Matthew 23

“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 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. 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. Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.” Matthew 23:2-7 NIV

The Pharisees can be likened to today’s “religious” people.  These are the type of people that act holy on the outside, but their hearts do not belong to God.  They are out to serve themselves, judge others, and make rules and regulations to live by, rather than allow the Holy Spirit to guide them.  The rules they make are very hard to follow, which turns them into slaves to their laws, rather than giving them the freedom to love God by serving Him.  Religious people (Pharisees) do everything purely for others to see.  They look holy, but their actions are completely self-serving.  Jesus sternly warned against these types of people.  We need to be careful that we do not set up rules and regulations pertaining to our own walk with Jesus, and impose them on other people.  

“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. 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.” Matthew 23:13,15 NIV

Jesus openly warns the Pharisees and law followers that while they condemn people to hell, they themselves are in no way going to enter heaven.  In verse 15, Jesus makes a bold statement that when the Pharisees convert a person, they are condemned twice as much because of the yoke of rules and regulations they put on a person.  They teach new converts to follow man made laws, and disregard God and the Spirit.  Likewise, in today’s church, we want to remain walking in the Spirit, not walking by the law.  If we are under the law, we will have a heavy burden, and it will be impossible to follow God’s ways.  But remember this from earlier in Matthew 11:29-30: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

“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.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 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.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it. 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. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 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. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 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. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 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.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started! You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 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. 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. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. 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. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23:16-39 NIV

You can almost hear Jesus growing in anger and judgmental fervor towards the hypocrisy of the Pharisees.  Then, as His anger reaches its zenith, He stops and retracts to a place of gentle, lovesick mourning, like a mother for her wayward children who won’t return to her loving embrace (v. 37). This is beautiful and it is good news for us!!  Interestingly, Jesus appears quite condemning and angry with the Pharisees. This is because they were leading people astray from the heart and love of God.  It says in John 3:17: “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”  Ultimately, Jesus did not rebuke anyone who He was not willing to die for; He died for the Pharisees just the same as He died for you and me.