Pharisees

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 17th of March, 2024 - the fifth Sunday in Lent.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, today is the fifth Sunday in our season of Lent, our time to look deep within ourselves to see if we are living as God would have us live.  Lent is our way to observe the 40 days and 40 nights that Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and praying, all while being tempted by the devil.  The end of that time in the wilderness marked the beginning of Jesus’ three year ministry on earth.

Our walk through Lent ends at our Lord’s arrest, right before the cross.  That arrest was facilitated by one of His chosen twelve – Judas Iscariot – but it was planned by the religious leaders of the Jewish church.  The Pharisees hated Jesus.  They saw Him as a threat to their way of life.  They and their scribes had been plotting to have Him done away with, but were afraid to act on their own because of how much the people were following Him.  So they let Judas do the dirty work, and pay the ultimate price.

Almost from the start of His ministry, the Pharisees challenged Jesus.  They accused Him of having demons, of breaking all the laws of Moses, including eating with tax collectors and sinners and performing works on the Sabbath.  But when He let it be known that He was the Son of Man, the long awaited Messiah, they became livid and actively plotted against Him.  Jesus saw that their hearts were hardened and they would never believe, but many of the people that He had come to save were being led astray by them.  So He began to caution the people about who they should and should not listen to.

Please listen and follow along to the warning Jesus gave regarding the Pharisees and their scribes as recorded by the Apostle Matthew in the 23rd chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 28, and I’ll be reading from the New American Standard Bible this morning…

1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. 3 Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and comply with it all, but do not do as they do; for they say things and do not do them. 4 And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger. 5 And they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. 6 And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, 7 and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by the people. 8 But as for you, do not be called Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. 9 And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ. 11 But the greatest of you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows’ houses even while for appearances’ sake you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one convert; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ 17 You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering that is on it is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 And the one who swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells in it. 22 And the one who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may also become clean.

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

--Matthew 23:1-28 (NASB)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, thank You for preserving Your word in our Holy Bible.  It truly is a great tool for our use to help us live this life in a way that is pleasing in Your eyes.  It even holds a look into the future for us.  Father, please help us understand the intent of Your word, of the impact it has on our lives.  Please help us grasp the meaning of the words our Lord Jesus spoke without getting too hung up on the words themselves.  And please forgive us when we start to become too self-righteous, thinking we know it all.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today.  Help us heed the warnings You give us.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

It’s been reported that a businessman, well known for his ruthlessness, once announced to writer Mark Twain, “Before I die, I mean to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  I will climb Mount Sinai and read the Ten Commandments aloud at the top.”  “I have a better idea,” replied Twain.  “You could stay in Boston and keep them.”

Preacher, theologian, and author Frederick Buechner once noted that, “The trouble oftentimes with religious people is that they try to be more spiritual than God Himself.”

There is a growing trend in our society toward a more personal form of spirituality than organized religion offers.  I’m sure you’ve heard someone say, at some point in time, something to the effect of, “I don’t need to go to church.  I can get close to God anywhere.”

Well, that is true – we can be close to God anywhere.  And I believe every world religion has at least some element of spirituality to it, whether it worships the one true God or not.  But following Christ Jesus is as much physical as spiritual.  Yes, Jesus said that God is Spirit so we must worship in spirit and in truth.  He also commands us to go into the world spreading the Gospel and making disciples.  This is our mission of service and must be done physically, not spiritually, at least as long as our body will let us.

As for that term “organized religion”, some people use that as almost a derogatory slur, like there’s something wrong with being organized in our worship.  There is a reason we Christians have always come together in groups, small and large, for our worship.  Doing so allows us to learn more, from our teachers and from each other.  More importantly, it provides us with support, encouragement, and love from our fellow worshipers.  And if we’re all worshiping God in spirit and truth, and serving our Lord Jesus by going out and sharing His love through our acts and words, and we are joining together in Christian fellowship, then we won’t have to worry about becoming more spiritual than God.

Our scripture reading opens with a warning - one of many in this particular passage – and this one is to us.  There are those who have been placed or even placed themselves in positions of authority over us, both secular and religious.  We are to do what they tell us to do and comply with the laws they enforce.  But we are not to behave like them.  Jesus was instructing us to do as they say but not as they do.

Our Lord was telling the gathered crowd not to follow the example of the Pharisees and their scribes, the so-called legal experts.  The harsh rules they enforce create a burden on the people, and while they themselves don’t always follow their own rules, they don’t cut common offenders any slack.  Everything they do is to serve their personal agenda, performing good deeds only when they can be noticed by the public.

Jesus uses a word we’re not familiar with in our age: phylacteries.  These were small pouches that contained snippets and passages of scripture, usually worn on the Pharisees’ left sleeves for religious purposes.  Jesus said the Pharisees made them larger and increased the length of their prayer tassels so that the people could easily see them.

They loved places of honor, whether at a dinner, in the synagogue, or just walking through the marketplace.  They wanted to be noticed, and revered.  They lorded their authority over the people.  Jesus cautions us not to be like this, but instead to be humble and lead a humble life of service.

And then we get into a whole bunch of “woes”, where Jesus rebukes the religious leaders and calls them hypocrites.  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees!”  They take advantage of the most vulnerable, while trying to make themselves look good in the process.  They go to great lengths to make a convert, and then lead the new believer alongside them down the path to condemnation.  They are blind guides, leading astray anyone who will try to follow them.

They adhere to all the words of the law while ignoring its intent.  For instance, they tithe properly, but neglect the more important matters of justice, mercy, and faithfulness that God also wants us to observe.  They are more concerned by how they appear to others than how they really are inside.  Hypocrites, whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside but full of dry bones and uncleanness.  Outwardly righteous, inwardly full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

But in my opinion, the greatest rebuke Jesus made is when He accused the Pharisees and scribes of shutting the kingdom of heaven in front of the people.  They will not enter heaven themselves, and they try to keep other people from entering, too.  Misery loves company, right?  It’s bad enough to condemn yourself to everlasting punishment without taking anyone else with you.

So Jesus strongly warns us not to be like the Pharisees.  During His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus cautions…

20 “I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

--Matthew 5:20 (NASB)

Don’t be like the Pharisees and scribes.  Don’t use them as an example of how to live, or how to worship and serve God.  For unless we are far more right and pleasing in God’s eyes than they, we too will be shut out of heaven along with them.

Now we need to understand that the Pharisees, for the most part, actually believed they were doing God’s work, that they were serving Him and doing what He wanted them to do.  Many were confused by Jesus and the things He said.  Some came to believe in Him as the Messiah.  But most thought they were living and acting correctly and righteously in God’s eyes.

Take the young Pharisee by the name of Saul, who held the cloaks of others as they stoned the Apostle Stephen to his death.  There was a time when the Apostle Paul caused a scene in Jerusalem by accompanying into the Temple four Gentiles recently converted to the faith.  Some outsider Jews who had come to town shouted out that he was teaching people in ways contrary to Jewish tradition and had even brought four Greeks into this holy place.

The Roman commander, fearing a riot, had Paul arrested and escorted back to his headquarters.  As they were about to take him into the barracks to be questioned, he asked to speak to the mob.  Listen to what Paul told this angry crowd, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in chapter 22 of his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, verses 1 through 6…

1 “Brothers and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”

2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said,

3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the Law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brothers, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.

6 “But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me."

--Acts 22:1-6 (NASB)

Then Paul goes on to describe his conversion.  But in this passage, Paul assures the Jews that he was indeed a good Jew and a good Pharisee, zealous for God, just as the mob was behaving that day.  He was doing the work of God and the Temple in trying to quell this New Way and all the heresy people were being taught and spreading.  In fact, he was on his way to arrest some believers and carry them off to Jerusalem to be tried.  He persecuted this Way – the church - to death.  He was doing the will of God, or so he thought.  But then he was blinded so that he could be shown the truth, so that he could see the Light.

The Pharisees as we know them ceased to be an active force after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD.  Well, while there may no longer be Pharisees by that name, I believe we all know people just like them today.  These are the people who are more interested in making a good show than in truly serving others.  They only do good works for photo ops, to look good in the public’s eye.  They’re all show and little substance.

And then there are those who are most like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.  They think they are doing right, doing what God demands of them.  They follow the scriptures to the word, often ignoring the intent of God’s word.  They do the things a good Christian is supposed to do, but neglect the weightier message of justice, faithfulness, and especially mercy.

They are quick to judge the failings of others, or what they perceive as failings.  They see heresies and false teaching in anything they don’t agree with.  And sometimes they even keep other people from entering heaven by coming on too strong, driving them away, being too judgmental, blindly leading others along the wrong path.

We must heed Jesus’ warning and be wary of the hypocrites, who appear righteous on the outside, but in their heart of hearts don’t really know Jesus.  Woe to the scribes and Pharisees of our age.  Be wary of their influence.  Weigh their words carefully.  Be sure to live more humbly, more righteously, following the example Jesus set for us.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who came in the flesh to redeem us, and who is coming again to judge us all.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for Your word in our Bible.  By the examples and lessons it provides, we can model our lives in a way that will please You.  It can also show us behaviors to avoid, like how most of the Pharisees reacted to Your Son Jesus.  Sometimes, Father, we might tend to act like the Pharisees, putting more of our efforts and attention to religion and neglecting service.  Sometimes we look for and expect sacrifice from others, rather than seeking justice, mercy, faithfulness, and forgiveness.  Forgive us these times, please Father.  Please help us remember, though, that our Bible has gone through many translations and versions since it was originally written by the men and women You inspired and filled with Your word.  Help us receive and follow the intent of Your word, especially as it pertains to Your commands.  Guide us in our reading and study that we not just cherry-pick the passages to support our viewpoint, but that give us the whole picture of Your message.  And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, so many of the religious leaders of the Jewish people of Your days on earth were indeed hypocrites in the truest sense.  They acted one way when in the eyes of the public, while harboring hatred in their hearts.  They looked clean on the outside, but filthy on the inside, where it matters most.  Please help us be more like You, Jesus, and not like the Pharisees.  Help us be less judgmental in our dealings with others.  Please help us be more understanding, more merciful, more forgiving, remembering that we are all created in our Triune God’s image and that You came to save us all.  And Lord, please help us reach out to the non-believing world with the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.

Lord Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations and all the false teachings.  Help us fend off his attacks.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.