In this passage, Jesus gives seven "woes" concerning the Pharisees. Basically, this is a kind of indictment. Jesus is upset with the Jewish leaders for a number of reasons, and finally he lets them know what the reasons are. The word, "Woe", basically is a statement of judgment, but judgment done through tears. Jesus is saying, "you are cursed, and I am so sad that you have brought this judgment on you." And after each "Woe", he tells them what he is upset about. As you read these woes, ask yourself if you are guilty of any of the following.
1. Woe, because you keep people from God
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
The Pharisees would choose who they thought was worthy enough to be a part of God's kingdom. Yet, these judgements are nowhere commanded by God and are completely out of line. God has invited ALL people to come into his kingdom.
Who, if they repented and became a Christian, would you be upset with? Who do you think does not deserve to get saved? A child molester? A man that cheated on his wife? A manipulative prom queen? The homeless? We all have those people that we think should not be shown mercy, yet this is exactly what Jesus is upset with the Pharisees about.
2. Woe, because they had zeal to corrupt.
15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
In the first century, when someone who wasn't a Jew expressed interest in converting to Judaism, the Pharisees would all flock to him and try to get him to convert to their specific type of legalistic religion.
It's like if we find out there is someone who wants to become a Christian, and all the different denominations race to try to convert him to their flavor of Christianity. Whichever one he chose, they would make him think all the others are wrong and aren't "REALLY" Christians.
The same thing was happening then, but with Judaism.
Have we become so legalistic as to say that if you don't adopt our particular type of Christianity, you are going to hell? This seems like the exact same thing Jesus was upset with the Pharisees about.
3. Woe, because they used religion as an excuse
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
Jesus was upset with the Pharisees because they were completely focused about splitting hairs, instead of focusing on blessing the nations, like God had called them to do. That is why they are arguing about what to swear by, the altar or the gift on the altar.
Jesus HATES it when we focus more on rituals and religiosity instead of carrying out his plan to undo all the evil in the world. Are you guilty of playing the religious game instead of living a life following after Jesus?
4. Woe, because they majored in the minors.
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
The Pharisees were so legalistic, that not only did they tithe, or give a tenth of their money, but they would give a tenth of even their spices in the food pantry, just to show that they were more legalistic, or serious, about their faith than others.
They majored in the miners.
They got tithing a tenth of their belongings down, but they ignored taking care of the poor, spending time with orphans and widows, and even reaching out to the blind, the downtrodden, the lame and even the tax collectors and gentiles.
Here is something my Granddad always told me, "The main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing."
Yes, we are called to tithe a tenth of our belongings, but don't become legalistic to the extent that you focus on making sure you tithe exactly a tenth of EVERYTHING, but you don't meet the needs of people.
Towards the end of this indictment, this sermon about the Pharisees, Jesus sums up all the other woes with these next two. He says, 1. They are internally corrupt, and 2. they are internally dead.
5. Woe, because they are internally corrupt.
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
The word, "hypocrisy", was a term used to describe actors in the Greek plays. What would happen would be that the actor would play more than one role, and for each role they would wear different masks that would serve to distinguish between the two roles. They were play-acters or, "hypocrites". The word literally means to pretend to be something you aren't.
And this is what Jesus is saying the Pharisees are doing. They are making sure that on the outside they look good, but they don't pay any attention to what is going on in there heart.
Is this you?
Do you focus on how you are perceived by others around you or do you care more about what God sees in your heart. God is in the business of changing hearts, not appearances. Give God your heart.
6. Woe, because you are internally dead.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
This is basically what is going on in all of the above situations. The reason that the Pharisees keep people from God, corrupt people, that they major in the minors and are internally corrupt is ultimately because they are internally dead. They have not truly given their lives over to the lordship, or authority, of God so that he can change them from the inside out.
This is the boat we are all in, unless we fully submit ourselves to Jesus and allow him to change our hearts. We are dead, and we will continue to be dead until we submit our hearts to him.
Those that are dead, they hate those that are alive. This is what the last woe is about. Jesus talks about how these internally dead Pharisees persecute God's internally alive messengers. This is the last woe.
7. Woe, because they persecute God's messengers.
29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
This makes Jesus very upset because he knows that they are opposing the very thing that will save them. So he basically says, "FINE!, have it your way, persecute and kill the prophets and messengers I am going to send you." And this actually turns out to come true. This is what he says:
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
Jesus is predicting the destruction of the temple in AD 70. Jesus is saying that since you are internally dead and have rejected God's messengers, you will be judged.
The same message is true for us today. If we remain internally dead and reject God's messengers, we will be judged.
The main thought I get from this sermon is simple: Don't be like the Pharisees.
Yet, I know when I read about the Pharisees, I see myself a lot of times.
Remember, "the main thing is keeping the main thing the main thing."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment