Author: missionspaul

The Law of Moses said that if anyone touched a grave in any way they were deemed ‘unclean’. The Pharisees would white wash tombs so that people could see them and not go anywhere near them. These tombs were beautifully ornate. Jesus uses the image in his continued warnings to the religious leaders:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (Matthew 23 v 27-28)

Every year in Britain women will spend on average £400 on cosmetics and they own 24 products. 48% of women take 15-30 minutes fixing their face in the morning with lipstick, foundation and mascara the most favourite products of which they own 24 of them at any one time. Men are actually on the rise in looking after their skin with £33.1 million spent each year on moisturiser. Looking good costs. However, in England alone 1 in 6 people will be battling mental health problems such as anxiety and depression in any one week, the pandemic has certainly heightened people’s anger. No amount of cosmetics can deal with the issues of the heart.

Walking through a cemetery and viewing the headstones, the family emblems and flowers laid it is obvious that each family are making a statement about their loved one. Yet for each family there is a story of pain and behind it all death and decay.

Jesus warns the religious leaders saying they are masking what is on the inside of their hearts. He looked very much like a Pharisee. He would talk about the Old Testament Prophets just like they did. He obeyed and taught the Law of Moses just like they did. However there was a huge difference. They were not the same.

What is that person like behind the make-up? This is the question and Jesus knows.

Office coffee cups, there’s nothing like them, right? In the cupboard they may sit there all looking nice with their designs and often funny captions. But pick one up and take a look inside and that’s a different story! A decision is then made whether you really want a coffee or not?!

 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” (Matthew 23 v 25-26)

A hypocrite is a person who purposely deceives others. They appear right, all the while they hide or deflect the reality of their wrongness. They deny the invitation of grace because they deny their own sinfulness to either themselves or their world. The moment we deflect our own wrong in order to expose the wrong in others is when we become a hypocrite.
Your purity isn’t from performance but from His action on the cross. Your purity isn’t from you, it is from Him. Your purity isn’t announced by man but from Him. Your purity is not yours, it is His.

Jesus took our imperfections when he died on the cross. His broken and bleeding body bore our legalistic efforts and demands and judgments on others who don’t meet our standards. All our efforts now fall to the ground as we rest in His purity. Our obedience is not work to prove but love and joy. We live life knowing He makes all things beautiful, impure hearts pure and the inside of office coffee cups clean!

I was a Pastor for 21 years and led 2 churches. In all that time I never got involved in the banking of the church offerings except for one occasion in the early years when on one occasion the treasurer was unable to go because of illness. As I was depositing the money I noticed one of the cheques had a strange amount registered. It wasn’t the size of the amount that was of concern. It was how the amount was so exact. In fact all that is etched in my memory is that the cheque ended in .33 pence. This was a member’s tithe cheque and I was amazed that they had not thought of at least rounding it up or even down! It was so exact!

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” (Matthew 23 v 23-24)

The outside can look perfect but inside your heart it can be tight, stingy and impoverished.

We need to learn to be generous in our hearts.

 The Pharisees were not even putting exactly .33 pence in terms of their dealings with people. They had no thoughts towards those who needed help, justice and love. If only they had given such meticulous attention to their cause never mind being like God who is lavish and extravagant.

Their hearts were not seeking justice and love for the people around them. Jesus would soon show that to carry justice and love in your heart is to suffer but is the pathway to resurrection and new life. The Pharisees had a word for this justice in their language, ‘tzedek’ it meant for right relationships with God, mankind, ourselves and the world they lived in. Jesus came to reconcile all 4 of those relationships where love and justice met on the cross.

TODAY let our hearts to be large and loud towards people and our relationships. Let us not be stingy or even exact but let us extravagantly, generously love and help people who are in need.

“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 v 16-22)

The 3^rd warning to the leaders was about their ridiculous petty-games of swearing on oath and what they are bound to or not. Promises by the temple or the altar are not binding but if they promised on the gold of the temple or the gift on the altar they were bound to the oath.

Leaders can preach and boast how they may be in an accountability group. The box is ticked. They have an external form of accountability so they can be trusted. Yet their approach to that group could be artificial and they may never tell the truth to one another. So what good is it? It is an external form of accountability.

The lesson is this: stop pretending.

Focusing on details like the gold of the temple and the offering on the altar but missing the fact it is the Temple and the altar that makes them sacred is blinded.

Focusing on details like ‘look how accountable I am’ but not engaging in accountable conversations is useless.

I knew someone who would focus on finding one detail to prove his argument but missed the whole point of the argument.

You may have a detail but it can act as a pretence to the truth.

Stop pretending is the lesson.

“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.” (Matthew 23 v 15)

The Pharisees had a hardened sectarian code of conduct.

They were evangelistic.

The problem was that their rules and their enthusiasm to make proselytes (converts to Judaism) became entwined.

Jesus calls it out. He could see how they would take their convert and then burden them down with such an amount of rules that the person became more trapped than they were before conversion.

Evangelism is the path towards freedom not captivity.

This is our gospel.

Instead of helping people into the kingdom these leaders were preventing them from doing so.

“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.” (Matthew 23 v 13)

They create a false understanding of God and His kingdom, one that is based on performance. If you do more, work harder or please me then you will please God. “I am your gatekeeper”. If you come to Jesus through my ministry then you will have a good life.

They involve themselves with branding, marketing, image-based advertisements. They create a self-righteous kingdom based around their ministry.

Their understanding is to create more disciples of their own instead of Disciples of Christ.

Woe to them!

Over the next few days we will be reading about the warnings of Jesus regarding hypocritical religious leaders who sadly are still around us today. But first a story!

A young man had just lost his job. Desperate for a job, he looked at the newspapers, and he found an opening in a zoo. He went for the interview and the interviewer said, “Oh! Tragically, a gorilla had just died in our zoo. It was the most popular exhibit and we needed to keep that going. So we need to hire someone, to play the role of a gorilla.”
The young man, desperate for a job, says, “Alright, I’ll take it up.” So he was dressed like a gorilla and it was an easy job. All he needed to do was to pretend to be a gorilla. Walk around like a gorilla, sleep like a gorilla, eat bananas like a gorilla. But after a while, that job got rather boring. You could imagine just doing that every single day.
So he, being a very fit young man, he’s a gymnast in the past, began to explore the enclosure and began to swing from tree to tree. And people were amazed at his athleticism. They thought, “Wow! This gorilla – very active!” And he was so excited. But one time, he lost his balance, lost his grip and he fell into the lion’s den. He was obviously in panic mode and so he began to scream, “Help! Help!” To which the lion walked up to him and said, “Shut up, you fool! Or we will both lose our jobs.”

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” (Matthew 23 v 13a)

Don’t be fooled, not everyone who appears to be something actually is!

A hypocrite is a person who purposely deceives others. They appear right, all the while they hide or deflect the reality of their wrongness. They deny the invitation of grace because they deny their own sinfulness to either themselves or their world. The moment we deflect our own wrong in order to expose the wrong in others is when we become a hypocrite.

A hypocrite only points fingers in one direction, away from their own heart.

So don’t be fooled, not every gorilla or lion that you meet today are the real deal.

Titles can bring confidence in those who are needing help from that person. It means that person has credibility.

Titles bring respect, a recognition that the one with the title is in a more knowledgeable position that the one coming to see them.

Titles can release the person to serve better because it gives the authority perhaps that is needed.

On the other hand …

Titles are all people have left when their ministry/office/work is fading.

Into a culture of hierarchy and religious power, Jesus says to the crowd and his disciples:

 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23 v 8-12)

We never stop being a disciple, so don’t call yourself Rabbi.

We never become God, so don’t call yourself father.

We never master anyone, so don’t call yourself instructor.

Never magnify yourself over someone else.

“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.” (Matthew 23 v 5-7)

Knowing what we do not want to become is as important as what we do want to become.

Jesus provides a list:

1. Phylacteries (small boxes containing Scriptural verses tied to wrists and the forehead): We may want to be known as being a Bible-believer but we do not want to boast of our Bible obedience.
2. Tassels (On the 4 corners of the garments reminding people to obey God): We may want to be holy but we don’t need to make people feel unholy.
3. Honour: We may like to go out for dinner but we do not need to sit at the centre of the table.
4. Seats: We may like to sit down but we do not insist on a VIP seat.
5. Greetings: We may like to be welcomed but we do not chase after the praise of men.

What is just too heavy for you?

“They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” (Matthew 23 v 4)

The Pharisees were so committed to the system they had built but it did nothing to lead the people to recognise the move of God through Jesus.

The cumbersome load was the failure of not reaching the expectations of pleasing God.

There are 613 do’s and don’ts in the Law of Moses.

But then the Mishnah contains more commandments. This was a commentary on those 613 laws which had further man-made rules which served to help people not even come close to breaking the Law of Moses. At the time of Christ these were passed down the generations verbally, it would not be till the 3^rd century were they written down. They were not laws, the intention was to train in thinking through the law. So the Mishnah tries to help the questions regarding: Can cheese and meat be on the same table? How much water is needed for a ritual bath? The punishment of a rebellious son is clearly in the Law however, what are the behaviours that actually make a son rebellious? That’s what the Mishnah helps with. They served as oral laws and Jesus denounced the Pharisees who did nothing to help the people.

They created cumbersome loads and placed them on the people who could never carry them and this served only as a reminder they had failed in pleasing God.

In 2021 what is coming against you? What are you burdened down with? Be careful with the cultural norms that may be laid upon you.

“Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” This is the Word of God (Hebrews 13:17). However, what does that obedience look like? What are the expectations of submission? Is this leading you to love Jesus more? Years ago I sat in the offices of a senior Pastor waiting to be taken out into the church service to preach. I was sat with members of his staff. When he walked in they all stood to attention. I thought a king had walked in and sadly that’s what they believed!

Cultural norms that may have the intention of good can do more harm to those who do not meet them. Tear them up.

Relationship with Jesus not the rules of Jesus is the most important thing.