“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build
the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying,
‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with
them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against
yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then,
the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to
escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and
scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your
synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the
righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of
Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the
altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
(Matthew 23:29-36)
This final “woe” is so serious that it rings out as a gracious warning to this day.
First, it is a
warning to people like these scribes and Pharisees who are utter hypocrites in
pretending to be good and righteous church-goers who actually persecute and
kill the messengers of God.
Second, it is a
declaration of the kind of judgment that is to come on all who stand against
the Lord Jesus Christ in any kind of self-serving defiance whatsoever.
And, third, it is a
rebuke to the Brad Jersaks of the world who are peddling distorted teachings
about God, Jesus, Salvation and the Bible claiming that none of them are “Christlike”
enough! Jesus is not only as Christlike as we will ever find (since he is the
Christ!), but anyone who claims otherwise is given due warning about what it is
like to incur his judgment.
In all seven of
these woes, the message is that God hates hypocrisy. That does not mean that he
approves of sinners being sinful for real. It means that he does not tolerate
people professing to be his while being of the world, the flesh, and the devil
in the realness of their hearts.
It also really
stands out that Jesus is declaring himself to know hearts. David told Solomon, “the
LORD (Yahweh) searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought” (I
Chronicles 28:9). Solomon included in his prayer of dedication for the temple, “for
you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind” (I Kings 8:39). Matthew
spoke of Jesus “knowing their thoughts” (Matthew 9:4), Luke concurred, “But Jesus,
knowing the reasoning of their hearts” (Luke 9:47), and Jesus glorified his
Father with “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows
your hearts” and then adds his judgment, “For what is exalted among men is an
abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).
Jesus knows OUR
hearts. Yes, yours and mine. He is not calling us to have an inherent
perfection of heart matched by untarnished behavior. He is calling us to humble
ourselves before him in our hearts, repenting of our sins, hungering and
thirsting for righteousness, and fully entrusting ourselves to the finished
work of Jesus Christ our Lord to “save to the uttermost those who draw near to
God through him” (Hebrews 7:25).
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
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