The
first 3 woes
Scripture:
“Woe to you, teachers of
the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the
kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you
let those enter who are trying to. “Woe to you, teachers of
the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a
single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make
them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
“Woe to you, blind
guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing;
but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is
greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone
swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the
altar is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the
gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore,
anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And
anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by
heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
Matthew 23:13-22
Observation:
Woe after woe fires away at the Pharisees
and teachers of the law! They are charged first and foremost as being
hypocrites, people who do not practice what they preach, who say one thing and
then do the exact opposite. Every Christian had best beware of the charge of
hypocrisy, a common accusation leveled against us by unbelievers. The first woe
depicts the Pharisees refusing to enter the door to the kingdom of heaven, but
instead shutting the door in people’s faces, preventing those who are trying to
go in from doing so. It is bad enough not being able to enter Heaven. How much
worse for those who prevent others from going in….
The second woe speaks of the futile efforts
of the Pharisees, who travel over land and sea to win a single convert, yet
only end up in making another Pharisee even worse than themselves. The Lord
calls them “sons of hell?, strong words indeed for the Pharisees and Teachers
but it is to hell that they are headed and they did not even know it. Do we influence others for better or worse?
The third woe condemns the Pharisees for
making gold more important than the temple. They created the ridiculous law
that if anyone swears by the temple, it amounts to nothing while if a person
swears by the gold of the temple, they are bound. As the Lord pointed out, it
is the temple that makes the gold sacred. Likewise, they made swearing by the
gift of the altar binding while swearing by the altar not binding. Again, it is
so clear that it is the altar that makes the gift sacred. Man-made laws such as
these only served to expose the heart of the lawmakers who valued money and
gifts more than God’s temple or God Himself. Where are our priorities? Is money
or possessions more important to us than God?
Application:
Beware of hypocrisy. In humility, ask God to
show us where we may have acted in a hypocritical manner, and ask Him to help
change us. Praise God that in Jesus, we have found the way to the kingdom of Heaven
Would others consider us “sons of hell” or
“sons of god”? We need to be careful to control our anger, to let our light
shine before men that they may praise our Father in Heaven.
The Pharisees allowed greed and materiality
to cloud their minds so that they thought the gold was more important than the
temple and that the gift was more important than the altar. God is always
first. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. All the gold and all the wealth
in the world belongs to Him. Ultimately, it is God that matters most and we
need to remember that.
Prayer:
We praise You and thank You, Lord, for Your
great love and mercy. Forgive us we pray O Lord, for the times when we have
been hypocritical and careless in our conduct or quick to lose our temper. Help
us O Lord, live in a way worthy of You. Help us to learn to let our light shine
before men that we may glorify You. Lead us away from temptation we pray, from
the greed and materiality that drives the world. Help us remember that You O
Lord provide all our needs and we need only look to You. We praise You and love
You, Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.
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