The Gospel According to Matthew
Matthew 23
The Question of the Day: What do you love about Spring?
Introduction: Today we are going to cover Matthew 23. The entire chapter. It all goes together and I think we can get it done. It is broken into two main parts. The first section is Jesus setting the people free from the Jewish leaders. Jesus loves them, and has tried over and over again to get them to see Him. To see their error, and some have, but many have not. They have become so blind. Their hearts are hardened, and yet the Jewish people still feel they must follow the leaders. They know they must not only do what they say but also follow their example. It is time to follow Him. This is on the Tuesday before His death and Jesus is desperate. This is one of those tell it like it is moments. This is a tough moment. This is a long way from the gentler Sermon on the Mount. In a way this passage shows how stuck in the dead of winter the Leaders had become. Jesus was wanting them to start the process of rebirth, or springtime with Him, but they kept staying in the dead of winter, where nothing seemed to flourish.
READ: Matthew 23:1-12
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
BE A SERVANT! FOLLOW MY EXAMPLE NOT THE JEWISH LEADERS!
Am I being careful to keep my eyes on my one Father?
Do I get caught up in others as my "teacher"?
Are my eyes where they need to be?
Do I encourage others to follow me, or to follow Jesus?
Am I willing to be the servant that He is calling me to be?
The Seven Woes
READ: Matthew 23:13
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. [14] [b]
KEEP THE DOORS OPEN TO ALL! STOP TRYING TO PICK AND CHOOSE WHO IS WORTHY! THAT IS MY JOB! YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF AND GET YOURSELF THROUGH THE DOORS.
How do we keep people from coming to Christ?
Are we more worried about those around us, that we have failed to see our own condition?
Are you ready to go through the doors?
READ: Matthew 23:15
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 you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
ARE YOU CONVERTING PEOPLE TO AN ORGANIZATION, OR TO ME? ARE YOU GETTING THEM TO JOIN A CHURCH OR TO BECOME FOLLOWERS OF ME? ARE THEY JOINING YOU AND BECOMING LIKE YOU... OR ME?
Evangelism is good, but only if we are worried more about bringing them to Jesus than bringing them to Adventism.
Are we more concerned with our culture than Jesus?
Do we want people to look like us or Jesus?
READ: Matthew 23:16-22
16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that 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 anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it.22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
QUIT SPLITTING HAIRS, AND BE HONORABLE! YOUR WORD SHOULD MEAN SOMETHING. HAVE INTEGRITY!
Where do I need to have more integrity in my life?
READ: Matthew 23:23-24
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. 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.
YES I WANT YOUR TITHE, BUT I WANT SO MUCH MORE. JUSTICE... MAKE SURE THOSE AROUND YOU ARE BEING TREATED JUSTLY! TAKE CARE OF THE POOR, THE WIDOWS, THE ORPHANS! MERCY... SHOW MERCY AND GRACE, AS I HAVE SHOWN IT TO YOU! FAITHFULNESS...I NEED YOU TO BE FAITHFUL TO ME AND OTHERS!
How am I REALLY helping those around me or do I fall back on "the tithing" and other "good" that I'm doing?
Where have I not been just?
Where do I need to show more mercy?
Where should I be more faithful?
READ: Matthew 23:25-26
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.
STOP STOP STOP TRYING TO LOOK SO GOOD AND JUST START LETTING ME CLEAN YOU OUT FROM THE INSIDE OUT!
How can I, how can we be willing to stop working so hard at cleaning the outside that we forget to work with Jesus on the inside?
Can I bear to let the outside be dirty, visible to all, while letting Jesus transform me from the inside out?
Am I willing to be that vulnerable?
READ: Matthew 23:27-28
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 the bones of the dead 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.
YOU WHITEWASH THE TOMBS TO STAY CLEAN AND YET YOU ARE SO FILTHY!
Am I willing to risk being "unclean" to come to Jesus and get clean?
Am I willing to risk being "unclean" to welcome and invite those into my home and my church that are sinners?
Should my arms be as open to homosexuals as they are to gossipers or conference officials, or family and friends?
Standards are important but am I using them as a way to hide my own hypocrisy and wickedness?
READ: Matthew 23:29-32
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 ancestors, 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 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
STOP BEING CRITICAL AND JUDGING AND THINKING YOU ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN EVERYONE! YOUR ARROGANCE IS BLINDING YOU!
Am I judging the teachers of the law and the Pharisees? Stop!
Do I judge those in my church, local or world wide, that don't think like I do?
If yes, then my arrogance is blinding me!
If I am focusing on the error of others, can my eyes be on Jesus?
READ: Matthew 23:33-39
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages 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 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’[c]”
OH HOW JESUS LOVES THESE JEWISH LEADERS! OH HOW HE LOVES YOU AND ME! OH HOW HARD THEY WERE WORKING TO BE HOLY AND YET ALL THEIR WORK KEPT THEIR FOCUS AWAY FROM JESUS. THEY MISSED JESUS. THEY MISSED THE ONLY WAY TO TRUE HOLINESS.
Oh Lord, I don't want to miss you! I don't want to be trying so hard to look right, that I miss the only way to be clean!
Who am I? Ready to stop being blind! I'm ready to see! Ready to see Jesus!
I am ready to see Jesus, ready to acknowledge Him and let Him do his work of transforming. I no longer need to be blind because of Jesus!
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