker is called a son of God, the lawless one does not know this peace. The Pharisees may have spoken 'shalom' but had no real understanding of it. They likewise, were not sons of God as they so considered themselves.
Matthew 23:29-36
And the final beatitude to accompany the final woe is from Matthew 5:10:
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
For some, persecution is found in the every-day life of being a Christian. All who live Godly lives that reflect the Father and are characterized by these beatitudes will be persecuted. It may be that if you aren't persecuted or reviled in any way, it may be that your faith is no threat to the enemy. We can see in these few beatitudes a mindset that is vastly different from the world. These characterizations of being Chrsitlike are the result of repentance. This is the opposite direction of a sin fallen world we once ran freely in. Just think if every person who claimed Christ truly reflected these beatitudes. The world would be different; and it should be different. The church is the conscience of a society. Our laws, knowledge of right and wrong as well as our justice system all come from a Christian mindset. It is the role of the church to praise good when we see good and to point out evil when we see evil. In a fallen world full of seared consciences that want to ignore God, some will attempt to silence the voice of conscience. This effort toward silencing this voice has grown more prominent and is a sign of the times. It was so in the days of Noah when the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. So it will be as we near the end.
The kingdom is given to those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. This isn't compensation for the raw deal they got. This is a blessing bestowed on those who sought righteousness no matter the cost.
The absence of this blessing is the woe to those who take part in, inspire or promote the persecution of the children of God. The Pharisees presented themselves as adorning the righteous and honoring the prophets; even to the point of saying had they lived in that day they would not have killed them. But Jesus calls them sons of the devil and charges them with the murder of the prophets and the righteous. Satan is a liar and a murder; these men's stand as testimony. The words of Jesus are prophetic in that these men would be plot to put Jesus on the cross; thus proving out they were liars and murderers.
Persecution stands as a testimony to those seeking righteousness no matter the cost. They will receive the Kingdom of God. Likewise, those who cause persecution will not see the kingdom.
Matthew 23:37-39
Remember, Jesus is speaking to the multitudes and the disciples. He wasn't speaking of these woe judgments to change the Pharisees, they were unwilling to change. Jesus speaks to the people in a plea to understand who He was and what it meant to them.
Jesus quotes Psalm 118 which everyone would have known as a messianic Psalm. This Psalm was referenced in the cry of 'Hosanna' at His presentation to them as king. He repeatedly went back to that Psalm to reveal Him self to them.
Jesus weeps over the Jews who were led astray, who's hearts were hardened, who's minds were set. They looked for their messiah and always had. But their messiah became a god of their own understanding. The failure to recognize Him brought judgment on them. Jesus said they would see Him any more until they say 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' This will be fulfilled when the Lord comes back.
In this passage we can see:
- The purpose of history; for Jesus to gather his people.
- The tragedy of history; but they weren't willing
- The triumph of history; there is a day coming……….
Amen
©2015 Doug Ford
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