Matthew 23: Warnings and Woes (5)

Pray Psalm 58.1, 2.
Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.

Sing Psalm 58.1, 2.
(Arlington: This is the Day the Lord Has Made)
Do you indeed speak righteousness, you rulers of the earth?
And do you judge the sons of men according to their worth?

No, not at all, but in their hearts they seek unrighteous ways;
Their hands weigh out upon the earth cruel violence all their days.

Read Matthew 23.1-36; Meditate on verses 31-36.

Prepare.
1. What did the religious leaders “witness” about themselves?

2. What did Jesus call on them to do?

Meditate.
Jesus had taught His followers that they would be able to tell the true convictions and beliefs of people by what came out in their lives (Matt. 7.20). Our works say more about who we are than what we say about who we are and what we believe.

In the case of the religious leaders of His day, Jesus said they were the heirs and offspring of those who had “murdered the prophets” (v. 31). He knew where their hostility would lead, so He called on them to show their true selves and “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt” (v. 32). He called on them to do to Him what He had already prophesied in the parable of the vineyard (Matt. 21.33-39).

I wonder how they felt, knowing that Jesus knew what was in store for Him – what they were planning – and yet He faced them unruffled and unflinching. Were they, indeed, condemning themselves to hell, as He insisted (v. 33)? Count on it, at least as long as they held on to their rebellion. Many of those whom Jesus confronted during this last week of His life would ultimately repent and believe in Him (cf. Acts 6.1-6). For now, His angry, penetrating words must have set at least some of them wondering about the question, “How shall you escape the condemnation of hell?”

All who oppose the Word of God are children of the great serpent (vv. 33-35). They show by their works, by their outward opposition to the Gospel, that they are the offspring of Satan, the father of lies (Jn. 8.44). Their works bear witness to the hatred of God in their hearts; and all that Jesus had declared concerning them – including being cast into hell – would certainly come to pass (v. 36).

As a quaint saying has it, “Your talk talks, and your walk talks; but your walk talks more than your talk talks.” To what do the works of your life bear witness?

Reflect.
1. Why did Jesus seem to emphasize outward works so much?

2. What do you want your works to witness about you?

3. How can Christians encourage one another to live as witnesses for Christ?

Just as not all who call upon the Lord are of the Lord but only those who do his will, neither does everyone who extols the apostles, prophets and martyrs thereby venerate them, but only those who imitate their works and hold their faith. Anonymous, Incomplete Work on Matthew, Homily 45

Let my walk and talk complement each other today, O Lord, so that I…

Pray Psalm 58.3-11.
Pray for those who are enemies of the Lord, that God will open their hearts to His truth, deliver them from their sins, and join them with us in Jesus.

Sing Psalm 58.3-11.
Psalm 58.3-11 (Arlington: This is the Day the Lord Has Made)
The wicked from the womb rebel; from birth they utter lies.
Their tongues of serpent’s venom tell; all truth their ears despise.

Break, shatter, and destroy them, Lord; dissolve them from the day.
Consume them by Your mighty Word; and sweep them all away.

The righteous will rejoice to see the vengeance of the Lord.
All men will say, “Then God must be, the righteous to reward.”

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).