Matthew 23

Matthew 23:1

We now come to the last public sermon of Jesus Christ, given only days before His death. I would have thought this last message would have been one of salvation and invitation. On the contrary, it was a message of condemnation and denunciation against the religious hierarchy of the day. Calling the Pharisees blind guides, fools, and whitewashed tombs, Jesus didn’t hold back but spoke pointedly and powerfully concerning their hypocrisy. The apostle Paul wrote that it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance (Rom_2:4). In other words, God’s love and grace are a greater motivation to salvation than hellfire and damnation. But Paul went on to say that some will be saved by fire (1Co_3:15). That is, those who will not respond to God’s grace and goodness need to hear a strong message of judgment. That is why, after spending three years preaching the grace and goodness of His Father, Jesus gave this final word of judgment. So, too, as you share the gospel with people, I encourage you to approach them first on the basis of God’s goodness and grace. But if they continually harden their hearts, it may be that they need to feel the heat of His judgment. Newer translations properly render this verse: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’ seat.” In other words, the scribes and Pharisees had seized the position of authority, even though they were not called by God to do so. The first sign of false spiritual leadership is that it lacks God-given authority.

Matthew 23:3

Second, false spiritual leaders lack integrity. Although they may teach others to do right, they themselves only talk about it.

Matthew 23:4

Third, false spiritual leaders lack sympathy. They bind heavy, legalistic burdens on others but won’t lift a finger to help anyone bear them.

Matthew 23:5

Finally, false spiritual leaders lack humility. When the Pharisees went into the synagogue, they sat on the platform in large chairs in order to be seen by all. As time went on, they made phylacteries so big that some could hardly stand straight under the weight. They obeyed the command in Numbers 15 to place blue cloth on the hem of their robes as a reminder of their heavenly calling. But as their pride increased, so did the size of their blue borders.

Matthew 23:8

Jesus says the true spiritual leader does two things: He avoids elevated titles and he accepts lowly tasks. Jesus avoided the titles and honors that people wanted to heap upon Him in His early ministry, choosing instead to humble Himself, to eat with sinners, to wash feet, and to touch lepers. Jesus is the ultimate spiritual Leader. Following His description of a true spiritual leader, Jesus did something I find intriguing. He ended His last sermon pronouncing eight woes. Bible students, think back. How did Jesus begin His public ministry? By pronouncing eight blessings in the form of the Beatitudes. Watch and see how the eight woes at the end of His preaching ministry correlate perfectly with the eight blessings given at the beginning of His ministry.

Matthew 23:13

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Mat_5:3 Although the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit, the Pharisees were proud in spirit. “I thank You, God, that I am not as other men,” they prayed (see Luk_18:11). Their pride, Jesus said, would not only keep them from entering the kingdom, but would prevent others as well.

Matthew 23:14

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.Mat_5:4 Jesus promised that the mourners will be comforted. The Pharisees, however, manipulated those who mourned. You see, when a man died, the Pharisees would show up on his doorstep telling his widow that if she wanted to honor her husband’s memory, she would make a donation to their ministry. Watch out for that, precious people. In this day when there’s an abundance of fund-raising, be on guard against those who seek to manipulate rather than to comfort.

Matthew 23:15

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.Mat_5:5 The meek were to inherit the earth. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were trying to convert the earth to their legalistic, hypocritical, religious system. The tragedy is that when a legalist lays his trip on someone else, the convert or proselyte becomes more zealous than the teacher and the end result is damnation.

Matthew 23:16

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.Mat_5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousnessfor integrity, truth, and simplicity. The Pharisees weren’t hungering for righteousness. They were playing games with semantics and vocabulary. In Jesus’ day, if one took an oath saying, “I swear by the temple,” he could be lying through his teeth, and that would be acceptable. It was only when he said “I swear by the gold in the temple,” that he was obligated to tell the truth. Thus, righteousness became a game.

Matthew 23:23

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.Mat_5:7 According to Leviticus 11, the largest unclean animal was a camel. The smallest was a gnat. Jesus said the Pharisees picked gnats out of their soup but missed the big camel swimming around. They had all the little details downeven tithing their spice seedsbut missed the big picture of love, faith, mercy and righteousness.

Matthew 23:25

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.Mat_5:8 The purity of the true believer enables him to see God. The hypocrisy of the Pharisee blinds him to the things of God.

Matthew 23:27

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.Mat_5:9 At the same time the Pharisees claimed to be men of peace, they were secretly plotting the murder of the Prince of Peace.

Matthew 23:29

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness; sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Mat_5:10 Jesus said, “Blessed are the persecuted and woe to the persecutors.” “If they had been alive in our day, we wouldn’t have killed the prophets,” boasted the Pharisees. But their claim was invalidated by the fact that at that very moment they sought to execute the One of whom the prophets spoke. From Abel to Zechariahfrom A to Zthey killed the prophets.

Matthew 23:36

What will come upon them? The blood, the death, the scourging, the tribulation, the persecution that had befallen the prophets throughout history. “His blood be upon our heads and our sons’ heads,” the Jews cried a few days later when they demanded the crucifixion of Jesus (see Mat_27:25). And His blood would indeed be on their heads, for less than forty years after this, the Romans annihilated Jerusalem and slit the throats of ten thousand Jews living in Damascus.

Matthew 23:37

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…” Every time Jesus used a name twice, it was because His heart was breaking… And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.Luk_22:31-32 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.Luk_10:41-42 Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?Act_9:4 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I wanted to gather you under My wings like a mother hen, to shield you from the heat, but you wouldn’t let Me.”

Matthew 23:39

I love the way Jesus ends this sermon. What were the people crying when He first rode into Jerusalem on a donkey? “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Now Jesus refers back to that cry and says, “You’ll say it again, only next time you’ll say it with new understanding.” Notice He didn’t say, “Ye shall not see me henceforth unless ye say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” He said, “Ye shall not see me henceforth until ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” In other words, it’s going to happen. The time is coming when the Jews will acknowledge Jesus as Lord. There are three things of which the Bible says we are not to be ignorant: spiritual gifts (1Co_12:1), the Rapture (1Th_4:13), and the salvation of Israel (Rom_11:25-26). God is not finished with Israel, folks. The day is coming when Israel will say, “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.” When will that happen? In Luke 21, Jesus said Jerusalem would be trodden down until the Gentile age was complete. Jerusalem was trodden down by the Gentiles from the time Rome destroyed the city in A.D. 70 until the return of Jewish control after the seven-day war. Thus, 1967 signaled the end of the Gentile age. “Well,” you say, “if the Gentile age ended in 1967, why haven’t we been raptured yet?” According to Romans 11 and Luke 21, we’re in overtime, the fifth quarter. Scripture says the Lord is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish (2Pe_3:9). Think of it this way: How many of you have been saved since June 1967? Aren’t you glad we were given a “grace period”? The time is at hand. Jesus will come and establish His throne in Jerusalem. Until then, His desire for us is the same as for the nation Israel. “Let Me gather you under My wings today,” He says. “Come back to where you once were. Put away your worldly priorities, your backsliding, and your legalism. Time is short. It won’t matter eternally how much money you saved, where you went to college, or how your career developed. What will matter is whether or not you were radical for Me, whether or not you lived to worship Me, whether or not you loved Me.”