Matthew 23

The great conflict within Judaism of the first century would be between the Pharisees and the Christians. The temple-oriented Sadducees would see their day come to something of an end with the crushing fact of the Roman attack against Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple in AD 70. It would be the Pharisees and the Christians who would live on to fight the battle for the hearts and minds of the Jews and for that segment of the gentile world that had shown strong interest in the ways of the Jewish synagogues. The ascendancy of a Christ-centered Judaism that came to be known as the Christian church would be a great humiliation to those who had a series of fundamental disagreements with the One who came as the true King of the Jews. This chapter, from beginning to end, is one of the best statements of the fatal flaws of the Pharisaic way, presented by the One who by His own blood, founded the faith that became their chief rival. He chooses here not to focus as much upon their teaching as He does upon their lives.

Their way of understanding the Law, their mingling of divine Law and tradition, and their suggestion that peace with God could come through Law, these things were all very wrong. But what was maddening about it all, is that after constructing a complex system of burdensome law-keeping, they were content to see people fall under the weight of it, and would not help them in their struggle with the evil and misery that we face in this life. They have nothing of real resurrection power to offer the weak.

Rather than being moved by true compassion for others who needed some way of peace with God and real hope beyond death, they were motivated to be seen. They wanted to be seen as the first and not the last; they wanted to be seen as holy and not the unrighteous; they wanted to be seen as knowledgeable and not ignorant; they wanted to be seen as good and not bad. These are not specific problems associated with one race or type of people. They are human problems. Self-righteous displays of religiousness are not the answer for us. They are the proof of our deep need for rescue that can only come from the righteousness, love, and power of God.

This way of self-promotion was not the way of Christ, and it must not be the way of His church. Our passion is for the exaltation of our Father in heaven, not for the applause of men on earth. Our Instructor is the Anointed One, the Christ, who was despised and rejected by men. Our way of life is to be humble servants, following in the path of a Servant-King, but we should really admit that we can so easily play the same games as the Pharisees did.

The Pharisees believed in an afterlife, and they certainly believed in eternal rewards, but they pursued resurrection goals through self, rather than through substitution. Once again, this does not distinguish them from the rest of the humanity. Whether expressed or unexpressed, this seems to be the way of all flesh. The thing about the Pharisees is that their way was very much expressed. They worked to convert others to a system that could not bring life, but only seemed to breed further hypocrisy among men. At all costs it was necessary to convince others, and even yourself, that you were religiously in the right. This is a foolish game for sinners to play.

How did their system of being right work? It was a system loaded down with man-made rules that had the appearance of great dedication to God, to holiness, and to the Law, without actually helping in any way with the deep problem that we all have with indwelling sin. Being a person with a true heart is difficult, so the Pharisees had a system of truth-telling where the truth of your promise depended on the form of your words. If you swore by the temple, that was nothing, but if you swore by the gold in the temple, you had really promised. They did not see the connection between God, to whom we must give account, and all of creation which He owns. Everything comes back to this God, so we must be true to our word. But this is hard, and would require an admission that we are in the wrong, as well as a willingness to turn away from what is wrong. A system of surface scrupulousness is more appealing to the one who is dedicated to being right through his own law-keeping. Better to tithe even on your spices, than to deal with the necessity of showing justice, mercy, and faithfulness in a broken world. This is simply the way of death, where a finish coat of righteous paint covers a structurally unsound bridge over the grave.

The way of the Pharisees did not solve greed, self-indulgence, and lawlessness. A person could follow the Pharisaic philosophy very closely, and still justify killing a true prophet of God who had come to expose the sins of the people and point to the way of true life. The Pharisaic heart cannot bear to have sin exposed, and would rather find a way to kill the messenger of righteousness, than to listen to the word spoken and then turn away from sin.

This has always led to much suffering for those like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah, and Amos who brought the truth from God to the beloved people. The way of the Pharisee is a dangerous way. It cannot cover the guilt of sin, and it has no power to truly reform the sinner. What it can do is teach a man to murder, while keeping his hands clean. It can show a man how to kill the innocent, in order to defend an appearance of righteousness. The way of Christ is different. It teaches a man how to die, in order to save the unrighteous. This is what Jesus has done for us. While Old Testament Jerusalem largely would not have Him, He gave His life to save the Jerusalem that is above, that Jerusalem that has learned that true blessing can only come through a Substitute, the righteous Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.