Let’s remember
2 Timothy 3:16) 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
Here we see Jesus call them Hypocrites over and over, which is one of the worst things you could call a Pharisee of Scribe at that time.
When you are called out on something in your life, or a name like a hypocrite, how do you react?
Matthew 23 13-39
13 “Woe to you, Scribes 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.
– Who is most likely to carry out this action? The Church?(Religion). Communion? What about outside the Church?
Verse 14 is in Mark 12:40, and Luke 20:47
[14] Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites for you devour widows’ houses, and for a presence make long prayer, therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.
– If you fake your devotion to God through your pretend faith or religion, it is the greatest wickedness of all.
15 “Woe to you, Scribes 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.
Thoughts? People start following other people’s ways and not God’s way. Religious people are the hardest ones to bring to the Lord.
Verse 16-22
16 “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.’ 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 anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
-Blind guides, religious leaders were spiritually blind. Which will lead to the same outcome.
-Christ is not placing a seal of approval on oaths. We should not swear by God.
They were making God part of there evil ways.
-Matthew 5:34-37
34 But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.
Leviticus 19:12 – 12 “ ‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
Verse 23-24
23 “Woe to you, Scribes 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. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
– Give time and effort to things that matter. – This is Self righteousness to the max.
Verse 25-26
25 “Woe to you, Scribes 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.
– Thoughts
- – Our hearts need to be pure.
- – You can’t just believe with your mind you have to believe with your heart.Verse 27-28
27 “Woe to you, Scribes 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. 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.Once a year the Jews would clean the tombs. So they would not be unclean.
-Numbers 19:16-17
“Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them.
They seem to be obsessed with outward appearance. Is this you?
Verse 29-36
29 “Woe to you, Scribes 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 ancestors, 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 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 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. 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 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
-They say they would not have killed the prophets yet they plan to murder living Saints and even Christ.
-When we see someone or hear of something that someone did, and mock them, are we doing the same thing or would do the same thing in our own life? We all have the same sinful nature. Verse 33- if we live this way, we are destined for hell. John 8:44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Verse 37-39
37 “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. 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.’
Jesus weeps over Jerusalem, Jesus made every effort to bring Israel back to their senses. The Temple or Jerusalem was without God. And they will not see him until his Second Coming.