Leading a Rebellion: Jesus Challenged the Authorities

Leading a Rebellion: Jesus Challenged the Authorities

Matthew 23:1-36

Rebel: Anyone who goes against any control, authority, or tradition.

Introduction: This is one of those lessons that could be broken down into several weeks because Jesus often spoke against those that were held in high esteem. Jesus often spoke of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the scribes, and it was never positive. He talked about the Pharisees and the Sadducees in parables which really ticked them off.

            But tonight we are just going to study one passage that really exemplifies Jesus’ rebellious nature to the leaders of his day. There were two major groups of people in Jesus’ day, just like we have two major political parties—the Republicans and the Democrats, theirs were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Pharisees were very strict law abiding and law creating citizens. They were very proud of their “holier than thou” behavior. They got merit badges in “Sin Sniffing.” The other group was the Sadducees. They did not believe in heaven, hell, angels, demons, miracles, or resurrections. They were politically in charge at the time Jesus was ministering, because they socially aligned themselves with the Roman rulers who put them in charge. They got their merit badges in “Butt Kissing.” Most of the brunt of Jesus’ righteous indignation went to the Pharisees and the scribes. Today we’re going to look at the eight woes he levels at the Pharisees and the scribes.

The Rebellion:

Matt 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,^[a] and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶ and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi^[b] by others. ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.^{[c] 9} And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. ¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

            Jesus had even really got into the meat of his message and He already has said some pretty tough things—do what they say but not what they do, and they are only in it for the recognition and perks that they get.

Woe #1-

Matt 23:13

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

            The Pharisees were not righteous enough to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (because no one is righteous enough), yet they were adding other stumbling blocks making life harder than it needed to be for others.

Woe #2-

Matt 23:14

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

            James wrote that pure and undefiled religion is looking after the orphans and widows, and remaining unspotted from this world. These religious leaders were not looking after the widows and orphans, but were probably encouraging to give more than what they were comfortable with in order to meet some kind of holy standard. On top of that, to cover up their irreligious nature they made long prayers to make themselves seem holier. My prayers, BTW, are noticeably, and sometimes uncomfortably short.

Woe #3-

Matt 23:15

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

            Rabbis were basically private teachers. The higher your students achieved, the better you looked. So rabbis would go to great lengths to get a student to come study under him. The recruitment process probably would be equal to what the SEC does in football today, but maybe with just a touch more class. Jesus added that when they did get one of these recruits they just made them worse than what they themselves were by teaching them to be more self-righteous and condemning of others.

Woes #4-

Matt 23:16-22

Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁷ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? ¹⁸ And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.’ ¹⁹ Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? ²⁰ Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. ²¹ He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. ²² And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

            This one is kind of strange. The Pharisees taught that oaths based on the temple, altar, and heaven were not binding, but oaths based on the gold of the temple, the gift on the altar, and God were binding. Jesus pointed out how far out of whack this concept was because the Temple was where God chose to dwell which has much more importance than the gold. Furthermore Jesus forbid oath taking in the Sermon on the Mount.

Woe #5-

Matt 23:23-24

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. ²⁴ Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

            Mint, anise, and cummin are very small seeds. The Pharisees, in an effort to make sure that they were tithing exactly ten percent made sure to count each of these seeds, otherwise they might be guilty of breaking a commandment. They also would strain their drinking water to make sure they didn’t accidentally swallow a gnat, a tiny insect that was forbidden them to eat by the Levitical law. Jesus pointed out the absurdity to what great lengths they would go to to make sure that they didn’t break a single law, but then overlook the bigger picture what God truly wants from us, which can be found in Micah 6:8—to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him. There was little humility in the character of the Pharisees.

Woe #6

Matt 23:25-26

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

            The Jewish people had certain dietary restrictions. The Pharisees took those dietary restrictions to a whole new level. There is a list of foods that the Jews were not allowed to eat. The Pharisees were so afraid to break a commandment, like don’t eat this type of food, that they made other laws to make sure that they didn’t break a commandment. For instance, let’s say I’m a Jew and can’t eat Pork Rinds. Josh invites me to his house, but Josh is not a Jew and loves to eat Pork Rinds. What if Josh offers me some chips and salsa respecting my dietary convictions and serves them in a bowl…a bowl that at one time contained Pork Rinds. What if that bowl didn’t get washed thoroughly and I ingest a morsel of a Pork Rind. I better just bring my own bowl with me.

            And that’s what they do. They have a very specific way to wash their dishes, and if they go to a gentile’s house to eat, they bring their own food (cooked in a kosher kitchen with no chance of contamination), dishes, and silverware.

            Again Jesus pointed out that they were missing the big picture. They were so concerned with what was on the outside that might go inside, and they had no concern with what was on the inside that will definitely come out. Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Their hearts were full of self-righteousness and condemnation.

Woe #7

Matt 23:27-28

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

            Again Jesus was pointing out that they spent the majority of their time and efforts making sure they looked good on the outside, but on the inside they were hideous. Picture what the inside of a coffin would look, and smell like, five to ten years after a person was buried.

Woe #8

Matt 23:29-36

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
³¹ “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. ³² Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt. ³³ Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? ³⁴ Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, ³⁵ that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
            It is common practice to look back on past injustices and say something, “If I lived back then I would not have been a part of that.” We can look at slavery and say that, but do you realize that it was only about 50 years ago that black and white kids could not play together, drink from the same water fountain, or go to school together? We all imagine that we are more moralistic than our predecessors and would have done things differently. I personally believe that abortion in America is on the ropes and is waiting a knock-out punch from someone or something. Aborting innocent babies is far more evil than slavery. What are you doing to stop it? How are you involved?
            Jesus lets them know that they are not any better than their predecessors and they are not fooling God by beautifully adorning the tombs of the prophets that their ancestors killed. Jesus even went so far as to personalize the killing of the prophets by saying “You killed Zechariah” as if the people in the audience were the ones who actually snuffed out his life, when in actuality his death occurred hundreds of years earlier. It’s all the same to God though, because in acting exactly like their predecessors, they are becoming exactly like their predecessors.

Application: I could give you ways to apply this message by asking you to consider what’s on the inside of your heart more than your outwardly appearance, by what I want you to focus on tonight is how exactly was Jesus being a rebel? A stood up to people who had authority over the masses (including Him), and told them what’s up. He chewed them up one side and down the other. Sometimes, if you know you’re right and have the scripture to prove it, you need to have the guts to stand up for what you believe in and say, “This is wrong.” Abortion is wrong. Are you going to stand up and speak out against it? Homosexuality is a sin, no worse than any other sin, but are you going to stand by while everyone says that its perfectly normal and that we’re wrong?