It is a blessing
to work in a congregation where there is always something good going on. There
is a sense of purpose and excitement in the air when God’s people work together
for the greater good, but it can wreak havoc on your writing schedule. I once
again apologize for my delay in writing this article looking at the seven woes
in Matthew 23. I hope that those of you who were on this journey with me are
still along for the ride, let’s dive in!
Matthew 23:29-32
29 “Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the
prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had
lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in
shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that
you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then,
the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
Jesus is
continuing to speak to the Pharisees and teachers of the law regarding their
conduct and their lack of consistency. In verse 29 where Jesus speaks to them
about building and decorating tombs and his meaning is probably different than
you might think. The idea being conveyed here is the fact that they had
refurbished or rebuilt the tombs of the prophets because they had fallen into
some disrepair. These actions would not have been wrong, except, the actions of
the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law were inconsistent with this considerate
action.
The Pharisees
and Teachers of the Law took great joy in measuring their actions against those
of their forefathers and took even greater joy in pointing out the mistakes
made in the past. At this point you have probably come to the realization that
these men were not any better than their forefathers and, that in some cases,
they were probably worse. This is a trap that we fall into every day. We
measure our actions against the actions of people who are not even followers of
Christ and we think that our lives look good in that comparison. I submit to
you that if this is how you are measuring your life then you are measuring
apples to oranges. I would also say that by pointing out the sin in another’s
life while doing nothing about the sin in your life is in direct violation of what
God wants for his people. This morning I’d like to share two additional
scriptures with you that help demonstrate God’s will for us in these matters.
John 12:48
48 There is a
judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word
which I spoke will condemn him at the last day.
These are the words
of Christ and he is clearly telling us that the word will be our judge.
Consider that the word being spoken of here is not just the written word of God
rather it is the Word in the flesh, Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7:3-5
3 “Why do you
look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the
plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the
speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Jesus is very
clear in telling us that we must take care of the sin in our own lives before
we are able to help someone else with their sin.
Questions For Thought
1. Why is it so
easy to tear down others when we are the ones who need to be torn down and
rebuilt in the image of God?
2. How can we
keep from being judgmental of those who have come before us?
3. Are we being
consistent in our daily walk with God?
It looks like
there will be one more article in this series, hopefully it will get written a
little quicker than this one. Enjoy the journey through God’s Word!
Be strong and
Courageous,
Paul
