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WOE UNTO YOU
MATTHEW
CHAPTER 23
Our attention is still on Jesus as He teaches in the
Temple, while thousands of people are gathering in Jerusalem for the
celebration of Passover.
In order to really get a better feel for what’s
happening, consider this. Jesus knows He’s about to die and He’s been
trying to tell the Apostles this for some time now, but they don’t
understand. What do you say to them and the people that you encounter
in the next few days, to show them that you’re their salvation, and
the world’s salvation until the end of time? What words of love,
warning, wisdom, and TRUTH would you say to your children in your last
days and hours?
We’ve studied several parables that Jesus told and
we’ve related them to modern times, but this time our study focuses on
some warnings that our Savior left us while He was teaching in the
temple just before Passover.
Jesus lesson was directed to the scribes and
Pharisees. Now here’s a little information concerning the scribes and
Pharisees that is important to
remember for ever. Who are the scribes and Pharisees of our time?
Anyone who condemns you for being a sinner falls into that category.
I’m not condoning sin, I’m saying, if people are looking for
Christians to be perfect people, they’re gonna be mighty disappointed,
because the only perfect Christian was Christ. Because of our
weaknesses, we rely on His perfection. So, if you ever find yourself
feeling unworthy, remember this TRUTH. Write it down somewhere and say
it to yourself whenever you need to strengthen your faith. By
confessing and repenting for your sins, God forgives you for them, so
admitting you’re a sinner will bring you closer to Him, (I
John 1:9,
Psalm 32:5).
For more on this topic, see the
Grace
Page at
Christianity Oasis, also known as the C-O-O-L Doctrine.
Okey dokey, let’s find out what Jesus said about the
scribes and Pharisees to the people and His disciples.
The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses seat. So do
whatever they say to abide by, but don’t act in the same manner as
they do, because they don’t practice what they preach. They put rules
too difficult to observe on men’s shoulders, but they won’t take on
those burdens themselves. They do all their works to get admiration
from men. They make their phylacteries broad and their garments fancy.
They love the uppermost rooms at feasts, the best seats in the
synagogues, to be recognized in the markets, and to be called Rabbi,
Rabbi. But don’t you be called Rabbi, because only one is your Master,
and that’s Christ, and all of you are brothers. And call no man on
earth your father, because only one is your Father, which is in
heaven. Neither be called masters (leaders) because only one is your
Master, and that’s Christ. But whoever is greatest among you will be
your servant. And whoever glorifies himself will be humbled, and
whoever humbles himself will be exalted. But woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! You make it too hard for people to enter into
the Kingdom of Heaven. Because you don’t go in yourselves, you won’t
allow those who are worthy to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! You search the land and sea to make one
convert, and when you do, you make him twice the child of hell than
yourselves. Woe unto you, you blind guides that say, Whoever makes an
oath by the Temple, it doesn’t count, but whoever makes an oath by the
gold of the Temple, he’s a debtor! You fools and blind, what’s
greater, the gold, or the Temple that sanctifies the gold? And whoever
makes an oath by the Altar, it doesn’t count, but whoever makes an
oath by the gift that is upon it is guilty. You fools and blind,
what’s greater, the gift or the Altar that sanctifies the gift? So
whoever swears by the Altar, swears by it, and all the gifts upon it.
And whoever
swears by the Temple, swears by it, and
by Him that abides in it. And whoever swears by Heaven, swears by the
throne of God, and by Him that sits on it. Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint and anise and cumin, and
have left out the more important matters of the law, judgment, mercy,
and faith. You blind guides, who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside
of the cup and the plate, but inside they’re full of extortion and
excess. You blind Pharisee, clean the inside of the cup and plate
first, so the outside of them may be clean too. Woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites! You’re like whited sepulchres, which indeed
appear beautiful on the outside, but are within, full of dead men’s
bones, and of all uncleanness. In the same way, you outwardly appear
righteous to men, but within, you’re full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the
tombs of the prophets, and
decorate the graves of the righteous and say, If we had lived in the
days of our ancestors, we wouldn’t have killed the prophets. So you
admit that you’re the children of those who killed the prophets.
Finish up then, the actions of your fathers. You serpents, you brood
of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell? So I send to you
prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you’ll kill and crucify
and some of them you’ll beat in your synagogues and persecute them
from city to city, so that you’re responsible for all the righteous
bloodshed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel (Genesis
4:8)
to the blood of Zacharias
(2
Chronicles 24:21)
who you slew between the Temple and the Altar. Truly I say to you, All
these punishments will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, you that killed the prophets, and stone them who are sent
to you, how often I wanted to gather your children together like a hen
gathers her chickens under her wings, and you wouldn’t listen. Look,
your house is left to you empty. I say to you, You will not see me
from now on, until you say, Blessed is He that comes in the name of
the Lord.
At the very beginning of this teaching, Jesus said,
The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses seat. Now, Moses delivered the
law to the people, interpreted it and encouraged them to obey it. Make
no mistake, Moses wasn’t a scribe or a Pharisee. Jesus wasn’t saying
that they were the same, but more like, beware, you’ve been given the
honor of delivering the law to the people as Moses did, but instead,
you’re doing all these bad things.
A hypocrite is a person who pretends to have virtues
or qualities that he doesn’t have or practice. Interestingly enough,
one definition of the word hypocrisy is the act of playing a part on
the stage, which also fits the description that Jesus was giving to
the scribes and Pharisees. They love attention.
Jesus said not to refer to anyone as Father, except
God. Yes, the term father is used throughout the Bible, however, Jesus
said not to.
A phylactery is a box containing scripture,
traditionally worn strapped onto the left arm and forehead by Jewish
men during morning and weekday prayers.
People who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel are
those who make something little, a big deal, and something big, not
important.
The term “whited sepulchre” is still used today to
describe a person inwardly corrupt or wicked, but outwardly appears
virtuous or holy.
Looking carefully at the message that Jesus was teaching in these,
His last days before His death and Resurrection, He wasn’t only
warning us to beware of the scribes and Pharisees, but to beware of becoming one.
CONTINUE
TO NEXT STUDY
OLIVET DISCOURSE
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