Hypocrites and woes....
Matthew 23 is an indictment on the leaders of the time and for all times...
We were a part of a legalistic church at one phase of our lives, until we could finally break out and feel of the freedom of God's grace refresh our souls and the souls of our children...but coming out of that was hard and the habits created died hard...the hurts were deep...
But, as I look on those years, we learned so much....God intervened in our lives to,show us the right paths to follow ....
Then reading this portion of scripture, I needed to ask myself, "what of these multitude of woe and criticisms do I carry with me, these thought patterns, these habits, attitudes"...
Do I practice what I preach?
Do I judge and expect more of others?
Do I want honor in the public places? Take important seats because I think I am important?
Am I Humble?
Do I value the wrong things?
Do I put false expectations on others?
Do I neglect justice, mercy and faithfulness for the temporal?
Do I worship the creator or the created?
Do I give honor where honor is due?
Thank YOU for your words of truth...hammer them into my heart, speak them into my soul. Help me live by them, humbly admitting my sins of legalism...
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. 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.
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others. “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant.
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces.
You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
“Woe to you, blind guides!
You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’
You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.
You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
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