Woe to you, Hypocrites! – part 1
Matthew 23:13-15
September 16, 2012
Well this morning it is finally time to jump back into Matthew’s gospel. We’ve been away from it now for a about a month,
But certainly it is time to step back in to this amazing gospel.
As you know we are presently in the middle of the passion week.
It is now Wednesday.
• On Monday Jesus entered Jerusalem
• On Tuesday Jesus cleared the temple
• On Wednesday He showed up to teach and has been met with opposition.
• They challenged His authority
• They tried to trick Him with taxes
• They tried to stump Him with a hypothetical regarding the resurrection
• They sent a Lawyer to condemn Him
And then Jesus went on the offensive.
In Matthew 23 the tables are turned.
In a way it sort of reminds me of that infamous brow beating
That Job took at the hands of God.
You will remember that for 37 chapters God almost seemed to be on trial.
Several times Job wanted God to answer him in regard to his suffering,
And the book is very one-sided.
But in chapter 38 God showed up.
Job 38:1-3 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? “Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!”
And for the next 4 chapters God absolutely unloaded on Job
Until Job said in chapter 42
Job 42:1-6 “Then Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ “Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”
It is a similar turn that takes place here in Matthew’s gospel.
For 22 chapters Jesus has appeared to be on trial,
Now in chapter 23 the roles are reversed and Jesus goes on the offensive.
And how amazing this is!
Today we live in a world
That has grown increasingly tolerant of false teachers.
There is such a push to get along and not make any waves
That really it has become taboo to oppose or call out anyone.
But our Lord certainly didn’t follow this pattern,
And neither did the other men of God in Scripture.
All throughout the Scripture we find God’s true messengers
Publicly denouncing and calling out those who were false.
• We all remember Elijah calling out the prophets of Baal, and ultimately commanding their execution.
• We remember Jeremiah calling Hannaniah for his false prophesy concerning Israel’s release from Babylon, and Hannaniah died.
• We remember John the Baptist calling the Chief Priests “You brood of vipers” and demanding that they not only repent but “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”
• We can read the New Testament letters and find Paul not only opposing false teachers, but naming many of them by name. We know of such false teachers as Hymenaes, Alexander, Philetus, and Demas.
And certainly this was an attribute they learned from our Lord.
In fact in the Revelation Jesus actually commends those churches
Who condemn false teachers, while chastising those who tolerate them.
Revelation 2:2 “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;”
On the flip side:
Revelation 2:20 “But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”
This popular notion today of just getting along
And not making waves and not confronting false teachers
Is not a practice that was learned from Jesus.
Paul even said that pastor’s today must be skilled in this.
Titus 1:9-11 “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”
And I can assure that Paul learned that confrontation from Jesus.
After all, it was Jesus who confronted Paul.
And it is Jesus who confronts the Scribes and Pharisees here in Matt 23.
This chapter is literally filled with lightning and thunder.
It is a sharp and even harsh rebuke.
It is public and it is direct.
Jesus intended to leave no confusion whatsoever
In the minds of those listening
As to what He thought of the religious leaders in Israel.
Jesus came to expose them.
Now when last we were in Matthew we saw this confrontation begin.
And we listened as Jesus revealed that these current religious leaders were:
UNQUALIFIED PROFESSORS OF SCRIPTURE (1-2)
Although they held the seat of authority, it was not God who put them there.
UNWORTHY PATTERNS OF SANCTIFICATION (3)
They speak of spirituality, but do not themselves practice what they preach.
UNWILLING PASTORS OF SHEEP (4)
Instead of delivering the flock, they burden them in a way God never intended.
UNRELENTING PRETENDERS OF SPIRITUALITY (5)
All of their religion is merely a show intended upon getting them attention.
UNASHAMED PROMOTERS OF SELF (6-7)
All they care about is the seat of honor and getting respectful greetings.
And so Jesus fully exposed them.
And this morning He continues.
TEXT PROBLEM
Vs. 14 is not in the NIV
(Scribe added later)
Matthew didn’t include it, (doesn’t flow) but it is true and it is Biblical.
Mark 12:38-40 “In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”
Luke 20:45-47 “And while all the people were listening, He said to the disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”
It obviously flowed on the heels of what Jesus said in verse 7.
So, we’ll look at it this morning but we need to look at it first
Since it obviously was meant to go with verse 7, not verse 13.
That being said when we study this text there are three things
Jesus calls out these false teachers for.
#1 THEIR MANNER OF DECEPTION
Matthew 23:14
As we just said this verse actually fit following verse 7.
Matthew 23:6-7 “They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues, and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.”
And this is where Jesus said that the Scribes and Pharisees
Were “Unashamed Promoters of Self”
They loved honor.
They loved glory.
They loved the best seat.
If they were here today they would insist upon sitting in one of these
High-back leather chairs on the stage for all to see.
• At the meal they would insist upon going first.
• They would insist that their name be on the church sign.
• And they would demand that you call them “Dr. so and so”
But this type of thinking unbiblical
This type of thinking actually brings out a serious “Woe” from Jesus.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widow’s houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”
Jesus spoke of their love of glory and their pathetic self worship
And that instantly brought forth a rebuke.
And Jesus here brings out two big words that He will use over and over.
“Woe” and “hypocrites”
“Woe” is a unique term, it is actually more of an expression than a word.
It is what we call an ONOMATOPOEIA,
It is a word in which the sound equals the definition.
“Squawk” or “Knock” or “Baa”
Well in the Greek that is what Jesus uses here.
“Woe” translates “OUAI” (oo-i)
It’s a guttural sound somewhere between nausea and sheer disgust.
It is like when you smell something terrible and go “Uggh”
That is what Jesus is doing.
He isn’t so much pronouncing woes like when Isaiah used it
As He expressing grotesque sickness with what they’ve done.
Their behavior is sickening and detestable to Him.
The other major word we are introduced to is the word “hypocrites”
In the Greek “HUPOKRITES”
It was originally a word that meant “to answer”,
But it came to be used of actors who answered back and forth
To one another in their performance.
And hence you see why Jesus used it here.
These men had become actors.
They were performers.
And although good actors and fancy sets can appear real,
It may surprise you to find out they aren’t.
No one here has ever been to Metropolis or Gotham City.
You can search the records and find that Matt Dillon never sheriffed Dodge City.
It was fake.
And those are exactly the words that Jesus used
To address the Scribes and Pharisees.
OUAI, Scribes and Pharisees, HUPOKRITES
Uugh, Scribes and Pharisees, fakes
What they did made Him sick, and here is why.
“because you devour widows’ houses, and for pretense you make long prayers;”
Do you see the obvious contradiction there?
Throughout Scripture we see care of widows as vitally important to God.
It wasn’t necessarily because they were grieving the loss of their husband,
But because in Jesus’ day widows were generally poor.
They had no one to take care of them.
And James said:
James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”
And this echoes what God had said throughout the Old Testament.
Isaiah 1:16-17 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”
It was clear what God intended for widows.
The truly righteous and God-fearing were to care for the widow.
These sickening Scribes and Pharisees did just the opposite.
Instead of housing the widows they “devour widow’s houses”
• They would throw out a widow who couldn’t pay her rent.
• They would foreclose on a widow who had no means.
• They would take advantage of a widow who had no business experience without her husband.
Paul said in 2 Timothy:
2 Timothy 3:6 “For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,”
They took advantage of the most helpless of people.
But to compensate for their lack of genuine spirituality
They put on a performance of fake spirituality.
“for a pretense you make long prayers”
Some Jewish historians have said that some of these men
Would pray as much as nine hours a day.
The idea was to make sure everyone saw you
As a spiritual person intent on seeking God.
(We already know they prayed on the street corners)
And to the naked eye they certainly would have looked spiritual.
(Just like Christopher Reeve looked like he could fly)
You could have had your personal servants evicting a helpless widow
So that you could take her land, but all the while appear super righteous
Simply because you spent the day in prayer.
And men wouldn’t know the difference,
But Jesus did, because He looked at the heart.
And when He looked at these men He wanted to vomit!
And He said, “therefore you will receive greater condemnation”
Your punishment will be extremely severe for what you’ve done.
Psalms 109:6-16 “Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. When he is judged, let him come forth guilty, And let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; Let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless And his wife a widow. Let his children wander about and beg; And let them seek sustenance far from their ruined homes. Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the product of his labor. Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, Nor any to be gracious to his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; In a following generation let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the LORD continually, That He may cut off their memory from the earth; WHY? Because he did not remember to show lovingkindness, But persecuted the afflicted and needy man, And the despondent in heart, to put them to death.”
Harsh wasn’t it?
Yet that is what Scripture thinks of a pretender who oppresses the poor.
In His Olivet Discourse Jesus said that a simple failure to help the needy was reason enough to go to hell, can you imagine the punishment for actually oppressing them?
God had said through Moses:
Exodus 22:22-24 “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. “If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.”
Is it any wonder Jesus is upset?
These men put on a tremendous display of righteousness and religion,
But in reality they are anything but.
• Remember the disdain you felt the first time you heard of a Catholic priest molesting an altar boy?
• Remember the sick feeling when you learned of some television evangelist living an adulterous double life?
That is the type of sickness Jesus has going on right here.
The only difference is these men haven’t been publicly caught yet.
But Jesus knew what was going on
And He was infuriated by their Manner of Deception.
They sinned in the worst way and then covered it with religion.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!”
Their Manner of Deception
#2 THEIR MINISTRY OF DISCOURAGEMENT
Matthew 23:13
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites”
WHY?
“because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people, for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”
Now I know we are appalled by what these men would do to widows,
But in reality this is far greater than that.
For a widow might be mistreated
But still defended by God and receive an eternal home.
This sin is even greater because now
They are messing with men’s eternal state.
The picture here is of men and women who desire to enter the kingdom of heaven, and these men standing in the way.
At every opportunity they seek to shut the door in people’s face.
HOW?
In John 7, during the feast of booths when Jesus said “If anyone is thirsty let him come to Me and drink…”
The religious leaders tried to have Jesus arrested,
But the temple police weren’t sure Jesus was wrong.
Listen to the Pharisees shut off the kingdom of heaven from them:
John 7:46-52 “The officers answered, “Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.”The Pharisees then answered them, “You have not also been led astray, have you? “No one of the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? “But this crowd which does not know the Law is accursed.” Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them, “Our Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”
Later when Jesus healed a man who was born blind,
His own parents were afraid to acknowledge Jesus
Because the Pharisees were slamming the door:
John 9:22 “His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.”
Even later they attempted (unsuccessfully)
To slam the door to the kingdom in the blind man’s face as well:
John 9:24 “So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”
John 9:29-34 “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.” The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.”
Even after the ascension of Christ, they did not stop. They did everything they could to stop the spread of the gospel and keep the door to heaven shut tightly.
Acts 4:15-18 “But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. “But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.”
Acts 5:27-28 “When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
And so it was bad enough that they refused to enter,
But they did everything they could to keep other people out too.
No wonder Jesus was sickened by them.
They publicly tried to keep people headed to hell.
And the hypocrisy there was that they were the ones
Who claimed they knew how to go to heaven.
Remember, they were the ones who in verse 2 of this chapter had “seated themselves in the chair of Moses.”
They claimed to know the truth of how to send people to heaven,
And in reality they did everything they could to keep people out.
What hypocrisy!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites”
Their Manner of Deception, Their Ministry of Discouragement
#3 THEIR MISSION OF DEPRAVITY
Matthew 23:15
And isn’t this one rich.
These guys were actually proponents of missions.
We have seen recently in Acts how many of the Jews,
Even in the early church had a difficult time reaching out to Gentiles.
But there were some of the Pharisees who actually did.
For them missions was a big thing.
It was a big thing because it was like a trophy.
If they could take a Gentile raised in paganism and fully convert him to being a legalistic Jew, that was like a badge of honor.
We actually saw this in the Judaizers
That Paul spoke of in the book of Galatians.
Galatians 4:17 “They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them.”
Galatians 6:12 “Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.”
Men who were very missional in their ministry.
The only problem was it was like reverse missions.
(Similar to Mormon missions or Jehovah Witness missions)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make on proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”
While their contemporaries stood by and applauded their selfless efforts
Jesus was sickened by it, because He knew what was really occurring.
They weren’t saving souls they were securing souls for hell.
It was bad enough that these men were “a son of hell”,
But they made others that was as well.
“A son of hell” was a reference to someone who loved and practiced deceit and opposed the things of God.
John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Acts 13:8-10 “But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?”
And that is what the Pharisees were.
They were sons of hell.
The problem was their converts were
“twice as much a son of hell” as they were.
HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
Because a deceived person is far more committed to his theology
Than a lying person is.
Take a Muslim Extremist.
They flew airplanes into buildings
Because they believed 72 virgins were waiting.
But if they had been the ones to create that lie
It is doubtful they would have been so committed.
See that was the Pharisees.
They knew they were lying, but their converts did not.
They were “twice as much a son of hell” as their teachers were.
And Jesus looked at that backward missions dynamic
And it made Him groan in sickness.
He could see the praise and honor heaped on the back of these Pharisees
For all their Gentile converts, and it made Him sick
Because He knew what was really occurring.
“Men are praising you for securing people in hell!”
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites”
Now, as you will see, Jesus has several more woes to address,
But it is really eye opening for us to read this chapter.
See, everyone of us should read this and come to the stone cold reality
That we can fool each other,
We may even be able to fool ourselves,
BUT WE WILL NOT FOOL JESUS.
A group of us just returned from Africa and our church was so supportive.
We were encouraged for going, we were encouraged when we returned.
Our victories were celebrated, and or work applauded.
But Jesus knows the truth.
• He knows the heart of each and every one of us who went.
• He knows why we did the work we did.
• He knows the truth we preached.
• He knows the things we promoted.
And the hope is that we did not make Him say, “Ouae!”
But it isn’t just for mission trips.
• We come to church on Sunday morning.
• Some of us teach Sunday school.
• Some of us pray in the service.
• Some of us sing.
• Some of us preach.
On the outside it all looks real good, but Jesus sees the truth about us.
He knows why we are doing what we do.
And the hope is that He doesn’t look at our involvement and say, “Ouae!”
DO YOU CATCH MY POINT?
Man looks at the outward appearance,
But the Lord looks at the heart.
And that is what makes the great commandment,
The great commandment.
Matthew 22:37-40 “And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Friend that is what I want to encourage you to do this morning.
Don’t play games with Jesus.
Not only is Jesus not fooled, He is downright angered by it.
• Don’t be an actor.
• Don’t be a performer.
• Don’t come to church and simply play the part.
• Be who Christ requires.
