June 7, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Matthew? Here’s today’s reading:
Matthew 23 (NIV)
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2“The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 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.……Continue Reading
This is a tongue lashing of epic proportion! Jesus’ words in this chapter are brutally honest and still you feel His desire for them to repent and come to their senses. He warns them of their hypocrisy, pride, and lack of care for others and if we are all being honest these are things we all struggle with from time to time. This is a chastisment not just to the leaders of the time it was given but also of the current human condition to put self first and want God just when we need Him and on our terms. This is a reminder to all of us be humble, to put God first, to worry about our own sin before we seek to correct others, and to remember that we are nothing apart from Him.
Matthew 22
Matthew 23
Matthew 23
It is interesting that Jesus saves His harshest words for the Pharisees and teachers of the law. His main indictment is that they are hypocritical and legalistic. They care more about what men say of them than God and they are concerned more for their will than God’s will. We all must be careful of the danger of appearing one way in public and another way in private, but they took this to an extreme to actually oppose the work of God, rejecting the prophets and rejecting Jesus as well. I mean, how great was their darkness that John the Baptist and Jesus show up and they fashion reasons to oppose them. And yet Jesus still has compassion for the people and the city. He desires to care and protect, but they will reject Him too!
Matthew 23
Matthew 23
Full red chapter. Jesus has some hard final words for the Pharises. Worth a second studied reading.
Let us be careful not to spend all our energy on appearing righteous, but to focus our attention on actively serving and obeying God. When we do this, we will also be righteous on the outside.
Jesus rebukes the Jewish leaders for their hypocrisy. It is interesting that he starts out saying that their instruction is correct, but don’t do what they say. It’s like saying just because your parents, leaders, teachers are hypocrites, don’t disregard what they taught. It’s sad. This applies to the church, I couldn’t help but see many parallels to the Catholic Church leadership….with men called “Father” wearing elaborate garments storing treasures for “the church” placing burdens on their parishioners.
Matthew 23