Our Compassionate Judge

There is an unseen odorless threat to families in our city.

It's called carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide is a gas produced by fossil fuels, burning fossil fuels,

whether that's a car or a kerosene heater or your gas grill.

If you've got a furnace or a boiler in your basement that uses natural gas,

it produces carbon monoxide.

And what you need to know about carbon monoxide is if a furnace or a boiler isn't vented right,

the carbon monoxide gas can build up in your home, it can make you sick, it can even kill you.

And so they've invented these carbon monoxide alarms.

There is another unseen odorless threat to your family and to our church family.

It's called hypocrisy.

In 1995, DC Talk, they were around back then.

DC Talk released Jesus Freak.

And on the fourth track of that album is a song called What If I Stumble.

And it starts with the recording of Brennan Manning saying this.

The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today are Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips,

but walk out the door and deny him with their lifestyle.

He goes on to say,

that's what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.

But it's just not those...

Our children find our hypocrisy unbelievable.

Study after study has recently documented young people who have grown up in the church,

churches which profess Jesus as the risen Christ,

churches that hold to the authority of the Bible,

churches,

children from these churches who are leaving the churches in droves.

The question is,

why?

Why are we losing our children?

Well, one Christian sociologist has made this convincing argument that young people are leaving

because they're being taught a different version of Christianity than what the Bible teaches.

And he calls it moralistic,

therapeutic deism.

What that means is,

be good,

be happy,

make sure you pray before your meals.

And what it does is,

it empties Christianity of the risen Christ.

And so for us,

it's hypocritical to profess Jesus as the risen king,

and then to functionally practice some other version of that.

Be good,

be happy,

just make sure you pray before you eat.

The scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus' day

were professing one thing

and then practicing another thing.

Their unacknowledged,

unrepentant,

hypocrisy,

misled people

and it resulted in their judgment.

And that's what we're reading in Matthew 23.

Matthew 23,

the whole chapter,

is like this giant carbon monoxide detector for your soul.

It sounds an alarm.

Matthew 23

could very well sound an alarm in your heart this morning.

It's detecting hypocrisy in you.

And if it does,

if the Holy Spirit should use His word

to expose hypocrisy in your heart,

that's a good thing.

That's God's kindness to you.

That's to help you see something

so that you can turn to God in humility.

God wants to remove hypocrisy

and build in us

an integrity

between our profession

and our practice.

So this morning,

I'm guessing you may walk away

feeling sobered,

but you're willing to be humble.

When we come through Matthew 23,

be sobered,

but be willing to humble yourself.

Matthew 23 can be divided into three sections.

Jesus makes a contrast

between the hypocrites and the humble

in verses 1-12.

And then Jesus drops a bunch of woes

on the hypocrites.

He condemns them in 13-36.

Seven woes.

And then at the close of the chapter,

in verses 37-39,

Jesus speaks this compassionate lament.

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem.

This morning, I'm guessing

you're going to be sobered

by your own hypocrisy.

But you should be willing

to come under your wonderful Savior.

He delivers us from our own hypocrisy.

If you would open up your Bibles now

to Matthew 23,

I want to point out some things

in verses 1-12.

Then Jesus said to the crowds

and to his disciples,

The scribes and the Pharisees

sit on Moses' seat,

so practice and observe

whatever they tell you,

but not what they do.

For they preach,

but do not practice.

They tie up heavy burdens,

hard to bear,

and they lay them on people's shoulders,

but they themselves

are not willing to move them

with their finger.

They do all their deeds

to be seen by others,

for they make their phylacteries

broad and their fringes long,

and they love their place

of honor at feasts

and best seats in the synagogues

and greetings in the marketplaces

and being called rabbi by others.

But you are not to be called rabbi,

for you have one teacher,

and you are all brothers.

And call no man your father on earth,

for you have one father

who is in heaven.

Neither be called instructors,

for you have one instructor,

the Christ.

The greatest among you

shall be your servant,

whoever exalts himself

and will be humbled

will be humbled,

and whoever humbles himself

will be exalted.

In this passage,

in these 12 verses,

Jesus makes a distinction

between the hypocrites

and the humble.

And notice who he starts talking to.

So remember,

he is in the temple right now.

This is Passion Week.

He's a couple days out

from being crucified.

And so God incarnate

is in the temple,

and he's speaking words

of judgment.

And so he says to these crowds

and his disciples,

there are two groups of people.

There are the hypocrites,

and then there are the humble.

And what characterizes

the hypocrites

is if you look at verse 3

at the end,

for they preach

but do not practice.

Have you ever heard

the expression,

do what I say,

not as I do?

Have you ever heard that?

That's what the Pharisees

were doing.

Hey, do as I say,

just don't do what I do.

And Jesus is saying,

hey, insofar as they preach

God's word,

hey, observe it,

just don't do what they say.

Don't do what they're doing.

There's a huge credibility

gap with that.

And so he points out

these hypocrites,

the scribes and the Pharisees,

and then he talks about

this other group,

the humble,

and we see that in verse 8.

But you,

he's speaking to his disciples,

but you are not

to be called rabbi.

And what marks

these disciples

are in verse 11,

that the greatest

among you

shall be your servant.

And then in verse 12,

whoever humbles himself

will be exalted.

Followers of Jesus

are marked by humility.

And so he distinguishes

between two groups

of people,

the hypocrites

and the humble.

Now there's a couple things

I want to draw

to your attention.

Things that Jesus says here

that kind of

heighten the contrast.

What makes them different?

And so the first thing

I want you to notice

is attention.

Verse 5,

the hypocrites,

they do all their deeds

to be seen by others.

They want to be seen.

Phylacteries

were these little boxes

with scripture in it

that they would tie

on their heads

and they made big ones.

These fringes,

these tassels,

they wore on their robes,

they were really long

to get your attention.

They wanted the best seats

at the feasts

and in the synagogues

because they wanted

to be seen.

They want to be said,

greeted as rabbi.

In Hebrew,

rabbi means great one.

Rabbi means my great one.

They wanted to be known

in the most basic sense

as great,

impressive,

seen,

larger than life.

Wanted to be known.

Not so the humble.

The humble,

man,

they're servants.

They lower themselves.

They don't want

to be seen.

They want to be

in the background.

They want to help

other people out.

The Pharisees

were tying up burdens

and not lifting

a little pinky

to help.

Servants don't operate

that way.

Servants bear burdens.

They release burdens

just like the servant said.

Come to me,

all you are weary

and heavy laden.

I'll give you rest.

He bears our burdens.

And so,

there's a distinction,

a contrast here

of visibility.

And just to press

that home

a little bit more,

I want you to look

at verse 8

and 9 and 10.

But you are not

to be called rabbi

for you have one teacher

and you are all brothers.

So,

this is what Jesus does.

Hey, disciples,

don't consider yourself

a great one.

You've got one teacher.

And he draws their attention

to the teacher.

Don't call someone father

for you have one father.

He draws our attention

to the one father

who is in heaven.

He says,

don't be called instructor

for you have one instructor,

the Christ.

And so,

he draws our gaze

to the one instructor,

the Christ.

And so,

our attention goes

from being on ourselves

to being on the one.

See those repeated ones?

One teacher,

one father,

one instructor,

the Christ.

You know the difference

between a hypocrite

and a humble person is?

You're focused.

Hypocrites say,

look at me.

Humble people say,

look at my God.

There's also another

difference here

in terms of the contrast,

a contrast of authority.

The scribes

and the Pharisees

sit in Moses' seat.

It's a position of authority.

It's like,

it's like the chair

of the English department

over at Carthage

or the chair

of the biology department

over at Parkside.

It's distinguished positions

of influence.

They want the chair

of Moses.

They want to be the ones

who speak authoritatively.

They want to be the ones

who are saying

what matters.

Servants,

they are saying,

the humble say,

no,

it's not what

someone says,

it's what my teacher,

my one teacher says,

my one father,

my one instructor,

the Christ.

So,

what the Pharisees

were saying,

hey,

we're the authorities

on here.

What the humble,

the followers of Jesus say,

is like,

Jesus,

you are our authority.

Our one authority.

We're all brothers

and sisters.

He is our authority.

We go on to see

a contrast

in greatness.

In verse 11,

Jesus says,

the greatest among you

shall be your servant.

And what we get a sense

from these hypocrites

is they consider greatness

in terms of

lording it over others.

what other people

think about them.

There's a huge difference

there in terms of

what greatness is.

God's kingdom

values a different

kind of greatness

than the world's kingdom.

Kingdom greatness

is in servanthood.

It's not lording it

over others,

it's coming under

others to serve them.

And so where the hypocrites

were very interested

in position

and what people

said of them

and being recognized

and having the authoritative word,

those who are humble,

they're like,

it doesn't matter,

that stuff doesn't matter

to me

because my king

has the greatest position,

Jesus.

He is my authority.

It's his place

that I come under

ultimately.

And it's just not a contrast

in terms of

greatness.

If you look at verse 12,

there's a contrast

in terms of outcome.

Whoever exalts himself

will be humbled

and whoever humbles himself

will be exalted.

Those hypocrites

who exalt themselves now

will be humbled then.

And those who are humble,

who bring themselves low,

now they'll be exalted then.

And so what we see

going on here

in verses 1 through 12

is Jesus saying,

hey, there are two groups

of people.

There are hypocrites

and then there are humble

and there are some

significant consequences

for who you are.

And what we see happening

in verses 13 through 35

is Jesus says,

now here's what's going

to happen to these hypocrites.

So we've looked at

the contrast

between the hypocrites

and the humble

in verses 1 through 12.

Let's turn our attention

now to this large section

in verses 13 through 35

where Jesus speaks

seven woes

on these scribes

and Pharisees.

He is condemning them.

Have you heard

the word hangry yet?

I'm so hangry right now.

It's a combination

of you're hungry

and you're angry

at the same time.

It's one of these

loaded words

that you're like,

yeah, I get that.

The word woe

that Jesus repeats

seven times here,

it's a loaded word.

It carries the sense

of regret,

it carries the sense

of sorrow,

and it carries

the sense of judgment.

And so what you need

to understand

is that when Jesus

speaks these woes,

he's not like,

and I'm giving it to you

and he's got a smile

on his face.

You take that

and you take that

and you take that.

This is grieving him.

And we see that

come out more fully

in the lament

he speaks

in verses 37 through 39.

But what I want you

to see is he speaks

seven woes

upon these scribes

and Pharisees.

We see it

in verse 13,

but it's Total

and Pharisees

hypocrites.

We see it

in verse 15,

woe to you

scribes

and Pharisees

hypocrites.

We see it

in 16,

woe to you

blind guides.

Woe to you.

Verse 23,

woe to you

scribes

and Pharisees

hypocrites.

Verse 25,

woe to you

scribes

and Pharisees

hypocrites.

Verse 27,

woe to you

scribes

and Pharisees

hypocrites.

Verse 29,

the last woe.

Woe to you

scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

He's speaking this woe on the leaders of the Jewish people who were

teaching the people. And he's calling them hypocrites.

Those people who make a profession

and then their practice doesn't match up.

These seven woes

can be paired together.

Woes one and two have a common theme.

Woes three and four have a common theme.

Woes five and six have a common theme.

And then woe seven stands all alone

because it's to stand all alone.

So let's walk through these woes

so you get a sense of what Jesus is saying to these hypocrites.

And I'm going to try to bring it to bear on our lives today.

Woe number one in verses 13 and 14.

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,

for you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces,

for you neither enter yourself nor allow those who would enter to go in.

And then woe two is woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

for you travel across the sea and land to make a single proselyte, a convert.

And when he becomes a convert,

you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

How are these scribes and Pharisees

shutting the door of the kingdom on people's faces?

Verse 13 and 14.

Here's how they're doing it.

They are denying that Jesus is the Christ.

That's how they're doing it.

Remember, the kingdom of heaven is God's saving reign.

To enter the kingdom of heaven is to be saved, to be rescued,

to come under God's gracious reign.

And what these scribes and Pharisees were doing was

they were shutting the door of the kingdom on people's faces

because they were denying Jesus as the Christ.

They're false teachers in that sense.

And the hypocrisy of it is

they actually think that they're teaching the kingdom of heaven.

They think they have the right teaching.

And Jesus says,

No, you're misleading people.

It's like this.

Could you imagine walking up to a house

and Jesus, it's dark outside

and Jesus, the door's open

and there's this glass door

and Jesus is standing there

with this kind of warm glow behind him

and you're walking up and like,

Man, I want that guy.

And as you're walking up to the door,

this Pharisee walks in front of you,

reaches inside and closes the door

and say, No, Jesus for you.

Slamming the door of the kingdom on people's faces.

Woe to.

They go to extreme measures to make a convert.

And what they're converting them to

is not the true meaning of the Old Testament,

but their Pharisaical version of it.

Pharisaical version that denies

the true fulfillment of it

that's found in Christ.

And so they pile up burdens on people

and they do nothing to help them.

They were making converts

to their version of Judaism

and as a result,

they're making their converts

twice the sons of hell as themselves.

They're teaching people

how to shut the door of the kingdom

on other people.

Both woes are hypocrisy.

And what it is,

is it is the hypocrisy

of leading people,

and you're supposed to be leading them

to the truth,

but you're leading them somewhere else.

Beware, brothers and sisters.

This destructive effect of hypocrisy

is not limited to the first century.

It's a 21st century problem.

It's a 21st century parenting problem.

Why our children walk away from the church?

Could it be that Christian parents

are professing Jesus as Lord with their lips,

but Monday through Saturday

they're denying Him by their lifestyle?

So mom and dad,

I've got a question for you.

What version of Christianity

are you teaching your children?

What are you calling your children to?

Are you actually calling them to Christ?

Or are you calling them

to a Christless version of Christianity?

Are you just calling them

to live up to a certain way of being?

Or are you calling them

to the living Jesus,

who alone can change them?

We don't want to be training our children

in a moralistic, therapeutic deism

because we're going to slam the door

of the kingdom on their faces.

But do you know what's even worse

than people, children,

leaving our churches?

It's if what we model to our children

actually,

which is some kind of version of Christianity,

they actually buy into it

and then propagate it.

And it's not true biblical Christianity.

We don't want any of that.

We don't want our children

holding on to this Christless tradition

of religion.

We want to call our children

to the living Christ.

So woe to the scribes and Pharisees

for the destructive effect

of their hypocrisy on others.

And we must be aware

of the effect of our hypocrisy

on our children.

And you know what the solution is to that?

We enamor ourselves

with Jesus.

We deny ourselves

and follow the living Christ ourselves.

He is our all in all.

And when that happens,

you have a parent

who's generally trying to follow Jesus

living out in front of their children

and it actually adorns the gospel.

It's like, okay,

they may not be perfect,

but they're trying.

They talk a lot about Jesus

and it drives me nuts,

but I'll tell you what,

they're legit.

We want to avoid the whole

to do as I say

but not as I do business.

We want to humble ourselves

in front of our children

and live out the faith.

You know what that becomes?

A living apologetic

to our children.

Jesus is really changing us.

Woes 3 and 4

focus on another effect of hypocrisy.

We see that played out

in verses 16 through 22.

Woe 3 that is.

Jesus is exposing

a majoring on the minors

to the neglect of what matters most.

It's classic hypocrisy.

I'm going to major on the minors

for my personal interest.

I'm going to bring in

what's on the peripheral

and make it central

because that's my thing.

It's majoring on the minors

and Jesus exposes it.

In the first woe,

as you will see,

he's talking about

swearing and taking oaths.

Woe to you blind guides

who say if anyone swears

by the temple,

it's nothing,

but if anyone swears

by the gold of the temple,

he's bound by his oath.

So here's what Jesus

is doing here.

The Pharisees were teaching

the people about the difference

between binding oaths

and non-binding oaths.

A binding oath is an oath

that you swear

that you've got to follow through on.

A non-binding oath

is an oath that you say,

but it's not really,

you know, important

that you follow through so much.

And what Jesus says

in this section

is what determines

whether an oath

was binding or not

is how you worded it.

So if you swore

by the temple,

non-binding,

but if you swore

by the gold of the temple,

binding.

If you swore

by the altar in the temple,

not binding,

but if you swore

by the gift

on the altar,

that's binding.

You feel the load

that would have been

building the pile up

happening.

If you're carrying

a backpack,

you're just getting

dropped rocks in it.

The hypocrisy

is that the Pharisees

were actually training

God's people

not how to be truthful,

but how not to be truthful.

How not to follow through

on your word.

That's the hypocrisy on it.

And what God wants

of his people

is that they do

what they say.

They're faithful

to their words.

They're true

to their words.

And so the whole point

Jesus makes early

in the gospel is,

hey, if you speak truthfully

and follow through on it,

you don't need

to speak oaths.

So what the Pharisees

have done is

they built this

elaborate scaffolding

around God's law,

which they end up

serving instead

of God's law.

And they lose

the whole side

of being truthful.

So they neglect

the weightier matters

of the law,

truthfulness,

because they're trying

to get into

the minute details

of making sure

you're saying

the right thing.

Jesus says,

just be truthful.

In verses 23 and 24,

we see woe for.

And just like giving oaths

had all this detail to it,

the issue in woe for

was tithing.

The Old Testament

required God's people

to give 10%

of all their income,

which would include

the produce of their farms.

So what we see

the Pharisees doing

in verses 23 through 24

is that they are

tithing off the smallest

of items.

For you tithe mint

and dill and cumin

and have neglected

the weightier matters

of the law.

Does anybody have

a basil plant

in their yard?

Basil plant?

I see that hand.

I see that hand.

Could you imagine

when harvest time

comes for your basil plant,

you collect all the leaves

off it,

and you've got

1,200 leaves.

And so what you would do

in keeping with the Pharisees

is you would want

to make sure

you get 10%

of those 1,200 basil leaves

and then give it

unto the Lord.

So that would be

120 leaves

for just your basil plant.

And so what

the Pharisees were doing

is they were so

preoccupied with

getting down to

the very nitty-gritty

of their areas

and applying the tithe

to it,

they were totally

neglecting the

weightier matters

of the law

is what Jesus said.

Justice,

mercy,

and faithfulness.

Those are all

outworkings

of loving your neighbor

as yourself.

They were missing it.

They were so

detailed

on making sure

they got their

tithe right,

they were neglecting

their neighbor

who needed

justice

and mercy

and faithfulness.

What Jesus

is saying here

is that,

hey,

I desire you

to show mercy

and justice

and faithfulness

love your neighbor

more than you

tithe your basil plant.

Tithe away,

but not at the

expense of the

bigger stuff.

And so,

here's what

these two woes

come,

they are neglecting

the major things

for being

preoccupied

on the minor

things.

They are

majoring on

the minors

at the expense

of what matters

most.

That's what

these woes are.

That's what

these hypocrites

were doing.

And that's how

they're misleading

the people.

They're training

God's people

to do the same.

And Jesus

is saying,

no.

Now,

there's a warning

for us here.

We can become

preoccupied with

matters of

secondary importance

too.

We can take

things on the

peripheral and

try to make

them central.

We major

on the

minors.

We can

insist on

finer points

of doctrine

to be

necessary for

someone to

be a

Christian.

I remember

this one time

a Christian

sister came

up and we

met for the

first time.

She found

out I was a

pastor and

she was like,

so what do

you think

about the

rapture?

You know

what was

behind that?

Are you

in or not?

Where do you

come down on

this?

Maybe you

know people

who adhere

to a KJV

only-ism

that the

King James

version is

the only

inspired

English version

of the

Bible.

And within

minutes of

meeting them

they're looking

at the spine

of your

Bible to

see what

kind of

version you're

reading out of.

Does it

matter about

final things?

Oh yeah,

it does.

Does it

matter what

version of

the Bible

you read?

Yeah,

it's important.

Is it of

first importance?

No.

Those things

aren't first

important.

Here's some

other things

that we can

bring in

from the

periphery.

We can

make first

importance

matters out

of how

you educate

your children.

Whether they

are homeschooled

or whether

they are

publicly

educated

or they

go to

a Christian

private

school.

That can

become a

lightning rod

between

Christians

and we

put a

lot in

on it.

Here's

another

thing.

Your

entertainment

choices,

your

vacation

destinations,

your car

purchases,

what you

wear,

how you

worship.

All these

things can

come in

and we

can make

fights out

of them

while

neglecting

the bigger

things.

Justice,

mercy,

and faithfulness,

loving your

neighbor as

yourself.

And Jesus

says,

woe to the

scribes and

Pharisees for

the neglect

of what

matters most.

It costs

them the

kingdom.

them.

And may it

be a warning

to us to

steer clear

from making

mountains out

of mole

hills.

You want to

know how to

do it?

How to

keep from

making something

minor,

major?

You keep

the major

things major.

And you

know what the

major-est thing

of all is?

Jesus.

Jesus is the

main thing.

And what we're

going to do as

a church is

keep Jesus in

all of his

glory at the

center of all

that we do.

He is our

engine.

And we're not

going to let

anything vie for

that.

When you keep

Jesus at the

center of all

things, you're

enamored by

him and you

die to

yourself.

to follow

him, including

your pet

projects.

Woes 5 and

6 focus on

yet another

effect of

hypocrisy.

It's the

effect of

prioritizing the

external to

the neglect of

the internal.

And we see

that in verses

25 through

26 and

then 27

through 28.

In both

situations, what

you see is

this.

there is this

external value

at the cost of

what's internal.

It's a putting

the external

first and the

internal second.

And so in

Woe 5, in

verse 25 and

26, Jesus

compares the

Pharisee to

dishware.

Just as a

cup has an

outside and an

inside, a

Pharisee has an

outside and an

inside.

And the

Pharisees spent a

lot of energy

making sure their

outsides were

squeaky clean.

But what Jesus

says here is so

important.

He says, you

blind Pharisee,

verse 26, first

clean the inside of

the cup and the

plate that the

outside also might

be clean.

Who likes chili?

I like chili.

Let's say you

come over to our

house for chili

this afternoon.

Our dishwasher is

busted, so we

wash it.

And what we do,

we wash just out

the outside of our

chili bowls and

then we put these

chili bowls back up

in our cupboard.

In a week, what's

going to happen?

It's going to be

stinky.

And if I serve you

chili out of that

messy chili bowl

next Sunday, you'd be

like, I don't want

this chili.

Okay.

Jesus says, hey, start

with what's inside and

then the outside will

follow suit.

Jesus' point, we start

with the heart.

Gospel ministry starts

with the heart.

You change the heart

change will follow

through with life

change.

What controls your

heart controls your

life.

But only God can

change your heart.

Woe 6, Jesus

compares the Pharisees

to whitewashed

tombs that had this

outward beauty.

Here's the story

behind that.

Remember, this is

taking place during

Passover week.

And so you'd have

all these Jews

coming to Jerusalem

to observe Passover

together.

And so what would

happen a month

before is that

people would go out

and whitewash the

tombs surrounding

the city of Jerusalem.

Do you know why?

So that those people

who were not familiar

with the city, they

would be able to see

tombs and avoid them

because if a Jew had

contact with a tomb

or with a dead body,

they would be unclean

for seven days and they

would be out of the

partay happening in the

city.

And so what the

practice is, is they

would whitewash these

tombs so that people

could see it to avoid

it.

And the whitewash

was a really nice

whitewash.

You could see them

from the distance.

It was just a really

quality whitewash

being used.

And Jesus' biting

irony here is that

they are whitewashed

monuments to dead

people.

It's beautiful on the

outside, but on the

inside, it's rotting

death.

It's rotting death.

It's rotting death.

Jesus is saying that

these Pharisees, hey,

you guys look great on

the outside, but inside,

you see what he says

there?

Here's what he says.

So you, verse 28, so

you also outward appear

righteous to others, but

within you are full of

hypocrisy and lawlessness.

You're full of deadness.

And when a Pharisee would

have heard a criticism

for being lawless,

that's like chief

offense.

Jesus is saying, hey,

you think you're

observing the law, but

your observance of the

law is actually lawlessness,

you hypocrite.

You're like a whitewashed

tomb, dead inside.

Biting irony.

They were blind to this.

So the hypocrisy of

thinking themselves clean

and alive when actually

they were internally

unclean and dead is what

Jesus is exposing.

And then calling people to

not pay attention to the

sin within them.

It costs them the kingdom

and it cautions us.

What Jesus is emphasizing,

what he emphasizes over and

over again throughout his

teaching, we see it very

much in the Sermon on the

Mount, is what matters is

your internal posture

towards God.

The real aim of the law

is to expose our hearts

and to aim our hearts

at God to show us our

need to be cleansed of

our greed and our

self-indulgence and to

reveal our internal

deadness to God.

We're all dead to God.

But here's what God has

done.

By his grace, he offers

spiritual life to the

spiritually dead through

the risen Jesus.

At the heart of

Christianity is a living

Christ who gives new life

to dead hearts.

And so woe to these

leaders for their

hypocritical focusing on

the external at the cost

of the internal.

These blind guides were

training their people in

moralism, in behavioralism.

Behavioralism.

And they lost the

kingdom as a result.

And we're cautioned to

say, hey, let's pay

attention to what's going

on inside.

And we cry out to our God

to change us from the

inside out.

The seventh parable, the

seventh woe, excuse me,

the seventh woe is unpaired

with another.

It stands out and it's

meant to stand out.

Let me just read it for

you.

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 the shedding of 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 innocent Abel to the

blood of Zechariah, the

son of Barakiah, whom you

murdered between the

sanctuary, the altar.

Truly I say to you, all

these things will come

upon this generation.

This is the climactic

woe.

This is Jesus' last

sentence to statement to

these Pharisees.

And what he's basically

doing is this.

He's saying, you think

you are not murderers

because you're fixing up

the tombs of the

prophets that your

fathers killed, but you

are murderers not all the

same.

You are serpents.

You are brood of vipers.

How will you escape the

judgment to come?

That line is almost

identical to what John the

Baptist says to them in

Matthew 3, 7.

Now it's Jesus saying it to

them.

And what he's saying is,

you hypocrites, you don't

think you're prophet killers,

but you are.

He says in verse 32, fill up

what your fathers began.

Finish what your fathers

started.

So when Jesus talks about

in verse 35, this blood of

the righteous Abel to the

blood of Zechariah, he's

talking about the first man

that was killed, Abel in

Genesis, to the last man that

was killed, Zechariah, and

that's found in 2 Chronicles.

But in the Hebrew Bible,

that's the last book of

their Bible.

And so it's from cover to

cover, first to last.

All this blood that's shed,

it's on your head.

And not only their blood,

it's these prophets and

scribes and godly people

that I send to you, their

blood's on your head too.

See what Jesus is doing?

He's putting on them.

Fill up the measure of your

fathers.

Finish what you're doing.

Ultimately, this is going to

result in Jesus' death.

In Matthew 21, Jesus speaks

the parable of the tenants.

The vineyard owner sends his

servants to these wicked

tenants to gather the harvest,

but they would kill servant

after servant.

And then that owner sends

his son because he thinks

surely they'll respect my son,

and then he killed the son.

Here, Jesus is at the vineyard

speaking to the wicked tenants,

and they are about to kill him.

And Jesus says in verse 36,

truly I say to you, all these

things will come upon this

generation.

All of it's going to happen.

All of it.

Truly, truly.

This last woe is such an

indictment, and it's got this

promised punishment.

And these scribes and

Pharisees, they will not have

any of it.

They're not going to respond.

They're not sobered by it, nor are

they willing to humble themselves

in hearing this.

These seven woes of regret and

sorrow and judgment.

There's this finality.

God incarnate is declaring this

judgment upon the leaders of

Judaism at the time, and they

don't respond.

And so in verses 37, we read,

Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city

that kills the prophets and

stones, and stones those who are

sent to it.

How often would I have gathered

your children together as a

hen gathers her brood under her

wings, and you would have not.

There's a play on words here.

Jesus was willing.

He was willing to gather the

children to Jerusalem to

himself.

He was wanting that, but they

were not willing.

They were not willing.

He sent prophet after prophet,

godly person after godly person,

righteous person after righteous

person.

Every time was his invitation to

say, come and I'll gather you to

myself.

I'll bring you under my reign.

I'll show you my goodness.

But after time and again, they would

not have it.

They were unwilling for it.

Verse 38.

They would not, excuse me, seven.

You would not.

What strikes me about this

compassionate lament here is that

Jesus likens himself to a hen.

He's in the midst of judgment, and he

compares himself to a hen.

He's gentle.

He's willing.

Even speaking to those who

rejected him.

So here in this lament, even in

judgment, we see a compassionate

lamenting Jesus.

Saying, only if you would have

allowed me to gather you to me, but

you wouldn't.

And as a result, verse 38, he says,

your house is left to you desolate.

I am abandoning you.

And in verse 1 of chapter 4, he

walks out of the temple.

God has left the temple.

And he's left it abandoned, and it

will be destroyed.

We've covered a lot of ground this

morning.

We've seen the contrast between the

hypocrites and the humble.

We've seen Jesus bring down woes on

the hypocrites, and we've spent a

brief time on this lament in verses

37 to 39.

Jesus' compassion on display.

How does this find you?

Does it sober you?

It should sober you.

But it should also have the

opposite effect on these scribes

and Pharisees.

They were unwilling to humble

themselves.

But you must be willing to come

under his gracious reign.

There's more that can be said, but

let's leave it at this.

Let's not be a people who say, do

as I say, not as I do.

Let's be a people who say, come.

Come with me to a willing, living

Christ who will change your life

forever.

Let's pray.

God in heaven, we see a passage like

this, and we are sobered by it.

God, we thank you for work you're doing

in exposing our own hypocrisy.

God, we are not unrepentant and

unwilling to admit that.

We acknowledge that there's a gap

between our profession and our

practice.

God, would you fill the gap by your

grace?

Would you conform us to the image of

Jesus?

Would you help us to bear witness to

those around us that, yes, Jesus, you

are real and that you're changing our

lives?

God, would you help us to be

forewarned by this and to move forward

in humble faith in you?

Pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.