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23:1-36
Woe to the scribes and Pharisees
Jesus now spoke at length to the people and to his disciples.
(For convenience the grievances are numbered.)
1. "The scribes and Pharisees" he said, "Take the position
of Moses by dispensing the Law to you, just as he did - and they give you many
rules, but they don't live up to what they teach.
2. "They add rule after rule to your daily load, but they don't help
you with the extra responsibilities. They are inconsistent. Their attitude is
hard, and legalistic, rather than compassionate and sympathetic.
3. "They like to do things publicly because they get more attention
- take, for example, the wearing of phylacteries. Moses commanded Israel to bind
God's Word on the hands and in front of the eyes, but he meant it in a symbolic
way. (Ex.13:9,16, Deut. 6:8, 11:18) He didn't mean to literally hang bits of the
Bible on their bodies - what good would that do? What he meant was that the
Israelites should always set God's standard in front of them, to guide their
behaviour. It was a spiritual thing. But look at what the religious leaders have
done - they make leather pouches and put portions of Scripture into them, then
they hang these things on their clothes, or across their foreheads. They think
that the bigger the pouch the more spiritual they must be! Does this do their
hearts any good? No way!
4. "Another example is the wearing of tassels. Originally God
commanded the Israelites to wear these on the corners of their clothes.
(Num.15:37-41, Deut.22:12) The idea was that those who wore these tassels would
see them and remember that they were special people for God. But look at what
the religious leaders have done - they have turned tassels into a fashion
statement! They think that the more tassels they have the more special they are.
They forget that it is the heart-attitude which makes a person special, not the
clothes they wear.
5. "They like to be invited to feasts, because it gives them a
chance to be seen publicly, and that makes them seem more important. They make
sure they are noticed because they sit on elevated seats, or the most prominent
seats, where they show off their clothing to the other guests - making a point
of drawing attention to themselves.
6. "When they go to the synagogues they do exactly the same thing!
They sit where everyone can see them. This makes them seem more important
spiritually, and it gets them more attention and respect.
7. "When they go for a walk through town, they encourage people to
approach them with great reverence.
8. "And they love it when gullible people call them "Rabbi
Rabbi". Do you really think that these men are "great ones" or
"teachers"? Just look at their lives and see how unfit they are to
receive these titles.
If you want to say "My great one" to a worthy teacher, say it
to God! Or say it to me, because I am the Messiah. As far as God is concerned,
all Christians are brothers and sisters in the same family. None of you are
higher or lower than the others. All are equal in God's sight.
"So don't give yourselves special titles, as these religious leaders
do. (Don't use the title Father, Reverend, Right Reverend, Holy Father, Very
Reverend, Pope, Pastor, Pontiff, Doctor (Latin for Teacher), High Priest,
Cardinal, and so on. Any title which rightfully belongs to God should not be
applied to men or women in the Church. Outside
of the Church of course a child may say "father" to his or her Dad,
and "teacher" to a school teacher.)
"The kingdom principle is simple : If you want to be great, be a
servant. Go in exactly the opposite direction to the world. Instead of trying to
climb up the social ladder to some position of eminence where you can give all
the orders, lower yourself down to a place where you can do the most for others.
If God has a place of greater influence for you, He will put you there. Just
don't aim for it.
"And be warned! The more you try to lift yourself up, the more
likely it is that God will pull the rug out from under you!"
Jesus then returned to the Jewish religious leaders :
9. "These scribes and Pharisees operate under a double standard.
They seem to be men of God, because of the clothes they wear and the things they
say, but they are in fact solid barriers, blocking the way to heaven! People
come to them, hoping to hear about God's Grace and free pardon for sin, but all
they hear is a long list of rules to keep!
10. "They also prey like wolves on poor, unsuspecting widows. First
they wait till the woman is desperate for help, or depressed, or sorrowful, then
they offer to make long prayers for her, for which they charge a huge sum, to
make her feel better. (The Roman church used "indulgences" and
"High Mass" and "Low Mass" and various other services in
order to raise money. Cults often use techniques like this to get money. People
often bequeath everything to organisations which show a great deal of attention
to them - out of gratitude of course.
Christians are not to do anything like this. Services to other people
must not be made with money as the motive - though money may be paid as a
secondary thing, such as for counselling or marriage guidance.)
11. "They work extremely hard when it comes to winning someone over,
and pulling them out of their own belief-system, but when they're finished these
people are twice as mixed up as when they started! (For example, take the
Jehovah's Witnesses. They are willing to knock on 700 doors in order to reach
just one person, but when they've finished the indoctrination process, that 'new
convert' is even harder to reach for Christ than before the JW's turned up.)
(The Greek "proselyte" means "a comer over to", and
is applied to the gentile who adopted Judaism. The principle is clear though.
Anyone who abandons one belief system for another has 'proselytised')
12. "They act like people who want to do guided tours, but they
cannot see where they're going! Where do you think you will end up if you follow
their directions?
"This is the kind of twisted reasoning they expect you to swallow -
this is what they say : when you make a promise, you can make it two ways. The
first way is to promise by the Temple. You can break this promise, because the
Temple is just a stone and wood building. Or, you can promise by the gold in the
Temple. You have to keep this promise, because gold is more valuable than stone
and wood.
"This is stupid and confused reasoning! But even if we go by their
own rules, its obvious that the Temple makes the gold valuable, because the gold
is in the temple, and the gold makes the Temple valuable, because it is the
temple gold. They are both of equal value, so any promise based on either should
be equally binding.
13. "Another example of their twisted reasoning is the one where
they make promises by the altar. They say when you make a promise, if you do it
based on the altar, you don't have to keep it, because the altar is just a pile
of rock, but if you make the promise based on the sacrifice, you do have to keep
it, because the sacrifice is an offering to God.
"This is the same as the Temple and gold stupidity! They can't see
that the altar makes the sacrifice important, and the sacrifice makes the altar
important. The two things go together.
"They have forgotten that God is in, and a part of all things! He is
in the Temple and in the gold. He is in the sacrifice and in the altar.
Everything is equally indwelt and upheld by God. There are no objects which He
somehow forgets, or leaves out, so nothing is of lesser importance or greater
importance to Him.
"They also think that promises can be graded according to the things
the promises are made by. For example, they may make a promise "by the
Temple" or "by heaven", and think that the first is not as
binding as the second. They first
decide on the value of an object, then they make a promise by it, thinking that
the smaller the value, the easier it will be to break the promise.
"What they forget is that "heaven" is God's throne, and
the "Temple" is God's house, and anything else they may choose to
promise by is equally God's!"
14. "They also get tied up with the Law on tithing. While I commend
their care and attention to detail, I am saddened by their complete lack of
understanding as to the purpose of tithing. (Some strict Law-keepers would count
all the tiny leaves on their herbs and pick every tenth leaf.)
While it is good that they want to keep every tiny part of God's Law,
they have missed most of its great themes. Justice! Mercy! Faithfulness! Tithing
is a small part of the law. Its purpose is to remind you that everything - not
just a small percentage - belongs to God. The small part is put for the greater.
One tenth for nine tenths.
"In the same way they have concentrated on the minimum, and
forgotten the maximum. They have become engrossed with the minutiae of the Law,
and forgotten to apply the grand principles in it.
"They are like someone who carefully picks a sandfly from his drink,
then turns and gulps down a whole horse!
"They are like a servant doing the dishes, who receives a bowl to
wash and only scrubs the outside. The inside is full of decaying food, but the
outside - well, it shines!
"This is what these religious leaders are like. They have managed to
make themselves look really 'good' on the outside, but inside their hearts there
is greed, and wickedness, and envy, and pride, and cruelty, and dishonesty and
every sin! My advice to them is to repent and confess their sins, and let God
cleanse them from the inside. Then their hearts will match their outward
appearance.
"They are like those tombs you see at the cemetery, all clean and
washed, and covered in gleaming white paint. They look good don't they, but what
would you find if you opened one of these tombs? Bones! Rotting, dead bones!
"And speaking of tombs, who builds and maintains the tombs of the
prophets? These religious leaders. And who places wreaths on them? These
religious leaders. And who makes long prayers of homage to the dead prophets?
These same religious leaders.
"They say things like "Oh, how dreadful that these great men of
God were killed! If they had lived in our days, we would have honoured them! We
would never have had a hand in killing them, because we are God's leaders!
"What utter nonsense they speak! They are no different from the
people who killed those prophets! They are the children of those murderers, and
they would do the same as their parents, given half a chance!
"And let me say, that is exactly what you are going to do. I, the
Messiah have sent a constant stream
of witnesses to you, but like snakes you have bitten them all. One by one you
have unleashed your venom on the people of God, killing them or scourging them.
You have mocked and ridiculed my servants, and refused to hear their message.
"Let me warn you for the last time, unless you change your ways, the
final judgement will fall, and none of you will escape. God holds you
responsible for the age-old crime
of religious intolerance.
"Cain killed righteous Abel (Gen.4:4 and Heb.11:4) because he hated
to see Abel's offering accepted instead of his own. These religious leaders hate
me because I preach the same thing.
"Joash killed righteous Zechariah (2Chron.24:17-22) because
Zechariah exposed the idolatry and wickedness of the leaders. These religious
leaders hate me because I am exposing the same things in their hearts.
"They like to think they are 'good' men, and righteous, but they are
nothing like it! They are the same are all Cains and Joashes. They the children
of prophet-killers, and they will copy their parents.
"These religious leaders will all be killed, they and their
families, because of their wickedness. The Jewish nation is about to experience
a massive slaughter, because these men refused to obey God, or to point people
the right way!
23:37-39
Jerusalem will be destroyed
With a soulful cry, Jesus released his deepest feelings as he saw into
the future. The city he had come to save, was now on the brink of ruin, because
most of the people in it were unwilling to listen to him. His entire mission had
failed, and, except for a few believers, all his many years of hard work had
come to nothing. The tears were in his eyes as he spoke.
"Jerusalem! Jerusalem!" Jesus cried, "How often have I
tried to win you! How many prophets I have sent to you, but you have killed them
all! I have spoken to you with words of love, but you have taken up stones and
rocks, hurling them back in my face.
"I have come as a hen, searching for her chickens, but instead, I
have found snakes. When I would have closed my wings of protection around you,
you have sunk your fangs into my breast!
"There is now only one fate left for you, my city and my people -
destruction and ruin. This Temple is going to be destroyed! (Daniel 9 described
this event clearly. In verses 24-27 God foretold the end of the 70 weeks or
prophetic years, which ran from the decree of Cyrus to rebuild the city to the
coming of the Messiah, in which verse 24 was fulfilled by Jesus. Verse 25
describes the restoration of the city in preparation for Jesus. Verse 26,27
speaks of the crucifixion and the following destruction of the city. Verse 27
ends with a warning that God would pour out a punishment on the nation which
destroyed Jerusalem.)
(Luke 21:24 says Jerusalem
will be "trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the gentiles are
fulfilled". This was the time which Jerusalem was empty of Jews, from about
70 AD to 1917 when the Jews were given permission to return to the land. There
are still Gentiles living in and around Jerusalem, but they no longer dominate
or rule the city.)
"The Jewish nation and its city will not see me again until a time
when they begin to acknowledge me as Lord and Saviour. At that time they will be
calling me blessed, and they will say that God was good to send them me, the
Messiah, to them!"