Matthew
Kingdom Warning WOE
Matthew 23 is a sad warning
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!
Jesus ends Matthew 23 with this quote from Psalms 118
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 23:39
Psalms 118 is the positive side of Matthew 23
Matthew 23 describes those who made themselves lord
They hindered people from seeing the never-ending love of the Lord
Because they sought love for themselves
Jesus is Lord and His love endures forever
This is the message of those who have seen God’s love “Endure” through their sin
This is the message of the cross where the One
Who came in the name of the Lord bore our sin
'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'
To HIM be all leadership and authority
To HIM be all worship and praise
Kingdom Warning WOE
Woe is Me!
I think all of us have had
a “Woe is me” time or times in our lives.
A time when sorrow, distress, trouble, controlled your world.
A time when grief ruled your life.
Seven times Jesus uses this word…
“Woe” to describe the teachers of the law and Pharisees.
Each time Jesus calls them “hypocrites”…
Actors under an assumed character.
Pretending to be something you are not
will bring sorrow, distress and trouble.
The first Woe, to the hypocrites is key to the other six…
Which describe how they act out the assumed character.
Here is what the Hypocrites do…
You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces.
Matthew 23:13
Hindering people from entering the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is the key problem.
Actors assuming the role of “lord”.
Keeping people from approaching God.
How are these actors doing this?
By making converts…
Followers of men, rather than God.
Matthew 23:15
By power of words…
God makes the temple and all that is in it sacred.
God is the authority who sits on the throne.
You cannot use what is sacred as your authority…
It belongs to God.
Matthew 23:16-22
By giving…
All honorable giving will incorporate
Justice, Mercy and Faithfulness.
From the smallest gift to the largest
your gift must come from a heart filled with…
Justice, Mercy and Faithfulness
Matthew 23:23-24
By cleaning only the outer vessel…
Washing and smelling good
comes from outward appearance…
But God looks for a
pure heart which comes from love.
1 Timothy 1:5
The pure in heart see God
Matthew 5:8 Matthew 23:25-26
By outward appearance…
A graveyard of death and dead works
is not changed by a coat of paint.
Galatians 5:19-21 Matthew 23:27-28
By denial of the sins of our fathers...
Killing the messengers of God
Matthew 23:29-32
Jesus says if you persecute or kill one of those God sends…
You bring the guilt and blood of all who have been killed.
Our sin is not seen as one act of sin…
But is seen as guilt of all other sins committed the same way.
If you kill one messenger of God…
Your sin is as great as if you killed every martyr.
God judges us not on one sin…
But our one sin as a group
of all who have committed that sin.
What we think is little, like a drop of water…
God sees that drop in an ocean of sin.
…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.
Matthew 23:35
Matthew 23 ends with…
God’s desire that none would perish.
That all would be gathered
and brought into His kingdom.
But until we say…
'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'
Matthew 23:39
We will not see the Lord.
Jesus takes this quote from Psalms 118:26.
Psalms 118 is...
An end times Psalms, it is an “Forever” Psalm.
The Psalm starts with…
Those who know the Lord saying
the Lord’s love endures forever.
It is a Psalm of salvation and the coming of the Lord.
Verse 26 tells us of the people
who are in the house of the Lord saying…
'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'
Verse 28 of Psalms 118 is…
Praise and worship from those who recognize Jesus,
who came in the name of the Lord.
You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
you are my God, and I will exalt you.
The Psalm ends as it began…
With thanks for the Lord’s love that endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Psalms 118:29
Matthew 23 describes those who made themselves lord.
They hindered people from seeing
the never-ending love of the Lord…
Because they sought love for themselves.
Jesus is Lord and His love endures forever.
This is the message of those who have seen God’s love
“Endure” through their sin.
This is the message of the cross
where the One who came in the name of the Lord
bore our sin.
'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'
Scripture Reading
Matthew 23:13-22 NIV
13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.
16 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cummin. 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. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25 "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. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 "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 dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
29 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
33 "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 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. 36 I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.
37 "O 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, but you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
