Jesus condemns religious hypocrites

I'm reading from Matthew chapter 23, verse 13 to 39.

Matthew 23:13–39

This kicks off right from last week.

! Jesus is addressing the scribes and Pharisees.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte,

and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

Woe to you, blind guides, who say,

If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing,

but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.

You blind fools!

For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?

For you say,

If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing,

but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.

You blind men!

For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it,

and by everything on it.

And whoever swears by the temple, swears by it,

and by him who dwells in it.

And whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God,

and by him who sits upon it.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you tithe mint and dill and cumin,

and have neglected the weightier matters of the law,

justice and mercy and faithfulness.

These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.

You blind guides,

straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate,

but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

You blind Pharisee!

First clean the inside of the cup and the plate,

that the outside may also be clean.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you are like whitewashed tombs,

which outwardly appear beautiful,

but within are full of dead people's bones

and all uncleanliness.

So you also outwardly appear righteous to others,

but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you build the tombs of the prophets

and decorate the monuments of the righteous,

saying,

If we had lived in the days of our fathers,

we would not have taken part with them

in shedding the blood of the prophets.

Thus you witness against yourselves

that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

You serpents!

You brood of vipers!

How are you to escape being sentenced to hell?

Therefore, I send you prophets and wise men and scribes,

some of whom you will kill and crucify,

and some you will flog in your synagogues

and persecute from town to town,

so that on you may come all the righteous blood

shed on earth,

from the blood of righteous,

Abel, to the blood of Zachariah,

son of Barakiah,

whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

Truly, I say to you,

all these things will come upon this generation.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,

the city that kills the prophets and stones,

those who are sent to it,

how often would I have gathered your children together

as hen-gatherers,

her brood under her wings,

and you were not willing.

So your house is left to you desolate,

for I tell you,

you will not see me again until you say,

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Well, good morning, everyone.

Will you pray with me as we come to God's word?

Lord, all of us,

whether we are searching for you for the first time

or we've known Christ for many years,

all of us need to go deeper in what we've just sung.

that nothing but the blood of Jesus

can wash away my sin

and make me whole again.

So I pray that

in your stern word to us this morning

that you would convince our hearts

that the blood of Christ is all we need.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, there are some who claim to be

spiritual leaders of Christianity

that this passage,

it makes me shudder

if I imagine myself

standing before God on judgment day.

I do not want to be them.

People who preach the health and prosperity gospel,

taking the blood of Christ

and making money from it.

I do not want to be them.

I do not want to be them.

On the last day.

Those claiming to represent God

as priest or pastor

and doing awful things in private,

taking advantage of the sheep.

Oh, I do not want to be them.

And then there's many, many more

spiritual leaders

claiming to be Christian leaders.

I don't want to be them either.

They just teach

that God is pleased

with our religious activity.

That's all he wants,

our religious activity.

And they're giving people

false assurance.

In generations past,

a judge in the UK

would put on a black cap

to pronounce the death sentence

over a criminal.

The case has,

it's been examined.

The jury is unanimous.

And putting on that cap

is just,

the fate is sealed.

It's time to be sentenced.

This passage is Jesus,

the judge of all the earth,

putting on that black cap.

God's patience,

it seems,

he seems almost endlessly patient.

He's incredible,

he's so much more patient

than you or I.

Like,

he gives chance

after chance

after chance

after chance.

But now it's time

for the black cap.

Seven woes.

Now that seven

might be symbolic

for completeness.

These woes

are calling down

divine condemnation

on the religious.

It's not spiteful,

he's not

just losing his temper,

this is judicial,

this is,

this is a judge.

He's talking

to scribes

and Pharisees.

Verse 13,

he's talking

to scribes

and Pharisees,

Pharisees who claim

to know God

and claim to be

leading others

to God.

And there's two

descriptions that he,

they're very prominent

in this section.

They're blind,

spiritually blind,

blind guides,

blind fools,

blind men,

blind Pharisees.

And hypocrite,

they're like an actor

putting on a mask

and performing.

All their religion

is a performance

for people to,

well done.

That's what hypocrite,

it's just a performance

when the inside

is unchanged.

all appearance,

no substance.

So Jesus

was wearing

the black cap

especially for

false spiritual leaders

but if that woe

falls on anyone

who follows them,

they've only got

a following

because our hearts

are prone

to think

like them.

I think we should

see in this passage

that this is

God's judgment

not just on

the Pharisees

back then

but on all

human-centered

performance-driven

mask-wearing

religion.

This is God's judgment

on all of it.

Well a commentator

said there's

a chiasm

to these seven

woes.

Now

as soon as

someone knows

what a chiasm

is they see it

here, there

and everywhere

in scripture

even if there isn't.

But this one's

grown on me.

I think they might

be onto something.

So a chiasm

is just a mirror

image of ideas

where once you

get to the

centre idea

that's at the

heart of it.

That's the

thrust of the

message.

So I think

verse 23 and

24

the central

woe

is the

root problem.

Why they're

blind?

Why they're

hypocrites?

And all the

other woes

are symptoms.

They flow out

from this

root problem.

It's not

uncommon to

see married

couples

focus all

their attention

on the

externals

to make a

thriving family.

Let's have a

nice house.

Let's have

good incomes

coming in.

Let's have

holidays.

Let's get the

kids the best

clothes and the

best toys and

the best

schooling.

Let's get

seven devices

so that we

can all

watch different

things and be

a harmonious

fragmented

family in the

home.

All while

the internal,

the unmeasurable

things are

neglected.

What really

produces a

thriving family

soaking in the

word and the

love of God

and the

mutual trust

and the

gratefulness

and the

sacrificial love.

I'm sure we

could add

things here

but we're

drawn to

those visible,

measurable,

tangible things

as if that's

the real

thing.

Or as a

country, we

can measure

our prosperity

by our

annual GDP

but where's

the trust?

Where's the

trust between

neighbours?

What really

produces a

healthy country?

I was

looking in

my wardrobe

recently and

I saw all

these shirts

I bought when

I first was

appointed a

pastor here.

I don't want

to wear them

anymore.

They're a bit

embarrassing.

I was focused

on just

looking like

a pastor.

Who gives

a rip?

I'm sorry

about that but

fallen mankind

is just, we're

so prone to

look for the

external, the

measurable and we

just ignore the

crucial, the

important and

often unseen.

You can't

measure it.

And that's

especially the

case when it

comes with our

relationship with

God.

So verse 23

and 24 I

think is just

that.

The Pharisees

totally missed

the point of

the Old

Testament.

They knew

their Old

Testament back

to front and

yet Jesus is

charging them

with totally

missing the

point.

Totally

missing the

thrust, the

heart of what

God says.

God gave

laws about

tithing, giving

10% and they

are so holy

they tithe

their garden

herbs.

They can

measure that.

They can

obey that

rule.

But what

God's law

emphasised, what

the prophets

called Israel

back to again

and again, what

he says he

wants the

most is

justice and

mercy,

faithfulness.

They focus on

the rules they

can see and

just skim

over the

heart of

what God

calls us

to.

God's

love.

A gnat and

a camel, they're

both unclean

animals in

Mosaic law.

So they're so

careful not to

defile themselves

with a gnat and

then they swallow

a camel.

They miss the

heart of what

God wants

from us.

It's like in

COVID days,

coming in the

door, you just

12 times you

sanitise your

hands and

then you

sneeze in

someone's

face and

you think

you're being

careful.

It's just

missing the

point.

Matthew's

gospel records

Hosea 6.6

two times,

I desire

mercy, not

sacrifice,

God said.

Ritual

isn't inherently

wrong.

He commanded

some rituals,

but it

means nothing

if you

ignore God's

call to

show mercy

to your

fellow brother

and sister.

We're going

to share the

Lord's

Supper, not

today but

next week.

It is an

expression of

our reconciling

power of the

gospel to

God and

one another.

It will

mean nothing

if we are

harbouring

bitterness in

our heart

and hostility

toward our

brothers and

sisters here

in this room.

that ritual

would be

worse than

nothing.

It would be

offensive.

It's missing

the heart.

We could

come to

church and

pat ourselves

on the back

that we're

good, godly

people and

then go into

our workplace

and not pay

our workers

or we

fudge the

laws to

make ourself

and our

company look

good and we

have no

concern for

the poor.

It's just

missing the

heart.

God says

he cares

about our

inner person,

our character.

The

Pharisees'

view of

God and

of religion

is they

cared about

the external,

the measurable.

People can

applaud that

when God

cares about

the inner

person,

the character.

Very hard

to measure

that, but

vitally

important,

justice and

mercy and

faithfulness.

He doesn't

want virtue

signalling.

He wants

real character

transformation.

So from

this fundamental

misunderstanding

of God and

what he

wants,

focusing on

the external

rules and

rituals,

it's not

surprising

then that

they

misapply

God's

laws and

that's

what we

see either

side in

verse 16

to 22.

Now this

is a bit

step removed

from us.

I don't

think we're

familiar with

oaths,

but their

rules are

bizarre.

If anyone

swears by

the temple,

it's nothing,

but if anyone

swears by the

gold of the

temple, he is

bound by

his oath.

oaths.

Now just

stepping back

big picture

here, they

are deciding,

they've got all

these technicalities,

all these rules of

what obedience

counts.

This counts,

this doesn't

count.

But they're

missing the

heart of the

matter.

Any oath

is appealing

to God.

their fixation

on rules,

this counts,

this doesn't

count, is

actually

encouraging

people to

forget God.

Any oath

is appealing

to God.

These

arbitrary

rules can

make you

miss the

bigger point.

Now,

something that

came to my

mind is,

it's not the

only thing,

maybe it's not

even the most

important thing,

but I don't

hear many

people using

swear words at

church, to be

honest.

Like, it

doesn't happen

much.

Maybe you stub

your toe and it

accidentally happens.

I don't hear many

heated arguments

over morning.

Sometimes it

happens, but I

don't hear many.

Now, is

Sunday morning

more sacred

than the

drive home

or Saturday

evening?

We've got this

strange distinction

in our minds

that this is

sacred space

and that

fixation on

rules of what

we can and

can't do at

church, it

makes us

forget the

bigger picture

of God.

God, he

wants all

our words

to be

honouring him

and building

up.

Fixation on

little man-made

distinctions can

miss the point

entirely.

Then we've got

verses 25 to

26.

You clean the

outside of the

cup and the

plate, but

inside they are

full of greed

and self-indulgence.

God's law

put cleanliness

at the

forefront of

their minds.

Every meal

had to be

clean animals,

how you

prepared the

meal.

The fabric

you wore

had to be

clean and

not mixed

fabric.

What you

wore, when

you're sick,

there's so many

laws around

cleanliness,

sick or

menstrual cycle

or attending

a funeral

or approaching

the temple

and washing

and every

aspect of

life,

clean and

unclean,

was in a

Jewish person's

forefront of

their thinking.

You would have

to be incredibly

daft to

miss that God

wants cleanliness

inside as

well.

Morally,

inside they

remain unchanged.

They're still

full of greed

and self-indulgence.

What came to

my mind was

we could be

a good

Christian and

obey every

government law

with money.

We could be

squeaky clean

legally and

inside greed

and self-indulgence

could just be

totally unchanged.

clean the

inside and

the outside

it'll take

care of

itself.

That's the

easy bit.

Clean the

inside.

In both of

these woes

with the

oaths and

with the

cleanliness

they're limiting

obedience to

just the

external

measurable

things.

it can

make you

feel like

a godly

person

missing the

obedience of

the inner

person God

calls for.

Would it

be a good

thing if we

grew in

numbers in

this church?

There's lots

of ways of

answering that

question but

it depends.

it depends what

we're teaching

people.

We could

grow numbers

and be

corrupting

them if

we're teaching

the wrong

thing.

The Pharisees

discipleship did

more harm

than good.

They corrupted

other people and

I think that's the

point of verse

15.

They make

converts to

their form of

Pharisee religion

and you make

him twice as

much a child

of hell as

yourselves.

Their false

religion corrupted

other people.

I don't think

Jesus is

exaggerating.

A child of

hell means

someone who

belongs to

they're on

their way to

hell.

Their teaching

corrupted their

understanding of

who God is

and what he

wants.

It gave

people false

assurance

while turning

people away

from Jesus.

Numbers alone

are not a good

measure of whether

we're healthy or

not.

They're not.

God is

God is

God is

God.

This same

corruption is

pictured in

verse 27 to

28.

I think this

picture is

you're meant to

feel it.

You are like

whitewashed

tombs which

outwardly appear

beautiful but

within are full of

dead people's

bones and all

uncleanliness.

On the way to

Passover apparently

the custom was

to whitewash

paint the

tombs so

that people

didn't

accidentally get

unclean before

they came for

Passover.

It would

prevent them

from participating

in worship.

They couldn't

partake of the

Passover so

they would

clean the

tombs and

Jesus is

saying the

tombs are

not the only

thing defiling

people.

You, you

are defiling

people by your

teaching.

You're cutting

people off

from God.

Last year a

Perth woman

opened a bag

of rice from

Woolworths and

discovered a

grey patch at

the bottom

thinking it was

mould.

It wasn't

mould.

It was a

dead mouse.

She said

there was

blood and a

stale wet

smell coming

from the

contents.

disgust.

That

disgust is

how God

feels towards

empty

religion.

It defiles

anything,

anyone who

buys into

it.

cuts people

off from

God.

They're

fundamentally

missing the

point of what

God says in

his word and

their fixation on

external rules.

They made

these,

they

show,

disobedience

counts and

neglected the

more important

obedience God

calls for and

it corrupted

people.

Anyone who

buys into

it, it

corrupts.

And so the

final woes on

either side at

bookends, you

reject those

God sends to

save you.

It's your

sense of

goodness, not

your sense of

badness that's

sending you to

hell.

It's your

sense of

goodness.

goodness.

You've got no

room in your

soul to need

a saviour.

You don't

need it.

So verse

13, you

shut the

kingdom of

heaven in

people's faces

for you

neither enter

yourselves nor

allow those

who would

enter to

go in.

They're

turning people

away from

Jesus as

our only hope

of salvation.

verse 29,

they build

monuments for

the prophets.

They're thinking

they're morally

and spiritually

superior to

past generations

who killed the

prophets, yet

they're plotting

to kill Jesus.

God is so

patient.

He gives

chance after

chance and

messenger after

messenger.

They're rejecting

his son.

And then he

gives more

chances.

Jesus says,

I'm going to

send you

more.

That's

incredible.

I can't

believe God

sends more

messengers.

I'm going to

send you more

of my people

to share this

message of

hope and

salvation to

you and

you're going

to kill

them.

mention

mentioning the

blood of

Abel and

Zachariah.

Abel, you

remember in

Genesis, he's

the first

victim of

someone who

just wants

external religion

to feel good

about themselves

and murdered

Abel.

Zachariah is

probably from

2 Chronicles

24.

That was

the last

book in

the Hebrew

collection, the

canon of

scripture.

I think it's

like saying

from Genesis

to Revelation,

all the

blood of

those God

has sent

to say,

come to me

and have

salvation in

me and

you've killed

them.

All that is

landing on

you.

Time is

up.

He's been

incredibly

patient all

of history.

But it's

now time for

that black

hat.

So verse

37 to

39, the

judge of

all the

earth is

putting on

his black

hat.

Your

house, the

temple, Jerusalem,

Israel, all

these external

things you put

your trust in,

it's going to

be left to

you desolate.

You will

not see me

again.

not until

the

resurrection

but until

his second

coming.

When everyone

will acknowledge

who I am.

Blessed is

he who

comes in

the name

of the

Lord.

In

chapter 24

verse 1,

the Lord

left his

temple.

No more

opportunity.

That's it.

God's

condemnation on

all, all

human

centred,

external

performance,

people praise,

religion.

This is God's

condemnation on

it all.

God's

love.

But see, see

also the

heart.

See the

heart of

God.

Jesus is full

of emotion

here.

Oh,

Jerusalem,

Jerusalem,

God's

love.

How often

would I have

gathered your

children together

as a hen

gathers her

brood under

her wings?

Jesus.

But you

were not

willing.

I love

the Jesus

of the

Gospels.

This world

focuses on

the appearance

and externals

and, but

God, God

doesn't settle

for that and

I love that

about Jesus,

about God.

He wants

character.

He wants,

imagine if

our country

was just

filled with

justice and

mercy and

faithfulness.

He wants

substance.

And I

love the

kind of

relationship

God wants.

He's not

saying to

the Pharisees,

well, you

tried hard but

it wasn't

good enough.

He's saying,

tuck under

my wings.

That's what

I'm asking.

Tuck under

my wings.

Let me

protect you.

Let me

nurture you.

You're so

busy trying to

prove yourself

in the eyes

of people and

prove yourself

to your own

conscience.

Just be a

helpless

chick and

come,

come under

my wings.

God's

God's

The irony

is that if

you feel

morally and

spiritually

bankrupt,

there is no

woe for you.

There's no

woe for you.

You've just got

his wings.

I know you

may not feel

it,

but you need

to tell

yourself,

preach to

yourself,

all you've

got is

his wings

to protect

you and

nurture

you.

It's those

who are

proud,

who don't

want to be

a helpless

chick.

They're the

ones in

real danger.

the one

weeping in

his judgment

is just a

few days

from the

cross when

he's going

to take

all the

condemnation,

all the

woes of

our

hypocrisy,

our religious

hypocrisy

upon himself.

He's going

to let

these Pharisees

say he

saved

others,

he cannot

save himself.

He is

the king

of Israel,

let him

come down

now from

the cross

and we

will believe

in him.

He trusts

in God,

let God

deliver him

now if

he desires

him,

for he

said I

am the

son of

God.

There's

God's

woes,

that he

took the

woes

on himself

and stayed

there while

those guys

said that.

he stayed

there for

you and

me.

Clothes

don't make

us clean,

cleansing in

his blood,

there's the

cleansing we

need.

There's the

shelter under

his wings from

the wrath of

God.

He took it

all himself.

Just come

helpless,

nothing to

offer him,

just come

as a

helpless

chick.

That's

the

relationship

God wants

with us.

You don't

want those

dreadful words

spoken to

you when

you face

him in

judgment

because you're

proud of

your religious

activity.

see,

he's going

to have

tears in

his eyes

and just

says,

you were

not willing.

You were

not willing.

You were

not willing.

Amen.