Matthew 23:13-39

Now, I imagine that there are not many occasions that preachers ask congregations to turn to Matthew 23.

! And that's partly because as it was read, I don't know whether you picked it up, it is a blistering passage.

It is one of those times in the Gospels where Jesus speaks in an extraordinarily fiery way.

And there are words at which you and I can't hide from them this morning.

And we don't come to Matthew 23 with a sense of eagerness.

Oh, I love this passage. This is one that really warms the heart.

Because these words burn and they scorch.

And as we saw last week at the start of chapter 23, they're particularly aimed at religious leaders.

Religious leaders.

And you'll notice how in verse 27, Jesus describes that religion.

Can you just look down there with me?

What's their religion like?

He says, your religion is like a tomb full of dead men's bones.

But dead religion is a perennial problem and it's always a problem.

It's got a long history throughout the whole history of the Christian church.

And dead religion reappears in different forms.

And so if I say dead religion, what do you think of?

You probably think of, going to a church like this, a high degree of ceremonial.

A really detailed liturgical correctness.

Maybe you think of those words, liberal theology.

Ethically careless.

But the Pharisees remind us that it is possible to be full of zeal.

Full of enthusiasm.

To be a stickler for moral correctness.

To be an orthodox believer.

And yet still to represent dead religion.

Because dead religion is not a matter of the clothing that it wears.

So it may well be high and ceremonial.

It may be smells of bells.

It may be very trendy.

It might be real.

It may be emotionally supercharged.

It may be lively.

It may be right-wing.

It might be left-wing.

It might be evangelical and orthodox.

But actually, if it's a dead body, it doesn't matter what it's dressed up on.

I think it's it.

Because if it's a dead body, no matter whether it's in a tracksuit or whether it's in a three-piece suit,

it's still a court.

Heretical or orthodox.

And dead religion may have many forms.

It may have a form of godliness.

But the New Testament tells us that it denies the power of that godliness.

Dead religion may defend the deity of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

But it never displays the glory and the beauty and the attractiveness of Jesus Christ.

Dead religion may speak the loaves of the Holy Spirit.

But it never displays the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

And in this chapter, which as I've said is a burning and blistering chapter,

Jesus rails against the Pharisees.

He treats dead religion with great seriousness.

He exposes it openly.

And you can't ignore it.

His language is that of a funeral lament.

Do you notice that word that came up sometimes?

Woe.

Woe to you.

And they kind of introduce what Jesus is saying.

It's a word that expresses a kind of mourning for the dead.

One scholar has said there's a mix of compassion and condemnation as Jesus says it.

And here it is probably Jesus pronouncing impending judgment.

Judgment is coming woe on you.

And the word occurs seven times.

But there are five, I think, identifiable emphasis that Jesus makes.

Where Jesus focuses on areas where dead religion shows itself.

That I think is helpful for us.

So let me touch on them.

First of all, in verse 13.

It focuses on the influence of this dead religion on the lives of others.

Dead religion on the lives of others.

In verse 13.

Jesus is speaking about first of all.

What is the influence of dead religion on the lives of others?

That spiritual influence.

That spiritual impact upon the lives of other people.

These Pharisees, they are representatives of this dead religion.

What is the effect that it has on other people?

And so what he's saying here is that they are a hindrance, not a help.

He's saying that these people, they are very, very eager.

They're very religious.

And yet they have no spiritual experience themselves.

Because they never truly entered the kingdom of heaven.

And you notice how he says it.

You've never entered the kingdom yourselves.

And you get in the way of those who want to get in.

And it couldn't be more serious.

So let's look.

Let's see how they've done it.

Let's go to Matthew chapter 12.

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

And we've been there, remember?

Matthew chapter 12.

Matthew 12 · chapter mention

And look at verse 22.

And you notice you get this great illustration of what Jesus is talking about.

And it's these very Pharisees who stand in the doorway and they block people from entering in.

So Matthew 22.

And verse 12.

No.

Matthew 22.

That is right, isn't it?

Yeah.

And I'm looking at Matthew chapter 23.

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

So that's not very helpful, is it?

But it's Matthew chapter 22.

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

And verse 12.

Is that right?

I've got two different verses written down here.

That's very helpful, isn't it?

Here we go.

It's 22.

That's right the first time.

Matthew 12, 22.

You all there?

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and made to us brought him and Jesus healed him.

So the man spoke and saw.

All the people were amazed and said, can this be the son of David?

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, it is only by Beelzebul.

It's only by the devil.

The prince of demons.

That this man casts out demons.

Do you notice something that has awakened these people?

They're pressing towards Christ.

They're asking, is this the Messiah?

Should we not be going to him?

Isn't this the man we've been expecting?

And notice what happens.

They say, no, he's done it by the devil.

In other words, they stand in the door and they say, no, you will not come to Christ.

These people are beginning to wonder and ask, could this be the Messiah in front of them, as it were?

And the Pharisees slam the door in their face.

Because dead religion has a terrible influence on those who are genuinely seeking Christ.

Here's the second thing.

The second thing is, it focuses on the effect of these people's witness.

Just look at verse 15 of Matthew chapter 23.

Matthew 23 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 15.

Matthew 15 · chapter mention

Look at what it says.

It says, and woe to you.

Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

Because you travel across sea and land to make a single proserite.

And when he becomes a proserite, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourself.

It's incredible, isn't it?

It's so strong.

And you have to tend to ask, what on earth can these people who've got dead religion, what can they witness to?

What can they speak about?

Surely, these dead religion people, they have got no evangelistic zeal.

But they do.

And these people are so eager to recruit, they travel over land and sea for a single convict.

But of course, what do they want to win them to?

What they want to win them to is a dead religion like their own.

They do not make them Christians, followers of the Lord Jesus.

They make them Pharisees.

And what often happens is that when people are won over to something, they become even more zealous, don't they?

None so zealous as a convert.

And when these people are won over to the Pharisees, they become more pharisaical than the Pharisees themselves.

You make them twice as much a son of hell, Jesus says.

And so here's a lesson, and we can't avoid it.

That if today you are a half-hearted Christian,

if you're a Christian who lives with one foot in the world,

with one foot in the kingdom of God, as it were,

what you bear witness to is compromised Christianity.

If you've got reservations of the authority of the Bible,

and your influence is brought to bear on other people who are seeking to know God,

what you will do is you will make people like yourself.

We really hate to talk about this.

But it's so true, isn't it?

It's a law written into nature.

The Bible teaches about it,

right from the very start of the Bible,

in the book of Genesis.

It's carried right the way through.

You might not have spotted it.

There's a law written into nature,

and it's this.

It's called the bringing forth law.

Do you know that law?

So you go to Genesis 1 and 2,

and you'll see that written into creation,

is this.

They brought forth everyone after its kind.

That's how it reads.

And if you go through Genesis 1 and 2,

do it this afternoon.

Look at it.

It reads again and again.

They brought forth after their kind.

So you see it in nature.

Humans bring forth...

Humans.

Animals bring forth...

Animals.

Apple trees bring forth...

Apple trees.

It's one of the great illustrations Jesus uses,

doesn't he?

He says,

when does a man...

When he says,

does a man gather figs from...

grapes?

Of course he doesn't.

You don't go to a grape tree...

and get figs, do you?

You don't go to your apple tree

and pick off a pear.

You've got to your apple tree,

you get an apple.

And Jesus is saying,

everyone brings forth after its kind.

And that's really,

really important.

And if we wanted to,

we could go over the recent history

of this country,

and we could see,

what does dead religion bring forth?

It brings forth dead religion.

Dead religion produces specimen of itself.

Half-hearted Christianity produces what?

Half-hearted Christianity.

And the principle applies in all sorts of ways.

The third area that Jesus concentrates on

is the result of their teaching,

the influence of their lives,

the effect of their witness,

and the third area that Jesus

is the result of their teaching.

So that's in verses 16 to 22.

Can you see it?

The paragraph begins,

woe to you blind guides.

It's first of five times in the chapter

that Jesus speaks about the Pharisees being blind.

And the serious thing about what Jesus is talking about

is not their blindness itself.

The serious issue is

that these people

are religious guides for other people.

You can imagine it, can't you?

You want someone to guide you somewhere,

and yet they're blind.

They're unable to see.

It's so dangerous, isn't it?

It's like getting into the car

and somebody was blind and saying,

could you direct me the way to your house?

There's no people that tell you, eh?

It's exactly Jesus' point.

In verses 13 and again in 15,

they're described not as Pharisees there,

but as teachers of the law.

Woe to you, verse 13, teachers of the law.

15, woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees.

And Jesus identifies a mark

in verses 16 to 22 of dead religion.

And it's simply this.

It avoids the implications of the truth.

The implications of the truth.

And more than once,

you've come across it.

The Pharisees played a game.

And it was a dreadful and disastrous game.

It was a game with words.

You can see it in our passage.

Where they would enter into an oath,

kind of serious pledge, a promise.

And they would say, I swear.

And you find out what we can swear by.

So that what we swear by,

we're not held to.

So they worked out a whole lot of things.

And they said, we swear by the temple.

But if we swear by the temple,

it doesn't bind us.

To keep true and keep faith.

With what we promised.

We don't have to keep it.

But if on the other hand,

we swear by the gold on the temple,

well that does bind us.

And you think to yourself,

as I said this week,

this is madness.

It's ludicrous.

We laugh at it, don't we?

How ridiculous this is.

It's in verse 18.

They say, if anyone swears by the altar,

he is nothing.

But if anyone swears by the gift

that is on the altar,

he is bound by his oath.

And she says, you blind men.

Because the whole point of it

was to avoid the implications

of the truth and truth-telling.

And they used to teach this.

And we said, how ridiculous.

But then let me ask you,

are there plain teachings of the Bible?

And the implications of which

you are determinedly avoiding

in your life?

Are there plain truths in the Bible?

The implications of which

you are declining to take seriously?

And by your word,

and by your example,

you teach other people the same.

Because a mark of dead religion

is that it seeks to avoid

the implications of the truth.

And that is, isn't it,

enormously solemn?

Because the blind guy who does that,

Jesus elsewhere says,

he will land in a ditch

along with those who he leads.

And it would be worthwhile,

I think, spending a little time

on this this week.

Because this is not some exercise

that we're following

that ends when we go through

those doors.

It would be worth our while

this week pausing

and saying to ourselves,

before God,

are there implications

of the teaching of the Bible

which I'm deliberately avoiding?

And I'm avoiding them

not because the Bible

doesn't teach them,

but because of cultural pressure.

Or because I just

don't want to obey them.

It's a mark of dead religion.

Here's the fourth thing.

It's the focus of their interests.

Look at verses 23 to 28.

And you notice there's two things

that mark their religious hypocrisy.

Number one,

they major on minors.

They major on minors.

Or to put it another way,

they magnify,

they magnify the insignificant

and they minimize the essential.

Do you notice that in verse 23?

Wote you scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites,

for you tithe mint

and dill

and cumin.

And yet you've neglected

the weightier matters

of the law.

Justice,

mercy

and faithfulness.

You know about

I'm tithing

in the Old Testament

where you give a tenth

of what you have.

And I've been willing

to tithe

all their possessions

as part of their obligation.

And she says to them,

how

how much

do spices

take up of your life?

How much

part of your life

do spices

occupy?

What part of your wealth

consists of spices?

Unless you're really unusual.

Spices don't play

a major part in my life

and even yours.

But they were meticulous,

these guys.

They were meticulous

about mint

and dill

and cumin.

She says,

but you've neglected

the weightier matters

of the law.

Justice,

mercy,

faithfulness.

And you should have

practiced the latter

without neglecting

the former.

You blind guides.

You strain on a gnat.

A little gnat.

But you swallow

a massive camel.

And again,

it's Jesus'

ridiculous illustration,

isn't it?

And it tells you

that Jesus has a sense

of the ridiculous

in his teaching.

You strain up a gnat,

which is a tiny insect.

You swallow a camel.

You incline to major

on minors

to magnify the insignificant

and minimize the essential.

It's a mark of dead religion.

But you notice

what Jesus

speaks about.

And we come to practicality.

Here we come to the bread and butter.

Verses 25 to 28.

They emphasize the external

but they're careless

about the hidden

world of the heart.

Woe to you,

teachers of the law,

verse 25,

for you clean the outside

of the cup

and the plate,

but inside

they're full of greed

and self-indulgence.

You blind Pharisee,

first clean the inside

of the cup

and the plate

and then the outside

also may be clean.

Jesus uses this word

so often,

doesn't he?

Hypocrite.

So many times.

Hypocrite is just an actor

who played a part.

That's what it meant

in Jesus' day.

It was somebody

who pretended

to be somebody

who he was not.

Nobody was expecting

him to be the person

he was pretending to be.

You go and see a play

and you go round

the back of the stage

afterwards

and speak to the actor,

you don't expect him

to still be playing

the role he was playing

on stage to you.

That would be ridiculous.

You know very well

it's not Hamlet

who you've gone to see.

It's Joe Glott.

But he was pretending

to be someone

wasn't he on stage

and the better

his performance was

the better hypocrite he was.

That's the sense.

And it's a mark

of your dead religion

when your outward image

is something different

from what's underneath.

And God knows

how much I need

to apply this

to my soul.

When your outward image

bears no relation

to your inward states

then you're spiritually dead.

That's what Jesus is saying.

Ten religion

has one more thing.

So we've seen

the influence

of their lives,

the effect of their witness,

the result of their teaching,

the focus of their interest

and lastly

the illusion

of their self-assessment.

Let me verse 29 to 36.

He says

woe to you teachers

of the law.

You say

if we lived

in the days

of our fathers

we would not have

taken part with them

and shed in the blood

of the prophets.

They look at the tombs

of the old prophets

of the past

the godly men

of the past

in the Old Testament

whom God has sent

and they say

this is dreadful.

If we'd lived

in their time

we would have never done

what people did

then.

And they were

pretending themselves.

They were so

self-deluded

weren't they?

Because we know

through reading

Matthew's Gospel

that actually

at this point

they were plotting

and planning

the death

of the one

who was the

greatest prophet

of all.

They were self-deluded.

And do you remember

what we saw last week

that really important

point that hypocrisy

it begins by deceiving

others

but it ends

with us deceiving

ourselves.

And here is

an example of it.

They deluded

themselves.

And dead religion

hypocrisy produces

not just blindness

in other spheres

but it produces

blindness in how

we view ourselves.

And Jesus points

that out

doesn't he

in verse 34

he says

therefore I send

you prophets

and wise men

as scribes

some of whom

you will kill

and crucify

some of which

you will flog

in your synagogues

and pierce

from town to town.

And you read

the book of Acts

and you see

that's exactly

what happened.

What were they doing?

They were doing

exactly what

their forefathers

were doing

which was a mark

of dead religion

in most generations.

It's very simple

isn't it?

You can tell me

they're trying

to silence God.

That's what

they were doing.

And so there

is dead religion

so how will

Jesus respond

to it?

By flaying

them with words?

Well

not really

ultimately.

There's that

word woe

isn't there?

A sense of

infinite sadness

but it's

crystallised

in verse 37

look at Jesus

response

in verse 37.

He says

O Jerusalem

Jerusalem

the city

that has killed

the prophets

and stoned

those who sent

to it.

And here it is

he says

how often

will I have

gathered your

children together

as a hen

gathers her brood

under her wings

but you

were not willing.

That's all

for the first time

this week.

The repetition

there.

Can you see it?

Verse 37.

O Jerusalem

Jerusalem

And you've

heard that

repetition

before haven't

you?

I've

heard it

in some

of your

homes

and at

your

families

in times

of heartbreak

and you

could see

some family

and something

has happened

and they

say don't

they

O

whatever

the name

is

O

whatever

the name

is

and they

repeat the

name

and they

say what

have you

done?

Jesus used

that again

and again

to me

he said

O

Martha

Martha

he said

O

Simon

Simon

and the

risen

glorified

Christ

says

O

Saul

Saul

and maybe

this morning

in verse 37

you need to put

your own name

in there

and maybe

you need to put

your name

in there

and Jesus

says how

often

would I

have gathered

you

but you

were not

willing

and so

by God's

grace

and the

Lord Jesus

outstretched

arms

that great

cry of his

soul

intends that

this morning

you should lay

aside all your

unwillingness

and all your

stubbornness

and all your

hypocrisy

and let him

gather you

under the

shadow of his

wings

and find

reality

not deadness

there

let's pray

a