August 4, Matthew 23
Jesus’ strongest rebuke was addressed to the religious elite. The most advanced experts and the strictest practitioners of the law received the longest and strongest censure Jesus ever spoke.
Jesus called these people hypocrites and blind fools. What was it about them that drew such vivid, pointed criticism?
The scribes and Pharisees did not practice what they preached. They were good at burdening their hearers with regulations they did not keep themselves. These leaders had elaborate schemes to excuse their own disobedience while condemning people who did the same thing but were ignorant of the loopholes.
The Jewish leaders and teachers made a show of their religion. When they did some good deed, prayed or fasted, they wanted the attention and praise of people around them, so their religious activities had to be public.
These hypocrites specialized in the tedious details of how they expressed their religion. They made the minor points the major ones, and ignored the primary issues of genuine spirituality. Their devotion was expressed in things that could be listed and quantified, not in characteristics and attitudes that had to be lived out in relationship to God and others.
Not only did the sickening hypocrisy of these people keep them out of the kingdom of God, their sharp, judgmental attitudes turned others away from the kingdom as well. Hypocrites ruin themselves, but the damage also spreads to others around them.
Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees of that generation were the spiritual descendants of earlier generations who had persecuted and killed messengers from God. Hypocrisy and self-righteousness reacts with violent aggression against those who are bold enough to tell the truth about the lie they’re living.
As we nod our heads in agreement with Jesus’ criticism of the scribes and Pharisees and think we know someone who needs to read this chapter, it is probably wise to remember that these people were serious practitioners of their religion who imagined themselves closer to God than others around them. The poisonous fruit of hypocrisy is prominent in “church people.” When those who claim to follow Jesus are more like the Pharisees than their professed
Master, the same stern rebuke applies.
Many people who appear to be spiritual are not going to enter the kingdom of God because their religious pride keeps them from coming to God through Christ. The problem is not that the Lord is unwilling to save such people, but rather that they are unwilling to humble themselves and be saved. Let’s not be guilty of the “Christian” version of the ancient Jews’ hypocrisy. Jesus sees right through the act, and it makes him angry.
From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide
for Your Journey Through the New Testament,
Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used
by permission. All rights reserved.
Today in God's Word—August 2024
East Tallassee Church of Christ
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