Matthew 23
COMMENTARY:
: 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. (5083 “observe” [tereo] means keep, reserve, watch, to attend to carefully, take care of, guard, obey, pay attention to, or protect.)
DEVOTION: Jesus doesn’t put any punches when HE talks about those who are religious fakes. They have the right vocabulary to sound like people who care about serving the LORD but their actions say something different. Jesus warns the people to watch out for those who are religious hypocrites.
What is a religious hypocrite? It is someone who claims to be a follower of God but his lifestyle says something different. He says one thing but on a regular basis does something different. Remember that ALL Christians are still sinners. They fail to act properly at times but it is not a regular daily or weekly activity. People can tell the difference between those who are trying to serve the LORD and those who are putting on an act.
There are however some people who won’t give anyone the benefit of doubt regarding their actions. If they see someone do something they don’t consider Christian they will call them on it and never forget their action. They will use it every time someone tries to witness to them about the LORD. They think their excuse for not becoming a follower of Christ will hold up when they meet the LORD in judgment. It will not hold up.
The example everyone is supposed to look at is Jesus Christ. All others will fall short. Jesus does say that we are to try to be consistent in our life of following the LORD. The only way we can be consistent is with the help of the Holy Spirit. The only way the Holy Spirit can help us is with us being willing to listen to HIM.
When does HE talk with us? HE talks through our prayer life and the Word of God. If we are not daily taking time to spend time with HIM, we will not hear HIM.
CHALLENGE: Observe the actions of the LORD and listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit and you can be consistent in your Christian life.
: 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. (5440 “phylacteries” [phulakterion] means a small leather case or box worn on forehead and forearms containing Scripture, prayer-band, or amulet.)
DEVOTION: Appearance is everything to some people. These religious leaders wanted people to know just how spiritual they were in the eyes of the LORD. They were wearing extra large prayer boxes on their arms. These were prayer boxes to show they were great prayer warriors. Also they were wearing robes that showed that they true religious leaders who didn’t just put tassels on their robes.
These individuals expected other religious people to admire them for their appearance. The LORD continually warned the people to not be fooled by outward appearances. The LORD looks at the heart.
We need to understand that our outer appearance is important but not as important as our inner appearance. We need to strengthen the inner person by practicing what the LORD is teaching us through HIS Word and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our life.
We also need to not worry that we don’t look like other believers but like ourselves when we dress to honor the LORD. HE is the one we need to please not the people that are around us.
CHALLENGE: Pharisees were and are people pleasers. Don’t be a Pharisee today!
: 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater damnation. (4392 “pretense” [prophasis] means show, alleged reason, pretended cause, false motive, excuse, allegation, or excuse.)
DEVOTION: Remember that the scribes were the ones who wrote copies of the Old Testament and interpreted the Scriptures for the people. Pharisees were religious leaders who made up a ruling board called the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin had Pharisees and Sadducees. Pharisees were the ones who were the legalistic ones of the group. They had made up more rules than anyone could follow even Jesus.
Jesus considered both the scribes and Pharisees to be hypocrites because they were promoting a false religion rather than the true teachings of the Bible.
One of the ways they tried to impress people was to say long prayers in public but the LORD say that their prayers were a pretense to what a true prayer should be. They were saying things that would please the people hearing the prayers rather than reaching the LORD in heaven. Their prayers were truly only hitting the ceiling. They never made it to heaven because they were not even meant to go to heaven.
They also were taking money away from widows rather than helping them as the Word of God said was supposed to happen. We are to be ones who support those who are widows indeed. These are women who have lost their husbands and have no children or grandchildren to help support them in old age.
Their actions caused Christ to state that they would have a greater judgment than most people who were not true followers of the LORD. HE seems to be staying that there are degrees of punishment in hell for eternity. We will not fully understand what that means until after it happens.
Jesus doesn’t want hypocrites in HIS church. HE knows that the church is full of sinners but they shouldn’t fake that they are overly righteous when they are not. Our LORD wants us to be honest Christians who admit that we are struggling. HE will honor us for our honesty. No believer has arrived at perfection. Only a hypocrite would think those thoughts.
CHALLENGE: We are all pressing toward the mark of the high calling of Christ Jesus.
: 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. (5272 “hypocrisy” [hupokrisis] means an answer, the acting of a stage player, condemnation or dissimulation.)
DEVOTION: Most of us understand the idea of someone acting on a stage. The stage for the Pharisees was life. They were people who said one thing and did another. We all know people like that. Sometimes parents tell their children not to do something and they do it in front of them. Like telling them to not smoke or drink or do drugs.
The Pharisees were the religious leaders and they gave them a poor example to follow. They liked long prayers in public, so that, people would think that they were spiritual. They liked to look religious with all their long robes and things. They liked to be seen of men to be righteous. They liked to convert others to follow their example which made them twofold MORE the children of hell. They were leading people to hell and not to heaven. They were legalistic. They looked good on the outside but inside they were full of deadly poison. They even bragged that they would have been better followers of the LORD if they had lived in a previous generation. However, the LORD told them that they would kill HIM and others who were trying to follow the LORD.
Jesus was in HIS final week of life. HE would have liked the people of Jerusalem to follow HIS example. HE would have liked for them to believe HIS message. The sad truth was that they would NOT!!! They had their religion. They made their own rules. They looked good on the outside. People looked up to them and called them Rabbi or teacher. They didn’t want to change to be true believers.
Today we still have people acting on the stage in churches. They look good on the outside but inside they are not humble but proud of their positions in the church.
Today it might mean wearing a cross in public to look religious but not acting like it. Outward appearances meant everything to them. Christ tried to teach the disciples and all those who would listen that the inside is more important than the outside. The outside had to look good because the inside was full of the right motive.
The right motive was to give GLORY to God. If we are going to live a proper Christian life it has to begin on the inside. Are our motives, right? If our motives are right and our outward actions show good works then, we are bringing GLORY to God. We shouldn’t follow the example of the Pharisees and scribes. They are on their way to the lake of fire for eternity.
Many people use the fakers in the church as a reason they are not followers of the LORD. That excuse will not hold up when they stand before the LORD at the Great White Throne. They will be cast into the lake of fire with all the rest of those who are not true followers of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: If someone says that they don’t come to church because they don’t want to be with all those who are fakers – tell them that they can set an example for those fakers by becoming a true believer in the LORD. I have to make this comment regularly.
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