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.
Meditate on the phrase “witnesses against yourselves”.
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 our works say more about who we are than what we say about who we are and what we believe (Matt. 7.20).
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—though 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 that question, “How shall you escape the condemnation of hell?”
All who oppose the Word of God are children of the 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.”
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Because the scribes and Pharisees were talking lots, but their lives were not matching their talk,
Jesus called them “Sons of murderers, serpents, and a brood of vipers”! (Matt. 23.31, 33)
I know that was a different day and time; but somehow the nomenclature still resonates today.
We are not missing the point of how Jesus regarded their rampant hypocrisy.
Suffice it to say, He was not fond of that behavior then; nor is He a fan today.
Nobody escapes His sight (Heb. 4.13).
But also, nobody escapes His sight.
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints” (Ps. 116.15).
In His rant against hypocrisy, Jesus took the time to name two men who were killed for their faith—
righteous Abel, killed by his brother Cain, and Zechariah son of Berechiah, who was murdered by those in the temple (Matt. 23.35).
The murder of the saints has always been thus, and will continue to be so.
“Whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Lk. 9.24).
I wonder if when Jesus mentioned Zechariah,
the scribes and Pharisees recalled words written by him?
“For thus says the LORD of hosts:
‘Just as I determined to punish you
when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the LORD of hosts,
‘And I would not relent, so again in these days I AM determined
to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah.
Do not fear.
These are the things you shall do:
Speak each man the truth to his neighbor;
give judgment in your gates for truth, justice, and peace;
let none of you think evil in your heart against your neighbor;
and do not love a false oath.
For all these are things that I hate,’ says the LORD” (Zech. 8.14-17).
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey…
He shall speak peace to the nations;
His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth’” (Zech. 9.9, 10; Ps. 72.8).
Hard for them to miss the prophecy, and the fulfillment by Jesus
as part of this scenario had just been played out (Matt. 21.4-11).
But ignore it, they did. So, go on, “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt” (Matt. 23.32).
They strove, it seems, to fulfill the role of hypocrite.
To demonstrate completely the antithesis of good behavior.
In this they were a success—witnesses against themselves (Matt. 23.31).
These we will not follow. But we will follow Christ.
Content in the knowledge that “The eyes of the LORD are in every place,
keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Prov. 15.3). Jesus remembers what He sees.
Reflect.
1. The lives of the scribes and Pharisees witnessed against them. Of what will your life bear witness to the people you see today?
2. Is it helpful to know that our Lord always has His eyes on us—each of us, always? Explain.
3. Whom will you encourage today in their walk with and work for the Lord?
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
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.
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. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: Our Read Moore podcast begins a new series of readings about St. Patrick from our book, Patrick: A Devotional History. Our Crosfigell teaching letter is pursuing a series on the spiritual poetry of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column, begins a new study of “Everyday Christianity” on Wednesday. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
