Matthew 23:13-25 Mark 12:40 Luke 20:47
13 “But woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven
from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are
entering to go in. 14 [“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because
you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore
you will receive greater condemnation.]
15 “Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to
make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son
of hell as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you,
blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is
nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ 17 “You fools and
blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the
gold? 18 “And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is
nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 “You blind men,
which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the
offering? 20 “Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by
the altar and by everything on it. 21 “And whoever
swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who
dwells within it. 22 “And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by
the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
23 “Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and
have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and
faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting
the others. 24 “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a
camel!
25 “Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of
the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 “You blind
Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the
outside of it may become clean also.
40 who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer
long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”
47 who devour
widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will
receive greater condemnation.”
Missing the point seems to have been a real specialty of the
Pharisees. They would do things that
were good and right from one perspective, but their motives annulled any
benefit from these actions. It is a very
sad thing when people dedicate their lives to God from a purely external
perspective. God is not impressed by our
actions. God is looking to experience
intimacy with us and longs for us to enter into a genuine relationship with Him. Jesus condemns the actions of the Pharisees
because they activities meant to promote self-righteousness and not acts of
worship born out of a genuine and loving relationship. God does not need us to do anything “for” for
Him. He does want us to enter into a
relationship “with” Him. Jesus point to
religious deeds that are dead acts of self-righteousness.
EVANGELIZING OTHERS: Jesus pronounces two woes on the
Pharisees concerning “evangelism.” The
first is that they not only don’t enter the kingdom, but they also prevent
others from going. The second is that
when they go to great effort to make a proselyte, the only result is that the
“convert” becomes twice the “son of hell” that they are. Perhaps the shocking statement that the
Pharisees and their converts are sons of hell is meant to be backed up by the
evidence that they devour widows’ houses while at the same time offering long
public prayers. They pretend to be one
thing, when they are actually another. It is a dangerous thing to be a hypocrite
because of the impact it has on the people around us. Not only does this impact our own lives but
the lives of those around us. This is
why leadership is such a dangerous position.
Leaders have a great impact on those they lead. By definition, a leader must have
followers. That leader is responsible
not only for himself but also for those he is leading. He must demonstrate integrity and be an
example as a leader. We can only lead
people to where we are or have been.
MAKING OATHS: Apparently the Pharisees had made up some sort
of a system that they could swear by the temple or the altar and not be
obligated to keep the oath. However, if
they swore by the gold in the temple or the sacrifice on the altar, they were
obligated. This may be the ancient
equivalent of making a promise with your fingers crossed. Jesus makes it clear that this practice is
ridiculous and worthy of condemnation.
Scripture discourages us from making any kind of oath. It is totally unnecessary for us to make any
kind of oath. God’s desire for His
children is that their word be kept all the time. When we say something, it should be true
every time. No swearing or oath should
be required for others to believe us. We
are obligated to keep our word no matter what.
Honesty and integrity should always be the marks of our speech.
DEDICATING OBJECTS: The Pharisees were meticulous about
tithing the smallest spices, but they did not follow the heart principles of
the Law like faithfulness, mercy and justice.
This would be the traffic law equivalent of a driver who carefully
checks to make sure all his signal lights are working and the wiper fluid in
his car is at the correct level prior to driving drunk. Jesus called it straining a gnat while
swallowing a camel. They would be
careful to clean the outside of the cup while leaving the inside filthy. We work so hard to maintain outward
appearances because that is what everyone sees, but we often ignore the issues
of our heart. God sees our heart and
cares far more about the spiritual condition of our hearts than the neatness of
our hair. However, there are many people
who spend more time grooming the outside of the body than the spend on
purifying their hearts. Little things
and external things are far less important than the large internal issues. God wants us to focus on our hearts and our
spiritual well-being and not the physical.
APPLICATION: Evangelism needs to be about calling people to
become follower of Christ, not followers of us.
Our honesty and integrity must be a priority so people can trust what we
say without having to make any kind of an oath.
Invest more time investing in the health of our heart and spiritual
growth than in our physical appearance or the image we project to others.
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