DAMAGING APPEARANCES

AUGUST 22 & 23, 2009 SATURDAY & SUNDAY SCRIPTURE MATTHEW 23

TEXT http://net.bible.org/bible.php?book=Mat&chapter=23#n47

MESSAGE

Speechless and silent the Pharisees and Sadducees feared any more confrontations with Jesus, an occasion he used to tell his disciples and the gathered crowd about their responsibility to follow what they're taught from Scripture by the religious leaders due to their positions of authority but not to imitate how they live because they don’t understand the meaning of the Scriptures they preach from and thus are unable to apply them to their own lives. He told them because of their misunderstanding of Scripture they make people suffer from the burden of sin they experience because of the impossible rule book the leaders have turned Scripture into - ignoring God's forgiveness and acts of redemption and making the people responsible for their own salvation instead. He told them how the leaders make themselves look religiously superior to others by doing their good works in public, by wearing holy looking garments, by choosing the seats of honor at banquets, by taking the best seats in the synagogues, and by expecting to be greeted in public as "Teacher" or "Father". He told them the only Teacher they have is him, the Christ and the only Father they have is God, in heaven.

Then, Jesus speaks seven words of “woe” in a loud emphatic voice against the religious leaders, telling them of the anguish and misery awaiting them - rebuking them for all of this hypocrisy.

#1 He rebukes them for locking themselves and other people (who have been trying to enter) out of the kingdom of heaven by not believing he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God and leading others astray through their unbelief.

#2 He rebukes them for the great lengths they go to make someone a Pharisee but the end result is a convert whose beliefs take him farther away from the kingdom of heaven then they are.

#3 He rebukes them for being blind guides and fools in the way they make man sacred instead of God – taking people in the opposite direction from the truth in worshiping man instead of God when they make pledges and give their word.

#4 He rebukes them because for giving a tenth of what they have to God but for having cold hearts that lack justice, mercy and faithfulness – because their tithing doesn't come from a warm loving heart but instead is an obligatory act. He makes an analogy between their acts of tithing and how they try to remain ceremonially clean by filtering their drinking water to keep from swallowing a tiny little bug, while their cold hearts and inability to be just, merciful and faithful indicates they are ceremonially unclean on the level of swallowing a camel without being aware they have done so.

#5 He rebukes them for the appearance they put on for themselves and others that are false representation of who they really are on the inside - something they just can’t see. He tells them if they not only want to look good but actually be good, they must accept and address the problem inside first - a problem involving their heart.

#6 He rebukes them for their show of righteousness to other people, comparing it to the outside of tombs cleaned so that people can see where they are so they don’t accidentally step on them and become ceremonially unclean. However, despite the outside of these tombs being so thoroughly cleaned, everyone knows how unclean the insides are because of the dead bones, which is exactly how the religious leaders look on the inside because of their sin and hypocrisy - the result their look-good religion.

#7 Finally, he tells them their tomb building for the prophets, grave decorating of the righteous, and declarations that they are spiritually superior to their ancestors who killed the prophets, testifies against them and they are just as sinful as their ancestors were (given what they are planning to do). Jesus tells them they are like the offspring of Satan in what they are doing and that they won’t escape the condemnation of hell.

Jesus then summarizes what God has done in sending prophets from Abel to Zechariah and how their mistreatment, torture, killings and crucifixion serves as the measurement of sin that testifies against the religious leaders and those who have followed them in this generation who will be held responsible for everything they do.

Jesus then laments over the people of Jerusalem because of their responsibility for killing and stoning the prophets that were sent to them. He laments over their rejection of his attempts to gather them together like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings to protect them. And, he laments that there are left with temple uninhabited by God and that they won’t see him again until the end of times at which point he will return in Judgment and they will realize he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

TEACHING

Jesus distinguishes for his disciples and the crowd the difference between the positional authority the religious leaders have and because of this how they must listen to what they are told from the Scriptures and the hypocrisy of how the religious leaders live because they don’t understand Scripture correctly and therefore misapply it to their lives.

He tells his disciples and the crowd this has led them to a false understanding of who the greatest is in the kingdom of heaven is, one like the Gentiles, in which they lord their power and authority over people. Their religion is superficial and based on looking good and showing off to others rather than serving others like the the Christ, who they totally reject as the Son of the Living God, unlike little children who are readily able to recognize Him.

He tells them how the religious leaders have made themselves into little Teachers and Fathers, i.e. they have taken the place of Christ and God in the process of misunderstanding and misapplying Scripture in turning Scripture into a rule book – something they are far superior at following than anyone else because they spend full time doing this.

Jesus then condemns the religious leaders seven times for their misguided hypocritical use of Scripture.

He condemns them for rejecting him as the Christ and for leading others astray in this way.

He condemns them for turning a convert into someone farther from the Truth than they are.

He condemns them for worshiping man instead of God when they make a promise.

He condemns them for missing the central point of Scripture - that God loves justice and mercy and faithfulness over making superficial sacrifices to Him.

He condemns them for the false representations of who they are they give to others, for their pretending to be someone they really aren’t, for their hypocrisy.

He condemns them for their righteous representations of themselves, while on the inside they are just as sinful as everyone else.

He condemns them for pretending to be spirituality superior to their ancestors who killed the prophets when they are plotting to crucify him.

He says that the religious leaders and those who follow them will be held responsible for everything they do.

Jesus’ last public words before his arrest and crucifixion are his compassionate words of lament for the people of Jerusalem for what they have done to the prophets, for their rejection of his attempts to protect them, because God will no longer be in their temple and because they will not see him again until Judgment Day at which time they will know he is Christ, the Son of God.

HEALING

Our Father, We thank You for Your Word. And, we thank You for Your Holy Spirit that Your Son sent after He ascended to Your right hand, Your Holy Spirit that dwells within us and helps us to gain a proper understanding of Your Word so that we don’t end up being condemned by Your Son once, let alone seven times for twisting and turning Your Word into a book of rules and Your Grace into a religion of a show of looking good to others at the cost of our souls.

Our Father, We ask You to forgive us when we fail and misuse Your Word; when we lead others in the wrong direction because of this; when we worship things of man over You; when we miss the central point of Your Word, the Grace received through Your Son, instead of the work we try to do to please you; when we lack integrity and show ourselves to be one way on the outside that we really aren’t on the inside; when we put on an air of holiness that we just don’t have; and when we feel religiously, spiritually and denominationally superior to others to make ourselves feel better, rather than trusting in the value of Your Love, Your Grace and what that means about us instead.

Our Father, We have faith in the Grace we have received and justice You received through Your Son’s sacrifice on the Cross. However,we remain in need of Your mercy when we fail in these ways and Your Word, Your indwelling Holy Spirit, our relationships in the Body, and acts of justice and mercy fueled by Your Love in order to grow in Your ways and be transformed to Your will.

Our Father, We compassionately lament for those who have rejected Your Son because they have misunderstood and misused Your Word and because of this are moving themselves and others away, rather than towards You. We compassionately lament for those in this generation who persecute, torture and kill Your prophets and those who believe in Your Son as the Risen Christ and their Savior. We compassionately lament for the temples they inhabit and the Day of Judgment that lies ahead for them.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

SONG ‘Woe To You (Album Version)' by Matt Papa @imeem http://x.imeem.com/xlw8W_Vkf8