Matthew 23:1-12 Part Two (Verses 1-3a - Authority)

Matthew 23:1-3a 1Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3“Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do,...

Today we’ll begin our study of Matthew 23:1-12 in earnest. This account takes place during Wednesday of the Passion Week and Jesus has just finished answering the challenges of the religious elite. He has answered their challenge concerning the payment of taxes, the resurrection and the law. Look at Matthew 22:46 to see what the reaction of the crowd was: “And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore.” He left them humbled and speechless.

He has answered every challenge that the religious leaders in the temple have thrown at Him. He himself has thrown a question out that talked about the deity of the Messiah that no one could answer and He then provided the answer Himself from the scriptures. And now He turns and begins to speak to the multitude as the religious elite are standing near. He talks to them about how those that are in charge are really far away from God and not they are lacking in divine authority. Look at Matthew 23:2-3a:

The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do.

What does the phrase “Moses’ seat” mean? To say that you are sitting in Moses seat is the same as saying that you are God’s authoritative spokesman, or God’s voice on earth. The interesting thing to catch here is that Jesus is saying that the Pharisees and scribes have put themselves in that position and not God, as a matter of fact, some translations of the bible even render this verse as “have set themselves in Moses’ seat”. The authority that they had was not divine authority, they had not been given the right to stand and say “God says”. They had taken it upon themselves to sit in the place of protecting and interpreting the word.

What do we do with the idea that they had real authority but it wasn’t divine? Jesus recognizes their authority at the beginning of vs 3 “Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do”. He’s saying that there is some real authority to their position, but it is not divine authority. It is not the same kind of authority that Jesus has, look at Matthew 7:28-29:

And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Remember the way that Jesus phrased His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount: “You have heard it was said…but I say to you…”. Jesus was teaching on His own authority and the Scribes and Pharisees would never teach that way. They would always call either directly to tradition or reference some teacher other than themselves.

But even though their authority wasn’t from God let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. We know that Jesus does not condone the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, all of His previous words attest to that. What Jesus is saying is that the word of God is the word of God. If they are speaking God’s truth then you should do it, isn’t that what He is saying there? Look with me at Isaiah 55:11:

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

God’s word is God’s word and God will accomplish His will and His truth even through a hypocritical, self-righteous false teacher.

Let me share with you for a second from my own background. I was attending a small Baptist church when I first felt the call to preach. I went to my pastor and told him of my call and do you know what this man of God asked me, “Could you come next Sunday with a sermon?” You’re kidding, right? He was supposed to say something like, “You foolish young man, you’re not supposed to be a preacher. You don’t have any qualifications or training or anything. Go back to your pew and sit there and be good”. I never dreamt in a million years he’d tell me to come back next week with a sermon. I had read verses like the ones that we had talked about today and I was really worried about being a false teacher. What if I’m just crazy? What if I’m a false teacher? What if I lead people astray? His reply simply was, “God will take care of that. He’ll weed out his own. You come with a sermon and the Church will listen to it and we’ll go from there.” So I did and several years later I’m a pastor of a small church myself.

Why is that important? Why would I share that with you? Because you never know where the man standing in front of you saying “God says” has came from. God’s word is God’s word, we are to follow and listen to only those who proclaim it for what it is: living, powerful, and true. Jesus tells His people to pay attention when the Scribes and Pharisees are teaching. When they are telling you the word of God you should listen to them. He would tell us today to be discerning in the way that we listen as well. Test all the teachings you are exposed to: my preaching, the preaching on the radio, preaching on any Church you find yourself in, teaching in any book you find yourself reading.

Did you catch the implied command to the crowd here? They themselves are to know God’s word. We are supposed to be so familiar with God’s word that when the Pharisees in our lives start drifting and leading us away from God we can say “Stop”. Isn’t Jesus telling them and us that we need to take some responsibility for God’s word? Remember that I have had no formal training and I became a preacher. Everything that I have learned I have learned from reading and testing and following the Holy Spirit. Please test everything I tell you to make sure that I am not leading you astray, and if I am leading you astray you have a responsibility. You must come back and say “Jeff you missed that one. You were wrong on that”. And that goes for any teacher you listen to, I would admonish all of us today to listen carefully to the people that preach.

Don’t just take everything that you hear from the pulpit or the radio as gospel, check it. Make sure it is from God. Be like the Bereans, test everything you hear against scripture. When you are taught those things that line up with the word of God, those things go and do. Be careful in the people that you follow and what you accept as truth. The implied command from Christ in this verse is to know God’s word so that we can recognize the falsehood.

Notice that I didn't say "If you don't like what you hear don't follow it". I'm not giving us an excuse to be disobedient to God's word. Let us also abandon our own pretexts and interpretations when they are in direct conflict with God's word. Let us also test ourselves to make sure that we are not wrongly handling God's word.

Pray for me as I lead my church. Pray that I have a hunger and a zeal for God's word. Pray that I will always follow His teachings in everthing that I do. I'll pray the same for you.

Grace and Peace to you all…

Matthew 23:1-12 (Introduction)

Today starts a series of posts based on a sermon I gave on Sunday February 15th. Special thanks to Cecelia for transcribing my ramblings and for the initial edit. I hope you find these edifying – Jeff

Matthew 23:1-12 1Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3“Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4“For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5“But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6“They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7“greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’ 8“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10“And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11“But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

In these twelve verses Jesus describes for us what we are to watch for in those that lead us in the church. We must be discerning when it comes to those that we put our trust in. Before we begin looking at these qualifications however, I thought it would be helpful for us to take a look at the religious leaders of Jesus’ day – the Scribes and Pharisees.

The Scribes were the ones who would copy the law from generation to generation. They took their position of preserving the law very seriously and were extremely meticulous about insuring the accuracy of the text from one copy to the next. It goes to follow that if your life was devoted to copying and preserving the law from generation to generation you would also become adept at its interpretation.

The scribes can trace their beginnings back to the time when Israel came out of captivity from Babylon. I believe the title of scribe first appears in Nehemiah 8 where we are introduced to “Ezra the scribe”. If you remember from the book of Nehemiah they called Ezra the scribe to read the book of the law to the assembly of Israel. He read to the people for four to six hours while teachers milled about the crowd explaining the law (and my congregation thinks I’ve kept them a long time after 40 minutes). The Scribes continued in that tradition of copying, preserving and interpreting the law.

There is an old Jewish saying that says “God gave the law to angels, angels gave it to Moses, Moses gave it to Joshua, Joshua gave it to the elders, the elders gave it to the prophets and the prophets gave it to the scribes”. When you believe that the things that you are writing come directly from God’s mouth to your pen it is easy to become self-righteous..

Then you had the Pharisees. They were the dominant sect of the Jews and the most popular with the people for a couple of reasons. They were not as untouchable as the Sadducees (if you remember Paul was a Pharisee and also held a job as a tentmaker) and the people looked to them as models of righteousness because they were conservative in their view of God’s law and held a high view of it.

But along with that came some silliness. William Barclay did a study on the different types of Pharisees, let me share with you a few. There was the ”shoulder Pharisee” who would walk around with accounts of their good deeds written upon their shoulders for all to see.

There was the “bruised and bleeding Pharisee” who, to keep from committing the sin of lust when looking at a woman, would walk around with his eyes closed. Their piety was measured by how beat up they were as a result of walking into things.

There was the “humpback tumbling Pharisee” who would in a display of false humility walk around all bent over which would result in them getting caught up in their robes and tumbling to the ground.

And of course, there were the “God-fearing” Pharisees who’s hearts really were seeking God, men like Nicodemus.

These are the men that Jesus is going to challenge in our verses for the next couple of days. He is going to challenge them in their piety and in their self righteousness. We are also going to see what we should be watching for, both positive and negative, in the leaders of our church.

Before we begin our study in earnest however this would probably be a good place to stop and reflect on our service to God. Go back and read our passage again taking it purely for its face value. Is our service to God based solely upon how we are perceived by those around us? Do we do the things that we do simply to be seen by men? Do we do the things that we do because we feel that it somehow improves our relationship with God?

It is so easy for us to hop on the legalism train and start thinking that God owes us something for our service to Him. Let us never forget that it is His grace and mercy alone that saves us and it is the continued pouring out of His grace and mercy that keeps us.

Grace and peace to you all...

Psalm 92:4

Psalm 92:4 For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.

How is your day going so far? Would you categorize it under the “joyful and triumphant” column in your ledger?

Based on our verse for today we are to find gladness simply by being part of God’s plan. Look at the ground we’ve covered so far in the Psalm, we’ve talked of praising God for His kindness, His provision, and His faithfulness. Did you notice that the verses say nothing about the circumstances that are going on at the moment? There are no qualifiers – we’re simply to praise Him. It’s easy to praise Him when we are happy isn’t it? How about when we’re not? Is Jesus enough for us?

We’re not only to be glad but we’re supposed to realize the victory of Christ, our verse ends with I will triumph in the works of Your hands! Look at what the apostle Paul says about victory in 2nd Corinthians 12:

7And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Do you think Paul understood the triumph of Christ. Paul acknowledged his discomfort and asked Jesus to remove his affliction. Look at Jesus’ response, “My grace is sufficient for you”. Boy, if we could only catch that truth! Simply to be in God’s grace is enough for us! Rejoicing God in our weakness – what a wonderful and beautiful thought!

You have experienced victory today whether you realize it or not. God has already kept you from a multitude of sins this day. God has forgiven you for the sins that you have repented from. God has protected you from a multitude of attacks from the evil one. Victories – each and every one.

I’m not asking you to turn a blind eye to your circumstances. They are real and they are difficult. I do not know what your situation is as you are reading this. You may be coping with the loss of a child, the loss of a job, the ending of a marriage, who knows? But this one thing I can tell you in the middle of your storm, Jesus’ grace is sufficient for you as well. No matter how battered and bloody you are at the end of the day you can still say “Jesus is mine”.

Let us be proactive in our worship of the Lord, shall we? Think of His lovingkindness throughout the day. Find your delight and satisfaction in Him and Him alone. Understand and acknowledge that He has already achieved victory for you over sin and death. Think of Him and be glad. Think of the works of His hands and praise Him for the victory!

Chalk this day up under “joyful and triumphant” even in the midst of adversity. Jesus is yours!

Deliver Us From Evil...

A little dose of Spurgeon on a rainy Monday night – enjoy… Jeff

“Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil [or, the evil one].” — Luke 11:4

What we are taught to seek or shun in prayer, we should equally pursue or avoid in action. Very earnestly, therefore, should we avoid temptation, seeking to walk so guardedly in the path of obedience, that we may never tempt the devil to tempt us. We are not to enter the thicket in search of the lion. Dearly might we pay for such presumption. This lion may cross our path or leap upon us from the thicket, but we have nothing to do with hunting him. He that meeteth with him, even though he winneth the day, will find it a stern struggle. Let the Christian pray that he may be spared the encounter. Our Saviour, who had experience of what temptation meant, thus earnestly admonished his disciples—“Pray that ye enter not into temptation.”
But let us do as we will, we shall be tempted; hence the prayer “deliver us from evil.” God had one Son without sin; but he has no son without temptation. The natural man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards, and the Christian man is born to temptation just as certainly. We must be always on our watch against Satan, because, like a thief, he gives no intimation of his approach. Believers who have had experience of the ways of Satan, know that there are certain seasons when he will most probably make an attack, just as at certain seasons bleak winds may be expected; thus the Christian is put on a double guard by fear of danger, and the danger is averted by preparing to meet it. Prevention is better than cure: it is better to be so well armed that the devil will not attack you, than to endure the perils of the fight, even though you come off a conqueror. Pray this evening first that you may not be tempted, and next that if temptation be permitted, you may be delivered from the evil one.

All Things Work Together for Good

This post is probably more for my own hearing but you’re welcome to walk along with me as I seek comfort… Jeff

Romans 8:18-31 18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. 23Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. 26Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (NKJV - emphasis mine)

This past Sunday in my Sunday School class we talked about Jesus walking on the water and my class asked me why the disciples went out on the boat if they knew a storm was coming. I had to explain to them that there was no doppler radar and they had to rely upon their “doppler windows”. The geography of the area also doesn’t allow for you to see the storm coming, it simply rolls in over the mountain range. By the time you can see the clouds its too late, you have to deal with the consequences of the storm.

Isn’t life a lot like that? While we are not ignorant of our surroundings how often are we surprised by the storm? Think of the storms that show up in our lives: sickness, injuries, death, loss of home, loss of job, etc.. How many times did you know the storm was coming? Even if you recognized the symptoms, weren’t you still surprised when the full force of the gale hammered against your body?

That’s who I want to talk to today. Those of us that are standing there naked, bloodied and cold in the aftermath of the storm looking around at the devestation that it has caused . As we pick up the fragments of our lives we look to the heavens and ask “why?”.

The passage that I have cited is one of my favorite ones to go to during these times in my life. Let’s walk through it together – shall we? Paul starts in vs 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time STOP! Do you hear what Paul is saying? Suffering is going to happen. Expect it. We live in a world that is cursed by the effects of the fall. When death and sin entered the world, Paradise was lost.

Look at the back half of vs 18 are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. That’s a pretty sobering thought isn’t it. There is nothing in this life that can compare to the next life. Heaven awaits the Christian! Hallelujah! Nothing we endure this side of heaven can compare to the beauty of being with Jesus! Read verses 19 through 23 above. All of creation longs to be restored to the time before sin entered the world. Creation longs to be set free from the bondage of sin as well. The world is as eager to see its redemption as we are.

Verse 28 is probably one of the hardest verses for us to accept. Notice that it does not say that only good things will happen to us. It simply says that all things work together for good to those who love God.

When Joseph was thrown in the pit would we call it good? Before you answer remember that this was the beginning of a chain of events that saved the tribe of Israel from death.

When David stole Uriah’s wife was that good? Before you answer remember that it was Bathsheba’s son who became one of the greatest kings of Israel and also gave us the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon.

I would ask you the same question now. Is the storm that you are enduring good? Before you answer remember that you are limited by the tick of the clock. You have no way of knowing what is going to come to pass in your life. You have no way of knowing what chain of events has started with this one. Trust God in the midst of the storm, He knows exactly where you are and what you are going through. Go back and read vs 24-27 above – God has given us hope. More than that – He has given us the Holy Spirit to constantly remind us of Christ. Take comfort in the thought that the Spirit Himself is praying for you right now in exactly the way that you need. Trust God in the storm.

I want to share with you a piece of text from A.W. Tozier’s book The Root of the Righteous

It was the enraptured Rutherford who could shout in the midst of serious and painful trials, “Praise God for the hammer, the file, and the furnace.”

The hammer is a useful tool, but the nail, if it had feeling and intelligence, could present another side of the story. For the nail knows the hammer only as an opponent, a brutal, merciless enemy who lives to pound it into submission, to beat it down out of sight and clinch it into place. That is the nail’s view fo the hammer, and it is accurate except for one thing: The nail forgets that both it and the hammer are servants of the same workman. Let the nail but remember that the hammer is held by the workman and all resentment toward it will disappear. The carpenter decides whose head shall be beaten next and what hammer shall be used in the beating. That is his sovereign right. When the nail has surrendered to the will of the workman and has gotten a little glimpse of his benign plans for its future it will yield to the hammer without complaint.

The file is more painful still, for its business is to bite into the soft metal, scraping and eating away the edges till it has shaped the metal to its will. Yet the file has, in truth, no real will in the matter, but serves another master as the metal also does. It is the master and not the file that decides how much shall be eaten away, what shape the metal shall take, and how long the painful filing shall continue. Let the metal accept the will of the master and it will not try to dictate when or how it shall be filed.

As for the furnace, it is the worst of all. Ruthless and savage, it leaps at every combustible thing that enters it and never relaxes its fury till it has reduced it all to shapeless ashes. All that refuses to burn is melted to a mass of helpless matter, without will or purpose of its own. When everything is melted that will melt and all is burned that will burn, then and not till then the furnace calms down and rests from its destructive fury.

Read vs 29-30, God is in the business of making saints. Sometimes we have to endure the hammer, the file or the furnace. If we will simply submit to His will in our lives and trust Him in the middle of what we are enduring we can be comforted. Trust in the Master – He knows exactly what He is doing.

I’ll close with vs 31. What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us. God is for you Christian, He has proven Himself to you time and time again. He expressed His complete love for you when His Son was sacrificed for our sakes. There is nothing that can separate you from Him.

Grace and Peace to you all…

Stimulated Yet?!?!?!?!

As I type this the President and leaders of Congress have retreated to Virginia to discuss the economic stimulus package currently over 900 billion dollars - thats $900,000,000,000.00 for those of you writing in your ledgers...

Contact your Senator and Representative and let them know what you think of the current package - I just did. Remember to be respectful (see Romans 13:1-7 if you need some admonishment).

A couple of helpful links:

Click www.senate.gov to contact your Senators.

Click www.house.gov to contact your Representative.

Remember the Sabbath Day...

I know you're expecting a post on Psalm 92:4 but you're just gonna have to wait...

During our Wednesday prayer service we had a discussion about how Christians are to honor the Sabbath Day. Following that discussion I'm interested in your opinion.

What activities are fitting for the Christian on the Lord's Day?

Drop a comment and let me know what you think. For those of you that are shy about public commenting please send an e-mail to my yahoo account.

Some scriptures to consider before you answer...

Exodus 20:8-11
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Mark 2:23-28
Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: “how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

And here's what comes from Section VIII of the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message from the Southern Baptist Convention:

VIII. The Lord's Day

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should be employed in exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private, and by refraining from worldly amusements, and resting from secular employments, work of necessity and mercy only being excepted.

Ex. 20:8-11; Matt. 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; Col. 2:16; 3:16; Rev. 1:10.

Finally here's what comes from section VIII of the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message from the Southern Baptist Convention:

VIII. The Lord's Day

The first day of the week is the Lord's Day. It is a Christian institution for regular observance. It commemorates the resurrection of Christ from the dead and should include exercises of worship and spiritual devotion, both public and private. Activities on the Lord's Day should be commensurate with the Christian's conscience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 12:1-12; 28:1ff.; Mark 2:27-28; 16:1-7; Luke 24:1-3,33-36; John 4:21-24; 20:1,19-28; Acts 20:7; Romans 14:5-10; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Colossians 2:16; 3:16; Revelation 1:10.

I'll pull all of our thoughts together and follow up with a post on the whole topic soon. I'm looking forward to your input.

Grace and Peace to you all...