Matt 23:1-12- Parting Message- Seek God not Mans approval
Notes
Transcript
CS Lewis- Dawn Treader intro
CS Lewis- Dawn Treader intro
“there was a boy called Clarence Eustace Scrubb abd he almost deserved it.”
The boy was awful and the main issue was his pride.
His made him doubt that he even was in Narnia even though he was sailing on the seas and talking to the animals
Eustace wanders away on an unexplored island to where some dragons live and he is transformed into a dragon by his greed and dragonish thoughts
He becomes outwardly what he is inwardly
Eustace tries with all he has to remove the dragon scales but he cant get them off
He must and does eventually call Aslan(Christ figure) to dedragon him so to speak
Last page of the book- “You’d never know him from the same boy.”
The transforming work of God requires/ demands that we come face to face with our depravity and call to Jesus to do what only he can do
Jesus speaks absolute truth when he speaks
But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The self righteous do not see themselves for what they truly are
Dead in sin and trespasses
But the sin sick? They see the effects of sin in their life and are in need of a cure
The religious crowd found itself on the outside looking in on genuine repentance
This is the last public teaching to the crowds in Matthew
He will speak to the disciples and possibly anyone who is present in Simon the Lepers house the next day but no more public teaching is done
These 11 verses are his last public teaching
Its Tuesday, he has had numerous confrontation in the temple
The Passover is Thursday- The Cross is Friday
What would he give them as his last teaching
Lets look at the text
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Vs 1- Jesus has just been confronted by the RL crowd, they have left him alone now
But Jesus directs these 12 verses to the crowd and the disciples
The RL will be the point of conversation but not the audience- they are coming in just a bit
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.
This isnt a full on assault of the teaching of the Pharisees
But as it is they where the teachers of the law and therefore sit on his chair as he was the lawgiver from God
At times they did teach the truth but other times its was adding to it and taking away
Matt 5-7 are clear examples of taking away from the commands of God
Jesus clarifies anger, lust, and divorce in those passages where the RL of the day let things slide to fit their standard of holiness
Later in this chapter
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Clear example of adding to it
But the problem of neglecting to do what it says, is found in this verse as well
Your tithing goes all the way out to your herb garden but yet the more weightier things like justice, mercy, and faithfulness you will ignore
If you take a 1000 one pound stones you will eventually have a 1000lb burden of nonsense
Thats what you had- they slipped on the law, they above the law, the taught the law correctly at times but they never lived out correctly
Practice what you preach, has a very real home in this verse
Thats the warning Jesus gives the crowd
Obey the Law when taught correctly, just dont do what the RL do- because they dont practice what they preach
They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.
Living a holy life is hard enough- but yet with all their safeguards they made, like determining how many steps on Sunday was considered work
Or fussing at Jesus because he healed a man on the Sabbath
They would rather him suffer, than in their eyes break the Sabbath by healing someone
Showing Christlike compassion is never wrong no matter what day it is
But the Pharisees heap up heavy burdens of laws and rituals and yet are unwilling to help someone find relief
They lack empathy for the people around them
Drastically different than Jesus in
And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Or Jesus in
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Jesus cared..... He cared enough to give them the Gospel.
May we be known for the same
They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long,
The Pharisees loved the spotlight
Some people love attention- Some do wrong things just to get more bad attention
But everything they did was for their own glory
Look at me, Look at me, I got that, I did that
They have the “I” disease- some consumed with getting their notoriety they even steal the glory of God away from him in worship
They pray without being seen, they cant read the bible without being heard
Its amazing the masses of people who may very well be in churches today so people see them instead of worshipping God or who desire special treatment because of who they are and who their apart of in society
Is worship occuring in those hearts? Absolutely, its just of the themselves not God
RL took serious the commands in Deut 6 to put Gods word on their forehead
So the phylactery boxes were strapped on their foreheads and would have little pieces of Scripture in their
Is their anything wrong in and of itself with that? Not necessarily but they made sure theirs were bigger than the rest so they seem more holy
Beloved, it doesnt matter how big your bible is, if its not transforming your life than its nothing more than a paper weight.
The comment concerning fringes are interesting
Jews prayer shawls they would wear but the RL had extravagant and long fringes on them that made them look more holy than the rest
One commentator said they had bead on the fringes that doubled almost as rosary beads and they would rub certain ones as they prayed and move to new beads as they prayed more
The spiritual symbols became marks of pride
All for Mans Glory
and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.
They took their spots at the heads of tables at feast and in the synagogue
They apparently sought out public applause in greetings in the market
They loved to be called Rabbi or Teacher
The were consumed with greed and personal applause
Jesus here, stops and reminds the disciples and the crowd how to live and that it all for Gods Glory
But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.
I believe these verse are interconnected
Jesus point earlier was that the teachers of the law sought out their own glory and prestige
the NT does speak of honoring teachers of the Word but it is not to be sought out or demanded by the teacher or pastor
There is one Supreme Teacher that is alone worthy of Glory
Thats Jesus
But the rest of us, if we are saved we are all brothers and sisters in Christ
The ground is level at the cross
Christ example is humility and servant hood
The word father and instructor are tied together into that spiritual leader idea, just as Jesus spoke the rabbi
Pastor is a NT testament word and office- and isnt a wrong term to use towards a pastor but it isnt necessary to greet me in that way and it shouldnt be something that is forced out of pride and self gain
We have one teacher- Jesus
It should be Gods glory we are after
God has given the church teachers for good reasons
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
What a difference that look from the RL of Jesus day
Looks much different than the RL of our day at times
With mega church pastors who push more book sales and spend more time on Twitter debates than they do shepherding their people
Its easy to get our eyes off pursuing Gods Glory and on our own
But thats not the way of Jesus
The greatest among you shall be your servant.
He treasure of Heaven became Nazareth’s reject
He set his glory aside and in turn took the shame of the word
He takes the sin of the world on himself, so he in turn can give them eternal by his sacrificial death on the cross.
The greatest man that ever walked the earth served the outcaste, the unclean and the unwanted
You want fulfilment in life- be servant
The way up is down
Ask JTB- If there ever was a guy who had the chance at the limelight
He was asked if he was the Messiah- For more than obvious reasons I have never been asked that
But he was- his response- Im not worthy to untie his shoes
Jesus will come to him for baptism and JTB will say it me you need to baptize
A man who clearly saw who he was and who Jesus is
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Exalt your self now, rest assured your self righteousness will leave you nothing but damned
Would you come today and trade your self righteous rags for his robe of righteousness?
Do you see yourself for what you truly are?
A dragon of sin and greed? There is no help if your unwilling to look in the mirror of Truth
Their wasnt help for the RL
Like Eustace- he thought the issue was only skin deep but more he pulled he realized couldnt fix the problem
It was his heart- Finally he takes Aslan advice “ You will have to let me rip it off you.”
Eustace realized his failures and his need for Aslans help
Eustace says “I’ll just lay on my back and let him do it.”
With the first swipe of Aslans paw- “the very first tear he made, was deep I thought it had gone into my heart.”
Like Eustace- let the Lion of the Tribe of Judah rip away the scales of sin and pride , not on the outside, but in your heart and then be made new
Beloved- set your eyes on this
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
May we surrender our lives to bring Glory to God and