THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Matthew: Jesus As Israel's Messiah And His Kingdom

O. Christ As Israel's Messiah Seen In His Warning To The People About The Pharisees

(Matthew 23:1-12)

I. Introduction

A. The Pharisees, very influential theological conservatives of Jesus' day, rejected Him, so it would have been important for Christ to expose their sin were He to defend His identity as the true Messiah from God.

B. Matthew 23:1-12 exposes the great Pharisee sin of hypocrisy, and we view Jesus' critique of it for our insight:

II. Christ As Israel's Messiah Seen In His Warning To The People About The Pharisees, Matthew 23:1-12:

A. After revealing from Old Testament Scripture that Messiah was God Incarnate, thus silencing the Pharisees who had tried to catch Jesus in His speech (Matthew 22:15, 34-46), Christ publicly warned the crowd and His disciples present at the temple (Matthew 21:23; 23:1) about the Pharisees' sin of hypocrisy, Matthew 21:1-3:

1. Jesus publicly said that the scribes and the Pharisees sat in "Moses' seat" (Matthew 23:1-2), "a special chair of honor in the synagogue where the authoritative teacher of the law sat," Z. P. E. B., v. Five, p. 325.

2. Therefore, all they taught the people was to be practiced and observed, but the people were not to do what these leaders did, for they hypocritically taught one thing while doing the opposite, Matthew 23:3.

B. Jesus then exposed specific sins of hypocrisy practiced by these scribes and Pharisees, Matthew 23:4-12:

1. First, these leaders laid on others heavy burdens of man-made rules hard for them to bear while not being willing to move them even with a finger, Matt. 23:4. This did not mean these leaders were heartlessly not helping others perform their harsh rules, but that they "were not true to their own ethical teaching," not heeding their own rules, G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According To Matthew, 1929, p. 272-273.

2. Second, these leaders performed religious works to impress men, not God, in making broad their phylacteries and enlarging the borders of their garments (as follows), Matthew 23:5:

a. Based on passages like Exodus 13:9 that were likely only figurative, the scribes and Pharisees wore phylacteries, square leather boxes holding strips of parchment with Scripture verses worn on the forehead between the eyebrows and on the left arm close to the elbow, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Matt. 23:5; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 130. They made these leather boxes extra large to impress men.

b. In Numbers 15:38, God had Israel make hems or fringes on their garments to remind them of their need to heed the law, but the Pharisees made their hems and fringes "unnecessarily wide" to impress men, Ibid.

3. Third, these leaders promoted themselves as important, seeking the uppermost rooms at feasts and the chief seats in the synagogues and sought to be greeted in public marketplaces and called, Rabbi, Rabbi (Matthew 23:6-7) when in reality they were not important before the Lord, Matthew 23:8-12:

a. Jesus taught His hearers not to be called, "Rabbi" (hrabbi), "Lord, Master" in Hebrew, for One was their [Formal Schoolmaster] Teacher (didaskalos) and they were brothers of one another, Matt. 23:6-7, 8; U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 88; Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 740, 190-191.

b. Neither were Jesus' hearers to be called "Father" (pater, Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T., p. 89; Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 640-642), for One was their "Father," God the Father in heaven, Matthew 23:9.

c. Jesus' hearers were not to be called "[personal] Teacher" (kathegetes, Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.; Moulton & Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek N. T., 1972, p. 312), for One was their "[personal] Teacher," Messiah (Christos, Ibid., U. B. S. Greek N. T.; Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 895), Matthew 23:10.

4. Indeed, Jesus added that he that was greatest among His followers would be their servant, and he who exalted himself would be abased while he who humbled himself would be exalted, Matthew 23:11-12.

Lesson: Jesus exposed the sinful hypocrisy of the Pharisees who taught one thing while doing another, for they laid hard man-made rules on others that they themselves would not heed, they performed their religious works to impress men and not God and they promoted themselves before men as great religious men when they were not great in God's estimation.

Application: (1) May we trust in Jesus as the Messiah opposite the sinful rejection of Christ by the scribes and the Pharisees. (2) May we as believers then avoid the sin of hypocrisy, (a) practicing what we preach, (b) performing our works of righteousness to please God and not to impress men and (c) ministering humbly and not in self-promoting pride that our honor be what God gives us and not a self-constructed, external, false honor, John 12:26. (3) May we neither use nor accept titles that unduly exalt even godly leaders, for they are just our fellow brethren.