When faced with a choice of being exiled or executed for his supposed “crimes,” Socrates actually chose death, saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Obviously Socrates meant much more in that specific setting than we get from the quote on its surface, but the quote itself, even on its surface, out of context, is powerful, isn’t it? It’s a good reminder to us that it’s unhealthy at best and life-threatening at worst to simply live your life without pausing to examine how your life is being lived.

This time of year actually lends itself to that reality. After examining a lack of exercise and healthy eating in their lives, a number will make resolutions to eat better and exercise more. Others will decide to decaffeinate (God, help them!). And still others will decide to start spending money differently. Regardless of the result, each of these actions will have in common that they begin with an individual pausing long enough to examine his or her life and see how it is being lived.

Such examination doesn’t belong to the unbelieving world alone, however, or at least it shouldn’t. We, as believers, should make sure to pause regularly and evaluate our own lives. We need to set aside regular times to be still and quiet long enough to examine our lives and see if we’re living in accord with the Scriptures. After all, Paul explicitly told the Corinthians, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor 13:5). But the temptation is simply to keep pushing forward as we are, isn’t it? The temptation is to fall into patterns of living (even if they are sinful or, at least, unhelpful at cultivating love for God and others) and simply keep on keeping on. And if that’s where you find yourself, then it’s good that we are set to look at Matthew 23 this morning because I think it gives us an opportunity to stop and examine our lives.

The reason this chapter helps us examine ourselves is not because it is a pointed text toward the reader that contains a lot of exhortations. In fact, it simply contains a monologue from Jesus toward the scribes and Pharisees, noting the condemnation. We’re simply able to eavesdrop on this conversation as we read it. However, sometimes it’s helpful to be a third part on the sideline in these situations. And the reason why is because chapters like this can serve in the same way as we’ve seen parables utilized by Jesus toward his opponents.

Remember how I noted a few weeks back that Christopher Ash described a parable as being like trying to find your way into a play when you suddenly walk into a doorway only to find that you’ve stepped out onto the stage. You intended to be a spectator, and now you’re on center stage.

I think this text can serve the same way. By outlining the many reasons the scribes and Pharisees stand condemned over these numerous verses, we can be spectators, thinking perhaps along the way, “Good grief, guys.” But then, after sucking us in and letting us pronounce our judgments, it’s only right to ask ourselves, “Are we mimicking their thoughts, behaviors, and actions?” That’s how I want us to approach this text this morning.

Before looking at application for ourselves, however, let’s just take some time to walk through the text. I want to outline the text for us and explain what Jesus’ arguments are, and then we’ll take some time to think through application along the way.

The text breaks down into three sections. In verses 1-12, you have Jesus talking to the crowds and his disciples about the scribes and Pharisees. In the second section, verses 13-36, you have a series of seven “woes” that are words of judgment against the scribes and Pharisees. And then finally, in verses 37-39, we see Jesus weeping over the city of Jerusalem which is facing divine judgment because of their rejection of the Messiah. So, with that outline, let’s look at the text.

In verses 1-12 we see that:

The scribes and Pharisees have simply sought their own honor and exaltation

This, I think, encapsulates what Jesus says about them to the crowds in these first twelve verses. Jesus says, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat” (v. 2). That is just a figurative way of saying that they’ve put themselves in the place of teaching and applying the law to the people that Moses gave them. However, Jesus notes that they are poor teachers of the law. He says, “So do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice” (v. 3). The fact that they do not practice the law is obvious in Jesus’ statement, but what might not be so obvious is that Jesus is condemning everything they do. That is, his note about obeying what they tell you is sarcastic, meant to set up the next part of the statement that they don’t do even the things they rightly claim should be done. They are bad, hypocritical teachers.

Moreover, Jesus notes in verse 4, though they burden people down with burdens about explicitly how the law can be obeyed, they not only fail to do it themselves, but they also fail to help the people, to aid them, and shepherd them in obeying the law. This isn’t the picture of good pastors, we might say, but merely a teacher who wants to stand at a distance from the people.

But, from verse 5 on, we see that their main issue is that they just want to be exalted. They’re chasing prestige. In accord with a literal understanding of Deuteronomy 6 and 11, people would wear a small leather box containing teaching from the law on their arms or foreheads. These were called phylacteries. The purpose, of course, was to remind them of the teaching of the law. Similarly, fringes, which were tassels worn on one’s garment in accord with Numbers 15:37-39, were also to remind one to obey the Lord’s commandments. The Pharisees, however, used these items merely to attempt to draw attention to their holiness, making their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, Jesus says (v. 5).

They also sought to be sat at places of honor in the synagogues and at feasts and having much attention brought to them. They were chasing status. They loved titles that exalted them above others like “rabbi,” “father,” or “instructor.” But Jesus makes clear that the only one who should be afforded the great honor they desire is God himself.

Consequently, Jesus ends by returning to a lesson we’ve seen already, noting in verses 11-12, “The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Clearly the Pharisees had not understood that the values of the kingdom are a complete reversal of the values of this world. Thus they sought their own honor and exaltation.

Now, yes, that is a harsh indictment and obviously embarrassing to these men. But two things in light of this harsh judgment from Jesus. First, it’s going to get worse. And, second, this was necessary because the scribes and Pharisees were public teachers leading people to hell, which Jesus is going to make clear in the next few verses. This harsh public judgment was Jesus’ way of identifying wolves that his sheep need to be aware of.

Brothers and sisters, we just need to be aware of this temptation in our own lives. The temptation to be exalted doesn’t exist merely in the unbelieving world, it can exist even among the broader Christian community. It can even exist among churches, if indeed we want our church to be exalted over another. Let’s not give in to that and simply seek to obey the Lord for the Lord’s sake, whatever that is. No, let’s do more than that. Let’s intentionally seek to be humble, resisting the urge to exalt ourselves and joyfully celebrating the grace of God we see in others and the kindness of God that he’s shown to others.

In the next section of seven woes, we see that:

The scribes and Pharisees have utterly rejected the Lord and his Word

That’s the best I can do with summing up all of these varied judgments Jesus gives in verses 13-36. You’ll see that there are seven of these indictments Jesus begins with, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,” which is his way of pronouncing judgment and condemnation on them. In order to walk through these somewhat quickly, I want to try to group some of them. Thus, in the first two, we see that:

1. They’re leading people to hell (vv. 13-15)

Jesus notes that they “shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces” so that neither they nor those who follow them and their teaching will go in. That is, not only are they rejecting Jesus as the Messiah (which will lead to their own condemnation and denial of the kingdom), but they’re teaching others to do the same. Jesus makes this clearer, noting that they cross sea and land to convert someone to be their follower, but when that person follows their teaching even more passionately than the scribes and Pharisees themselves, that only means that they’re “twice as much a child of hell” as the scribes and Pharisees themselves. And by saying “child of hell,” Jesus is both indicating that their nature is characterized by hell itself and that this is their destination in terms of judgment. The scribes and Pharisees, by their teaching, are literally encouraging people to go to hell.

2. They’ve misunderstood the intent of the Scriptures and, therefore, are misleading others (vv. 16-24)

Jesus notes two examples whereby they’ve misunderstood the intent of the Scriptures and have, therefore, misled others as well. The first, in verses 16-22, deals with making oaths. Individuals would make oaths saying things like, “I swear by the temple” or “I swear by the altar of the temple,” and then they’d break that oath, which obviously feels like a big deal. One might compare it to placing one’s hand on a Bible and swearing to tell the truth.

But the scribes and Pharisees had begun parsing out what phraseology would make an oath a real series deal that must not be broken, and other times when it would be less serious. Therefore, they concluded, for example, that if you swore by the temple and broke your world, that was okay, but if you swear by the gold of the temple, that was binding. Also, if you swear by the altar in the temple, that was not binding. After all, it was just a material object. But if you swear by the sacrifice on the altar, that was binding.

Jesus notes that this is foolish. The gold of the temple isn’t greater than the temple itself. Nor is the sacrifice greater than the altar upon which it is sacrificed. Jesus simply notes, if you swear by any of it, you’re making an oath. That is to say, the point is that we must speak truthfully and be trustworthy, not looking for ways to deceive others for our own gain.

Another area where they missed the intent of the Scriptures and misled others is illustrated in tithing. When they would go get their mint and dill and cumin, they were very careful if they took ten leaves to set one aside to be tithed, and they taught others to do the same. If they went and got ten specks of sand from the beach, they would have set one aside to be tithed. They were meticulous about it. That’s fine. Here’s the problem, Jesus says, they’re being this meticulous about tithing while ignoring obeying God’s laws about justice and mercy and faithfulness. It might be like someone who makes sure he gives a certain percentage of his check to the penny while committing adultery throughout the week.

You see, the whole point of giving of your income was to show the Lord had your heart, for where your treasure is, there is your heart. The scribes and Pharisees had missed this by focusing on one element of the Scriptures while completely ignoring others.

This may need to be a wakeup call for us as well. We’ve seen in the book of Revelation where the church of Ephesus had done well in rooting out unscriptural teaching but had lost their first love while the church of Thyatira had great works of love and faith and service but had tolerated one teaching sexual immorality was okay. What this shows us is that we’re completely capable of locking onto a section or teaching of Scripture that we like and obey easily while ignoring another that we’re guilty of disobeying.

This is one reason why we made it our aim to work through the whole canon of Scripture in our preaching and let the Scripture be our guide on what is taught each week. If I simply come up with what topic to teach or even simply what books of the Bible I want to preach, you’re going to likely get a lot of what I gravitate toward and find easier to do. But it’s been while preaching certain books that I’ve found myself thinking, “I don’t do that well” or “I don’t think that way.” And we all need that so that we can be conformed to God’s Word.

So, are you telling others to serve more in the community as an act of loving their neighbors while exposing yourself to sexual immorality on the television and computer? Are you trying to make sure others speak in edifying ways while being unloving in your own heart, not assuming the best of others? And we could go on and on couldn’t we? But the point is that we need to make sure we’re allowing ourselves to be exposed to the Scripture and seeking to conform our lives to all of it.

For this reason, maybe this year you want to grab one of our year-long Bible reading plans and just read through the whole of the Scripture. It’s okay that you’ll run into much you don’t understand. But there’ll be much that is straightforward, will convict you, and will allow you to make sure your life is better conformed to the Lord and his Word.

Now, continuing on with the scribes we Pharisees, we also see that:

3. They never were truly righteous but only appeared to be so externally (vv. 25-28)

Jesus uses a metaphor of cleaning the outside of a cup. That’s nice, but if the inside of the cup is filthy, one can hardly say it’s clean. Likewise the scribes and Pharisees attempted to look righteous externally, but inside, they were eaten up by greed and self-indulgence.

Similarly, Jesus compares them to whitewashed tombs. In order to keep Jews from coming into contact with anything that would make them unclean, they’d whitewash tombs so that with their bright white appearance, they’d be noticeable and could be avoided. Jesus, however, uses that as an illustration of the scribes and Pharisees’ lives. They look good on the outside but inside are full of death. Or, as Jesus notes specifically, “You also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (v. 28).

Brothers and sisters, we won’t necessarily see what’s going on in each other’s hearts or behind closed doors. And here’s the problem. If I’m outwardly doing terrible things, you can graciously confront me and help me repent. But if everything looks good on the outside, it requires you actually exposing your struggle and saying, “I want to repent and need help.” So, maybe one way we can respond to Jesus’ rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees today is just to take some time today and ask the Lord to search our hearts and reveal anything we’ve ignored which is unexposed to others but destroying us from within. The Lord loves us enough that he will graciously do so.

Finally,

4. They’ve rejected Jesus as God’s promised Messiah (vv. 29-36)

All of these issues going on with the Pharisees and scribes lead to this one. They’ve rejected Jesus. They would pride themselves in saying that if they’d lived in the days of their fathers, they wouldn’t have taken part with them in killing the prophets. In fact, they would try to show this by building tombs for the prophets and decorating the monuments at their burial site. But Jesus notes two things. First, he tells them that merely acknowledging that those who murdered the prophets were their fathers is an indicting statement. After all, in the Scripture, to be a son of something was to be the characteristics of one’s father. This is why when the Lord referred to Israel as his son, he expected them to be holy as he is holy. By acknowledging that these murderers of the prophets were their fathers, they are speaking more truthfully than they intend.

Second, Jesus says that they will continue to fill up the atrocities of their fathers, not only in how they’ve rejected John the Baptist and will reject Jesus but even as they will reject those whom Jesus will send. They’ll persecute them, flog them, crucify them and kill them. And indeed they did. The blood that was shed from Abel to Zechariah (the first and the last killed in the Hebrew OT) will be on their hands. Interestingly, as we heard read earlier, the crowd in Jerusalem, following the rejection of the scribes and Pharisees, will say to Pilate, “His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matt 27:25), crying for Jesus to be crucified.

This is why the scribes and Pharisees receive such a harsh word of condemnation. You cannot reject the Son and expect all will be will. Nor can you craft an image of Jesus whereby he is uncomfortable saying everything he’s said to the scribes and Pharisees in verses 13-36. In Revelation, the wrath poured out on unbelievers is described as the wrath of the Lamb.

But there is one more section. In verses 37-39 we see:

The gracious and compassionate God will certainly judge those who do not trust in the Son

Jesus ends this chapter by saying, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!” (v. 37). In the end, those who face the Lord’s judgment cannot say he needed to be more merciful or more compassionate. They will only have their unwillingness to bow the knee in faith to Christ to blame. And they will face judgment.

In fact, this chapter itself is a foretaste of judgment. Obviously the woes were pronouncements of judgment. But we also see more. Jesus had entered the temple, saying that it is “My Father’s house,” but in verse 38 he refers to it as “your house” which is left desolate. The Lord is no longer there. In fact, it’s not by mistake, I think that Matthew begins chapter 24 by nothing, “Jesus left the temple.”

Many years earlier through the prophet Ezekiel, as the Lord was saying to Jerusalem that judgment was now inevitable, Ezekiel saw a vision in chapters 10-11 of the glory of the Lord leaving the temple and resting on these cherubim who then flew away. The point was, the Lord has left and only judgment remains.

So it is here. Jesus has left the temple. He’ll have no more conversations with the Pharisees and scribes like this. They won’t see him again in this manner until they will him coming in judgment. What should be their awaited salvation will be judgment.

Now, I know that this is a painful scene. I personally didn’t look at this text and think, “Yes, I get to preach about the Lord’s harsh, merciless judgment toward those who refuse to believe in him.” But it is a reminder to us that we should not trifle with sin and rebellion, isn’t it? We rightly delight that we are free from condemnation through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. But we can never for one moment stop fighting against sin as if it’s trying to pull us into hell, for that’s exactly what sin is trying to do.

So, we’ve seen a few areas this morning particularly where we might need to examine our lives and see if we’re living in conformity with the Lord’s Word. But as we close, let’s use this as a time where we can ask the Lord to reveal if there are any others. Then, if indeed he reveals them, let’s repent. And then come to the table, remembering that forgiveness is ours through the crucified and risen Lord. Amen.

Painful Judgment and a Chance to Examine Ourselves