When You Read This Chapter

1

Fordoche

07/20/03

AUTHOR: DR. JERRY VINES

"Unmasking The Hypocrite”

Matthew chapter 23:1-39

When you read this chapter,

it has to be the most stunning chapter

in all of the New Testament.

Jesus came to this world

with a message of God’s love

and yet when you read these verses

and the things that Jesus said

and by the way,

almost all of these verses

are the direct quotations (in RED)

from the Lord Jesus himself

you see an unexpected side of our Lord !

Folks, I want you to know that

Jesus was no sissy,

Jesus came with love in His heart,

but Jesus also came with courage

and He came with conviction.

Now picture this whole scene.

You will notice in the first verse that it says

Jesus is speaking to

the multitude

and to His disciples,

There are at least 3 groups

that are involved in this chapter:

There are the disciples of the Lord Jesus

who are gathered around Him,

There is the larger crowd

that has gathered around Him,

And with-in that crowd

stood the scribes and the Pharisees.

We can almost imagine the reaction

of the scribes and the Pharisees

to the Lord

as He uses words like:

hypocrites,

blind guides,

fools,

serpents, offspring of vipers.

And eight times in this chapter He will say,

Woe unto you, scribes and hypocrites.

It is not the kind of language

that you would expect the Lord Jesus to use.

By the way,

this language

seals His own death warrant.

Well what is Jesus doing?

And why is there such stern, severe language

on the part of Jesus in this passage?

Jesus is unmasking the hypocrite.

The word "hypocrite" itself

really means to play a part

and it was used to describe play actors.

He was talking about the religious pretender,

the person who plays a part,

who pretends to be what he is really not.

He is one thing on the outside,

he is another thing on the inside.

So in these verses,

what Jesus does is just take away the mask

of the religious play actor

and He shows people

the Pharisees and the scribes,

the hypocrites,

for what they are.

Now that's what Jesus always did.

Jesus always confronted religious hypocrisy.

He always confronted false religion

and He shows what it is

and how it operates.

The thing about the Lord Jesus

is that He always demands reality.

The way the young people would put it today is:

Get Real.

That's what Jesus is basically saying in this chapter.

For instance,

Jesus will point out that they have no reality.

Look at verse 2:

2. Jesus said,

The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:

3. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do;

but do not ye after their works:

for they say, and do not.

Now when Jesus said that they sit in Moses' seat

it just simply means

obey the Law of Moses

not those that preach it;

and, don’t live it.

Folks, I am here to tell you this morning

that the Word of God is final authority,

and when men agree with the Bible they're right,

when men disagree with the Bible they are wrong.

In other words,

they taught what the Bible had to say

but in reality

they didn't practice what they preached,

they didn't do what they said others ought to do.

That's always what hypocrisy is.

Hypocrisy is an act,

it teaches what the Bible teaches

but it doesn't practice what the Bible practices.

None of us measure up to what the Bible teaches,

but there must always be reality,

So Jesus Christ says about the religious hypocrite,

there is no reality in there.

But then I want you to notice not only no reality

but Jesus Christ points out here

that there is no sincerity in them.

Look at verse 4, He said,

4. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to be borne,

and lay them on men's shoulders;

but they themselves

will not move them with one of their fingers.

Now Jesus is saying that

the religious leaders

loaded people down

with heavy burdens of religious legalism.

In other words they made religion a drudgery.

They had all kinds of laws and regulations.

Those religious hypocrites

were always ready to jump up and say,

You can't do that, you broke a law.

You can always tell if religion is real

and whether it is consistent with the Lord

by asking:

does your profession,

your religion,

your experience with God,

Does it bring joy or depression?

Does it lift you up or does it drag you down?

When Christ comes

He brings a feast into your life

not a funeral.

Christ came to lift burdens.

You see, Jesus said:Come unto me,

all ye that are weak and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me,

for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Folks, burdens are lifted at Calvary.

Christ did not come to put heavy burdens upon men,

He came to lift burdens

But, you see, hypocrisy is just the opposite,

there is no sincerity in it.

Then # 3, there's no humility in it.

Now Jesus is just painting their picture.

You can imagine the stunned expressions

on the faces of these Pharisees

Look at what He says in verses 5-12. He said,

5. But all their works they do for to be seen of men:

they make broad their [phylacteries],

and enlarge the borders of their garments,

6. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts,

and the chief seats in the synagogues,

7. And greetings in the markets,

and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

8. But be not you called Rabbi:

for one is your Master, even Christ;

and all ye are brethren.

9. And call no man your father upon the earth:

for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

10. Neither be you called masters:

for one is your Master, even Christ.

11. But he that is greatest among

you shall be your servant.

12. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased;

and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

You see, they didn't have any humility.

Success to them was recognition and praise by men.

Do you see that word in verse 5? a phy lac tery.

Now a phy lac tery was a small leather box,

and it had leather straps on it

and it was to be worn on the forehead

or it was to be worn on the left forearm,

and they had specific requirements

about how it was to be wrapped around the head

and how many times the straps

were to be wrapped around the arm.

It's purpose originally was a very good purpose,

it was to remind them of the importance

of being guided daily in the Word of God

in your thinking and in your behavior.

But, you see, the religious Pharisee, the hypocrite,

had enlarged upon it,

and so they had these huge phy lact eries on.

that called attention to themselves.

You see, they wanted to be seen of men,

they were religious show-offs.

And then notice what He says also in verse 5.

He says, you enlarge the borders of your garments.

Now the word "border"

would better be translated, tassels,

Well, in the Old Testament

God told them to wear those tassels

because it was to remind them

to obey the Word of God.

But, the religious hypocrites had gone overboard

and they enlarged the borders of their garments.

They were doing it in order to be seen of men.

Religious show.

Religious play-acting.

And that's not all.

they also put on a show

in wanting attention in public places.

When they went to a feast

they wanted to be sitting in the main room

where the big-shots were.

They wanted to be where people could see them,

they wanted to be prominent.

And then it says in verse 7

they like to have the greetings in the market places.

Rabbi, which means Master.

They wanted to be called, Rabbis,

They wanted to be called, Masters,

they wanted to be looked up to.

Oh, they were big time !

Can you imagine how stunned they were

as Jesus Christ starts exposing them ?

And Jesus said

don't call anybody on this earth your father.

You see that in verse 9?

Now He is not talking about your biological father

because the Bible teaches us

to refer to our biological father as our father.

He is talking in spiritual matters.

You see, a father is: one who gives life.

Your biological father has given you biological life.

There is only one who can give you spiritual life

and that is your heavenly Father,

and so no earthly man, in religious matters,

is to be called father.

Jesus, in verses 11 and 12, says:

Greatness in the eyes of the Lord

is to be a great servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now get the picture.

There His disciples are,

they've never heard Him talk quite like this.

There stands the crowd,

they had probably been thinking these things

but this was the first time

they'd ever heard anybody put it into words.

Jesus Christ

is absolutely pulling the camouflage off

of these religious hypocrites

and all of their piety

and all of their religious sham and show,

and so His words of explanation

have exposed them.

But then I want you to notice

His words of condemnation.

Eight times in verses 13-36,

Jesus uses the word "woe"

Woe. And it's a strong word,

it's a word of judgment,

it means judgment is ahead.

it's a word of grief.

Now don't get the idea that Jesus is angry,

don't think that Jesus has lost His temper

and that He's just exploding

and He's blown upabout the matter.

You see, there's agony in His heart.

It's a word of sorrow.

As He speaks these words of condemnation exposing the hypocrites

He does so with a broken heart.

God hates sin

but He loves the sinner.

Look at verse 13:

13. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

That's a terrible statement

Jesus is saying,

You're not going to heaven yourself,

and you're hindering other people from going.

Are you helping people

or hurting people get to heaven?

Is your life a help or a hindrance to lost people.

I think about some parents

and the impact of their life upon their children.

Woe unto that parent today

whose life would lead his child toward hell

instead of toward heaven.

Are you a spiritual door opener

or a spiritual door closer?

It's a serious thing to stand in the way of somebody

who needs to get to heaven.

And then He says,

14. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you devour your widows' houses, and for a pretense made long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.

What He was saying is

you will go to a poor widow's house

and you will kick her out of her house,

and then you'll come to church

and you'll pray a long prayer to impress men.

You are inconsistent.

Look at verse 15,

15. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

"proselyte" literally means to come over.

A proselyte is a person who has come over,

Look at verse 16,

16. Woe unto you, you blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing;

They misuse oaths.

You see, in those days if a man made an oath

it was a binding matter,

he had to do what he had committed himself to do.

But they made fine distinctions in their oaths.

For instance, if they made an oath by the temple

they could break that one,

but if they made an oath by the gold of the temple

that was more important.

You see how their sense of values

has gotten out of whack?

So Jesus exposes that in verses 16-22.

Then look at verse 23, here's another woe,

this is the fifth one:

23. He talks about Tithing, even garden vegetables,

yet not bothering with judgment, mercy, and faith:

Now you know what the tithe is;

a tithe is one- tenth of your income.

We teach tithing here.

And we teach that

one of the first things a person needs to do

when he comes to the Lord, when he's saved,

is to begin to return unto God

one-tenth of his income.

But, the Pharisees had gone overboard with it.

if ten leaves came up on one of those vegetables

they would pluck one of those leaves

and they'd carry it to the synagogue

and they'd give the tenth of it.

But the problem was

that they had gone to all kinds of extremes

to do something about tithing

but they had omitted, the weightier matters:

judgment, mercy, faith.

Now 24th verse. He said,

24. You blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

STORY:

Now in those days

the Pharisees were so meticulous

they would put gauze over their cups

and would drink their beverage,

through that gauze,

lest they get a little gnat.

Now what Jesus is saying is

ou've lost your sense of proportion.

You see, hypocrisy gets things out of focus.

Religious play-acting

causes people to major on minors

and minor on majors.

STORY: Could I illustrate?

In the early years of ministry

the ladies didn't wear makeup.

I mean that was a big deal,

you just weren't supposed to wear makeup.

I have never been against ladies wearing makeup.

I have always felt that even a barn door

looks better with a little paint on it.

back in those days

you had an amen corner on one side

and the women sat on the other side.

and there they were, all the sanctified sisters. . .

sure enough, no makeup.

But, they had a big dip of snuff in their mouth.

I mean that's the way it was.

Now, fellers, I don't know about you

but I had a whole lot rather kiss my wife

with a little lipstick on

than a dip of snuff in her mouth.

How about you?

Now, that's what you call:

straining at a gnat

and swallowing a camel.

That's what hypocritical religion will do for you,

legalistic religion.

Verse 25,

He talks about the difference between

outward religion and inward religion

I mean there's the wife at home

and she's washed the dishes,

you get a cup for your morning coffee

oh, that cup looks on the outside

but you look inside and see 3 wks of coffee grounds

And He says, in verse 26:

you blind hypocrite, ,

cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter,

that the outside of them may be clean also.

Verse 27,

Around Passover time they'd whitewash the tombstones so people on the way to the Passover wouldn’t step on one and be unclean ceremonially and couldn't observe the Passover.

He said, some of you folks

are just like those whitewashed tombstones;

you look good on the outside

but you're just as rotten as dead men's bones

on the inside.

Whew!

That's the meek and gentle Jesus talking, folks.

Verse 28, verse 29,

He says you build the tombs of the prophets,

you decorate their sepulchres,

Verse 30, If I had been back in those days

I wouldn't have treated the men of God that way.

And verse 31 says you're just like them,

you're the children of those that killed the prophets.

Verse 33,

You serpents, you generation of vipers,

how can you escape the damnation of hell?

And the answer to that is,

in that situation there's no way you can escape it.

Verse 34 He goes on and He talks about the fact that other prophets, the New Testament men,

are going to come, you're going to kill them.

Verse 35, He says all the righteous blood

from Abel in the book of Genesis

to Zacharias in 2 Chronicles,

all of that judgment is going to come down on you.

Verse 36, all these things

will come upon this generation.

Jesus has pronounced

the woe of condemnation on them.

Now here's my last part.

He gives the a word of lamentation.

I can see the tears streaming down the face of Jesus

37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, like a hen gets her little chickens.