Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees

Transcript

GR 724
10/20/1985
Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees
Matthew 23:13-39
Gil Rugh

Turn to the Gospel of Matthew and the 23rd chapter. One of the most sensitive areas in an individual's conduct and life is his own personal religious convictions, and you tread on very dangerous ground when you begin to attack or criticize a person's religious convictions and beliefs. We've developed the idea that these convictions are personal and as long as I am convinced of these convictions and I hold them truly believing them that that's a matter between God and me. And somehow it is considered impolite or indiscreet to tread on that area or raise the issue.

But that's the very thing Jesus is doing in Matthew chapter 23. He wants to deal with the religious condition of the nation Israel, and He wants to deal with it by focusing attention on the spiritual condition of the religious leaders. Now Matthew chapter 23 is significant for a number of reasons, one of which is that this is Jesus' final word to the nation Israel. This is His last discourse addressed to the multitudes and the crowd. And what He has to say has to do with what is wrong with their worship of God. It has to do with what is wrong with the character of the religious leaders. It can all be boiled down to one idea or one concept--they are hypocrites. They are doing something on the outside that is not true of them on the inside. They are pretending to be something they are not. They are acting like they have a relationship with God. They are acting like they are godly people, and of reality, they are not godly people. They have not been changed on the inside. Now the solution to that is not, Therefore, become ungodly on the outside. If you're ungodly on the inside you might as well be ungodly on the outside. No, the issue is, becoming what God says you must be on the inside and then the outside will be adjusted accordingly.

The end of verse 3 of chapter 23 says concerning the scribes and Pharisees, "They say things and do not do them." They taught one thing, but they practiced another. Down in verse 5 we are told, "But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men." That summarizes the attitude of these religious leaders. I am concerned about what people think of me. How will they see me? Will they look at me and say, "Oh my, what a godly man." Everything was done in that realm--to be seen by men. They weren't concerned about what God sees when He looks at my heart? What does God see when He examines me on the inside? Now after challenging His true followers with a warning not to be like the Pharisees, He launches into a condemnation of the Pharisees.

There are two things you want to see as we look through this extensive section. Number one, God's attitude toward false religion and false religious leaders. We need to be careful that we don't fall into the pattern of the world. We wouldn't want to criticize anybody's conviction and faith, that's between them and God. That's not what God says. So I want to see God's attitude toward false religion and false religious leaders. And secondly, we need to be careful that some of these very characteristics and patterns aren't becoming true of us. In the opening section down through the first twelve verses, Jesus talked about the flaw in the Pharisees' religion. Then He turned to His followers and told them not to be like the Pharisees. That tells us there is a danger that we drift, even as followers of Jesus Christ, into an emphasis on the externals. I become more concerned with how I look and what do people think; I am concerned this morning because I forgot my Bible--not because I'm concerned that I won't be able to follow along so I probably won't leam quite as much, but I'm concerned what the person next to me will think when they see I don't have a Bible. In fact, the reason I bring my Bible is so you won't think I'm a pagan! Because I sure don't do much with it, either here or through the week. But these little external things become important. Did the choir sing at the right time? Oh my, they sang at the wrong time! We can't worship; start over. How many churches divide over issues like the color of the carpet or the shape of the building? Externals! There's a danger that we begin to be drawn in and the things we see become important and that becomes the focal of our lives. Jesus says, that is at the heart of false religion, and when you function like that you qualify as a hypocrite. So that's the subject of Matthew chapter 23.

And that discourse, beginning with verse 13 and running over through verse 36, is an unsparing denunciation of the religious leaders of Israel and of the nation itself. It is without parallel in the New Testament. There is not another area of the New Testament where you have such an extensive and severe denunciation of false religion and false teachers. It is built around seven woes, because the word "woe" is repeated seven times, eight times if you count verse 14. We won't be looking at verse 14 because it probably wasn't there as Matthew wrote the text. It was probably brought over from Mark chapter 12 or Luke chapter 20. What is said in verse 14 is true, but Matthew probably didn’t record it. Recorded later by one who copied the Scriptures.

So there are seven "woes." The word "woe" carries the idea of judgment or condemnation. So as we'll see when we get to the end of chapter 23, it is judgment and condemnation in the sense of tragedy. There is a sorrow associated with this condemnation. So it's not just a cold, harsh condemning, but it is a severe condemnation but within the framework of a sorrow. It's a tragedy that is being discussed.

The word "hypocrite" becomes the other key word. It too is used approximately seven times; at least the basic word translated "hypocrite" is used in this section seven times. A hypocrite is someone who is playing a role. He is pretending to be something he is not. So this section is all about condemnation upon those who pretend to know God and obey God, but do not really do so.

Note how He begins in verse 13. "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites...” And Jesus attacks right directly to them! You scribes and Pharisees, you are hypocrites! Why? "Because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." There will be two problems addressed in verse 13 and verse 15. One was the unwillingness of the religious leaders to trust Christ or have anyone else trust Christ, and two, their desire to win converts, which in effect means win converts for hell. In verse 13 they are shutting off the kingdom of heaven from men. Now what is religion to do? As I understand it, the purpose of religion is to minister to a person spiritual to bring them into right relationship with God. If you're not meeting a person's spiritual needs and enabling them to be brought into right relationship with God, do you qualify as a religion? That's religion's area. If you're not doing that, you ought to be a social club or organization. It seems to me the unique things about religion is that it should minister to people spiritually and bring people into right relationship with God. And that's what religion claims to do.

Now these Pharisees were shutting up the kingdom, that time when the Messiah would rule. When an individuals through faith would enjoy the personal presence of the Son of God on earth, ruling and reigning. Now these religious leaders were shutting off the kingdom of heaven from men. They weren't going in themselves and they were hindering those who wanted to go in. So you have religious leaders doing just the opposite of what they are supposed to do. Instead of bringing people to God, they are closing God off to people. They are building a barrier between people and God to keep people from God. That's the way the Pharisees are functioning. They claim to be God's representatives, but they are not coming to God themselves, and they are not allowing others to come to God. One of the great tragedies of religious leaders, false religious leaders, they prevent people from coming to Jesus Christ. They are used by Satan to close off the access to God.

Look over in John chapter 9 for an example of this. In John 9 Jesus has healed a man born blind. This caused a great uproar, caused a great consternation among the Pharisees, and they are looking for a way to discredit this mighty miracle. So they call a man's parents--Let's find out if he really was born blind. Let's get their opinions. So in verse 19 they questioned his parents saying, " 'Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?' His parents answered them and said, ''We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he shall speak for himself.'" But note the reason in verse 22. "His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed, that if anyone should confess Him to be the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." That meant that if you were put out of the synagogue in that society, you were totally ostracized from the community. It would probably mean your job, all your social contacts, family, friends, everything. So you see how they're trying to put up a barrier? They'd already agreed! You note they're not interested in finding out that this man had the power to heal a man born blind! They've already put out the edict--Anybody who follows this man, as the Christ will be ostracized! Cut off from the synagogue and the city. So they're putting up a barrier. People are afraid. They are trying to hinder people from coming to Jesus Christ.

That's basically the way false religious leaders act. That's why they are so dangerous. I've shared the gospel with people in this community, how they need to come to Christ. Those same people will go and talk with a religious leader who does not believe the Bible or believe in salvation by Christ, and then they'll come back and share with me, "I've talked with so-and-so and they told me that I don't need to believe that. They told me that's not all true." Then they'll explain to me what they're really been taught. You see what they're doing? They are preventing people from coming to Christ. Why? People look to these leaders. They say, "My, he's intellectual, he's intelligent, he's studied this. He ought to know!" And when he says, "Don't believe it, it's not true; you don't need to trust Christ for forgiveness. God loves you and you're alright the way you are," they are preventing people from coming to Christ. That's exactly what the Pharisees are doing. So you ought to see false religious leaders the way God sees them. He sees them as a barrier, preventing people from coming to salvation in Christ. That has eternal significance.

Secondly, He says in verse 15 of Matthew 23, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel about on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you yourselves." One thing we'll find is that Jesus is not sparing in His language in dealing with false religious leaders. Now He tells us that they have a tremendous zeal. They are willing to travel land and sea, to do whatever is necessary to win a convert; and sometimes if we're not careful, we admire the zeal and enthusiasm of some of those involved in false religions and false systems. Christ says there's no lack of zeal among these Jews. They travel land and sea to make a convert. Paul wrote to the Romans and said he wanted to testify in behalf of Israel, They have a zeal for God but it's not according to knowledge. They are ignorant as far as God is concerned; they are zealous in their ignorance. That's the way these Jewish leaders are.

So they go to all the trouble they can to win a proselyte. Now a proselyte was a thorough convert--Jews had different levels of converts. And the proselyte who is a thorough convert is one who is totally converted to Judaism. That meant the man would go through the rite of circumcision, etc., to identify himself totally with the nation Israel and the worship system of Judaism. You know what Christ says? When you've gone to all that trouble and you have made a thorough convert, you have one who is twice as much the son of hell as yourselves. Now being a son of hell was a Hebrew way of saying, one who belongs to hell, one who is destined for hell. So the result of all their effort is someone who is more confirmed as one going to hell than they themselves. Why? Usually those who are won to a false system and thoroughly converted to that system become the most fanatical in that system. They are the most convinced about that system. You've experienced that. You've had members of a cult come to your door, and you try to share the Gospel with them. How successful is that endeavor? Would you rather share the Gospel with someone who is thoroughly convinced that their false religious system is true and right and willing to die for it? Or, would you rather share the Gospel with someone who has no particular religious convictions? I find it very difficult to reach a person who has been converted to a false system and is thoroughly convinced that system is right and true. We have people around the world dying for their religious convictions. We find in many parts of, the world that are saturated with false religion that they are all but closed to the impact of the Gospel.

We understand that from verse 15. They are twice as much the sons of hell when they are converted to a false system.
That ought to warn us as believers. Sometimes we look at these false systems and say, well, there is some good in them. I talked with a couple that was in our church a few weeks ago, and they were sharing their convictions. They've been attending, since coming to town, a false church here in town. The pastor there does not believe the Word of God, does not believe in salvation through Christ alone, he is a godless man, leading people to hell. But they wanted to stand there and share with me the good things that he does, what an intellectual and upright, moral person he is, and the good works that particular church does. What has really happened? People are being confirmed in their destiny to hell. That's all that really matters. I need to be careful that I don't think they're at least doing some good; I'm glad they at least have some religion. At least they take their kids to church. We ought to be looking at that and saying, they'd be better off if they didn't. The worst thing is that they get caught up in a false religion and false system because they are then further confirmed and established. And the most difficult to reach are those who are firmly committed to a false religious system, twice as much the sons of hell.

Then He launches into some of the details. What has happened is that the Pharisees have made converts to themselves, Phariseeism; but not to God and His Christ. Here are some details as to the way the Pharisees operated their religion--not God's religion, their religion. He starts out by the matter of taking an oath. The Old Testament had forbidden an oath to be broken. So if you took an oath, you were obligated to it. Now the scribes and the Pharisees had gone through and made all kinds of excuses. So if you take an oath and you swear by one thing, you're obligated. If you swear by something else, you're not obligated.

Now take note of what happens here. What is the purpose of making those kinds of allowances? So I don't have to be true or honest. If I say to you, I swear on this pulpit that I will take you to lunch on Wednesday, and I'll meet you at such-and-such a restaurant but I don't come, you call me that afternoon and say, "Hey, I thought you swore you were taking me to lunch." A-ha, I swore on the pulpit; it didn't count! What am I doing? I'm deceiving you! But if I had sworn on the Bible, I would have had to take you to lunch. We do those kind of silly things--I swear on the Bible I'm telling you the truth; cross my heart and hope to die. Aha,
I had my fingers crossed, didn't count!

Those are the silly things the scribes and the Pharisees had come up with. Look at it, verse 16: "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.' You fools and blind men; which is more important, the gold, or the temple that sanctified the gold? And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering upon it, he is obligated.' You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore he, who swears, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. And he, who swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. And he, who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it." You cannot make those kind of distinctions. When you've taken an oath, you are obligated before God. They are revealing something of their dishonest character. Why? Because if I say I can swear on this and not be held accountable, what I am saying is I can deceive you. I can say things that aren't true. What kind of character is being revealed when I'm trying to build a religious system that will enable me to deceive you? Does that not reveal something about my character? That's why in Matthew chapter 5, verses 32ff, Jesus said not to take any oath, "Let yes be yes, and no be no." My word ought to be good enough. When I take an oath, I am obligated--no excuses--before God to do it.

In other words, if I take an oath and say I'm going to take you to lunch on Wednesday, and I swear to it, I have to take you to lunch. 'What happens if I get hit by a truck on Tuesday night and I'm in Intensive Care? Someone calls up and says "Gil can't take you to lunch, he's been hit by a truck and is in Intensive Care." According to the Word you'd better wheel me over I took an oath. There are no exceptions to oaths. So get the oxygen tent, here we come. Why? I swore by an oath. There are no exceptions. That's why my word ought to be good enough because I'm not in control of circumstances. So I give you my word. Yes, I will take you to lunch on Wednesday; and as is as much within my ability to do what I have said, I am going to do it. But I also recognize I don't control the circumstances, so things may come up that I have no control over and I won't be able to carry my word out. So when I say yes or no, that means, as much as within my ability I'm going to do what I said. My word ought to be good enough.

The Pharisees, by their whole system of this counts and this doesn't, have become almost childish and infantile; but they were really revealing how you could deceive people. So now I have to figure out, now he swore to me by the temple so that didn't count, if he swore by the gold of the temple that counted. Ridiculous.

Jump down to verse 23, about the tithing, to see what the scribes and Pharisees have done. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others." Now the mint and the dill and the cumin are herbs used in the kitchen for preparing food. And the Jews would have very little of it. If he grew his own, he might have one plant each. The Law said nothing about tithing these little herbs, but the scribes and Pharisees did. They said that all the way down to these little almost insignificant things. But while they were working all the way down to tithing these little bits of mint, etc., they were neglecting the very heart of the Law that was justice and mercy and faithfulness. All their emphasis has been directed to the outside--My, am I not spiritual; look at me, I've tithed my mint and I have tithed my cumin, and I have tithed my dill! Am I not godly? Now I've neglected justice and mercy and faithfulness, but I'm really godly. Why? Because of what you see--I'm meticulous on the externals!

What is the Law all about? Turn back to the Book of Micah, just after the Book of Jonah, chapter 6. In Micah the situation is the same as Jesus is addressing. The religious leaders of the nation are apostates, godless men. The result is the nation itself is in a state of godlessness, ungodly behavior. And in Micah chapter 6, verse 6, "'With what shall I cone to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my first-born for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Should I offer up my first-born son? Would that really please God the most? Verse 3, "He has told you, 0 man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Basically the same three things Christ mentioned and which the Jews have neglected. And yet Micah the Prophet centuries before had told them that all of their offerings, all of their tithes, all of their sacrifices are fruitless unless they do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with God. Justice, mercy and faithfulness. They neglected that. "I'm too busy deciding how much of my mint I should tithe to be concerned about justice or faithfulness to God." You see the picture? All externals. And you note what happens even today. The more the true light moves out of the church, the more important the externals become. The less the Word of God and the truth of the Word of God as it is taken into the life and obeyed and becomes the focal point, the more important the ritual, and the form, and the externals. There is nothing wrong with form or rituals or external things, but what is wrong is when those things become the center of our religion.

Come back to Matthew 23:24. Christ says again, "You blind guides." He's called them fools and blind men in verse 17. He called them blind men in verse 19. Now He calls them blind guides. The picture here is that they don't see anything spiritually. They have no spiritual perception and understanding. "You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" Now people say you shouldn't make fun of other people's religion, but I can't help thinking some of those in the crowd may have snickered a little at the Pharisees here. You know something that the gnat and the camel have in common? If you read Leviticus chapter 11, verses 4 and 42, you will find that both the camel and the gnat are unclean. And the unclean animals and insects in Israel were those, which would defile you. If you touched them or ate them, you were defiled. That meant you were unfit to worship God. Now the gnat was unclean. So Jesus is saying, you're spending all your attention sifting out a gnat that fell into the cup and here you are woofing down a camel. You see how ridiculous and silly it can be. You want to concentrate on this little speck here and yet at the same time you are so much defiled it's not funny. Externals.

"Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" What would you think if you gathered together all the people of Lincoln here and all the religious leaders came and I preached a sermon like this, and every so many verses I'd say, "Woe to you, hypocrites! Fools, blind guides!" I'd say a few sentences, and then I'd repeat that, you'd say, "Wow! Doesn't he have any manners? That's no way to accomplish anything." Here is Christ's final statement to the nation, "Woe to you . . . hypocrites!"

Verse 25, "For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence." It has the same emphasis--externals. You want to clean up the outside. Inside you are full of robbery and lawlessness. You are unclean on the inside, self-indulgence. "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also." Talking about the cleansing that will make a person right before God. You don't worry about the outside until you first clean up the inside. The outside is important, but it is only important in relationship to the inside. The Pharisees put all their emphasis on the outside.

Here's a beautiful analogy. Verse 27; note how many times He repeats "scribes and Pharisees." He doesn't want anybody to miss the point. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to Men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." It was a practice of the Jews in the springtime to go around and whitewash all the tombs. That not only made them look attractive, but it accomplished a more basic purpose. If a Jew touched a grave or a tomb, they were themselves ceremonially defiled. So on the way to Passover, if they walked along the road and accidentally bumped into or brushed against a tomb, they were defiled and couldn't partake of the Passover. So the whitewashed all these graves or tombs so they would stand out. They'd look attractive, but you would be guarded against accidentally touching them. So Jesus said to these scribes and Pharisees that they were just like whitewashed graves. Look pretty and attractive on the outside, but on the inside? You open up that grave and what do you have? Stinking, smelling, rotting corpse, dead men's bones and all kinds of uncleanness. Now that's what you're like in verse 28: "Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." You're full of all kinds of sin. You see again the issue? What are you like externally? What are you like internally? Christ is revealing the true character of a false religious leader.

Verse 29, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Consequently you bear witness against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of the guilt of your fathers." The scribes and Pharisees made it a practice to honor and built monuments over the tombs of the prophets. They wanted to honor those great prophets! Those mighty men of God! And they said, 'We wouldn't have done that! Boy, if we'd been there in the days of our fathers, we wouldn't have killed those prophets.' But Jesus told them, 'The first thing you're acknowledging is that you're the descendants of those who did kill them. And you know what? Like father like son. Verse 32, "Fill up then the measure of the guilt of your fathers." They're here decorating the tombs of the prophets and saying, "Let's honor Isaiah. He was a mighty prophet. Too bad they sawed him in two. We would have never done that." You realize what they're planning to do? Executing the greatest of the prophets, the Son of God Himself. The One who is not only prophet, but priest and King. So they decorate the monuments of the prophets, but at the same time they're planning the murder of the greatest of the prophets. "Oh we would never have persecuted those prophets!" And at the same time they are looking for an excuse to murder the Son of God. You see the hypocrisy of it all? How ridiculous it is? That's no different from religious people today who honor great men that God has used, men like Martin Luther and John Wesley and John Calvin. We have a day to honor John Wesley and the people honoring him no more believe the theology of John Wesley than they do the man in the moon. They have nothing more in common theologically with John Wesley or John Calvin or Martin Luther than they do with I don't know what. They say, "Oh yes, we honor them; we are the followers of so-and-so," and yet at the same time they deny the theology, the truth that those men proclaimed. Things haven't changed. False religious leaders are the same. They want to take advantage of the recognition of great men of God of the past while at the same time they deny the great truths that God has revealed.

The summary of it is, verse 33: "You serpents, you brood of vipers." Flow let me give you an assignment to do. Take some time in your Bible during your own Bible study, and make a list of all the different names Jesus calls these people, and take time to look them up. What do they mean? What is the point of calling them hypocrites, blind guides, or serpents and a brood of vipers? You can go back to Matthew 3 and read of John the Baptist addressing these leaders with the same message. But note what He says. "How shall you escape the sentence of hell?" What an awful condemnation. Jesus is concluding His remarks to the nation, to the religious leaders and to the followers of those leaders. And you note what He says, "There is no hope for you to escape hell." That's an awesome statement. "How shall you escape the sentence of hell?" They had so committed themselves to their religious convictions in opposition to the truth of God that Jesus declared there was no way for them to escape hell. What hope is there when a person has rejected the truth of God, has rejected the Son of God, what hope is there that they should escape hell? There is none. That's a frightening statement. That means there are men listening to Jesus Christ there that have no hope of salvation because of the commitment they have made to oppose the Savior.

In verse 34 Jesus says, "Behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation." Remarkable statement here, Christ takes authority to Himself here. "I shall send you prophets." He is the One over the prophets. "I will send you prophets who speak for God." What will happen to them? They'll be persecuted, they'll be scourged, they'll be crucified, and they’ll be murdered. Jesus Christ will be rejected, crucified; and the prophets and apostles who represent him are persecuted, they are martyred. What's the point of it all? "Upon this nation all the guilt of all the centuries of the Old Testament is descending. When those Jews said "His blood be upon us," they didn't realize what they were saying.

Verse 35, "That upon you all the righteous blood shed on earth from Abel to Zechariah." You're familiar with Abel who was slain by his brother in the opening chapters of Genesis. Zechariah the son of Berechiah--jot down 2 Chronicles 24. We won't turn there but you ought to read the account. A tragic account when Zechariah is slain. Now note the significance here. In our English Bible, Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, so we talk about Genesis to Malachi encompassing the whole Old Testament. In the Hebrew Bible, the last book is 2 Chronicles and the last martyr recorded in the last book of the Hebrew Bible is Zechariah. The first martyr recorded is Abel; the last martyr recorded is Zechariah. What Jesus is saying, "From the first to the last, every single righteous man martyred, his blood now and the guilt of that rests upon you." Why? The culmination of that centers in them. Their atrocity is going to be the greatest of any. They are going to execute the Son of God! They who have had the greatest of light, the greatest revelation given to them, and they are going to respond by executing Christ. So all of that rebellion against God has been building toward one final, ultimate climax--the rejection and execution of the Son of God. And they are the ones who are going to do it. Now keep in mind, the ones to do that are those who are saying, "Look how godly we are. Look how much we love God. Look how much we've committed our lives and everything we have to serve Him!" And they are the ones guiltiest of any who have ever lived, Jesus said.

We need to be careful that we see people as God sees people, not as men see them. "Truly all these things shall come upon this generation," verse 36. Now if we stopped there, that's a tragic pronouncement, an awful section of the Word of God, necessary, but awful. Now you ought to see it in the context of the closing verses, verses 37-39, because it's even more tragic. You remember that word “woe" carries the idea of condemnation? But a condemnation with sorrow; tragedy in it. That's put in perspective by these closing verses.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the
Lord.'"

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem," a picture here of the pathos, the agony, the tragedy in it all. "How often I wanted to gather you and your children" picturing Jerusalem the capitol, to gather all of these Jews, the people of the nation together under His protective care. And you see here something of the sovereignty of Christ revealed again, because He is the sovereign God who wanted to gather them as their Messiah under His care. And over the centuries of the Old Testament lie had attempted again and again to graciously gather Israel to Himself. But they were unwilling. You ought to underline two statements or phrases here. In the middle of verse 37, underline "I wanted," that's what God said. "I wanted" to gather you. But, the end of verse 37, "you were unwilling." Underline “you were unwilling," because you put those two phrases together and you have the summary of the tragedy of Israel--I wanted, and you were unwilling. So the condemnation "How shall you escape the sentence of hell?" How could a loving God send them to hell? How could a loving, merciful God condemn them to eternity in hell? "I wanted to gather you to Myself, but you were unwilling." You see it's your responsibility you're going to hell. It's your responsibility the tragedy and eternal damnation awaits. "I wanted to gather, but you were unwilling." Any wonder that there's that sense of tragedy and sorrow pervading tile condemnation? These very ones irrevocably on the road to hell were those who had been graciously and tenderly and lovingly invited by God to enjoy the protection of His presence for eternity, but they were unwilling. So God deals with them in righteousness and holiness and in justice.

Verse 38 is an awesome statement: "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!" Connect that with the opening statement of chapter 24, "And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away . . ." Remember in the Book of Leviticus in anticipation of the coming Babylonian conquering of the nation, the Shikinah glory of the Lord departed from the temple in Israel. The very presence of God left the temple and destruction would come. And we have that theme repeated here. You have the one who is God in the flesh--the Shikinah glory in the Person of the Son of God, the presence of God, in the temple. But because of the rebellion and rejection of the nation, your house is being left to you desolate and He leaves the temple. Picture of the departure of the Son of God, the presence of God from the temple in Israel. These Jewish leaders didn't have any conception of the awesome point in time in which they were involved.

There is hope in it. Verse 39, "For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'" You ought to circle that word "until." Has Israel been cast off forever? Has God rejected His people? Romans chapter 11, No, "The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable." "You shall not see me until . . ." This generation is destined for hell. Great tragedy will come, but in the grace of God there is a future for the nation Israel. There's going to be the seven years of Great Tribulation, and that will be used by God to bring Israel to its knees to cause Israel to see there is no hope. We are not mighty; we are not strong; we are not able. And as those seven years draw to a close, there will be a turning to Jesus as their Christ and Messiah, so that when He returns in glory, the nation Israel will welcome Him saying, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord." That's the theme of the following two chapters of Matthew.

What's it going to be like in anticipation of the coming of Jesus Christ? What will go on to prepare Israel to accept their
Messiah? But that material will be addressed only to His disciples. Tragic, isn't it, to read about the nation Israel and these religious leaders? And you note, the religious leaders are condemned, but the nation that followed those leaders is also condemned. So that religious leaders stand condemned and guilty before God, but so also does every single individual who followed those religious leaders in his rebellion against Jesus Christ. I cannot shift the responsibility to someone else. The parallel follows as well. God graciously invites us to come to Jesus Christ. The New Testament closes with the Book of Revelation, the final chapter and the final verses with Jesus Christ saying, "Come." He says, "The Spirit and the Bride say 'Come!'" That same gracious, loving invitation, "How often I wanted to gather you." God is still saying, "Come. Come to Me. I'll forgive you. I'll cleanse you. I'll make you mind for eternity." The tragedy in that is there are people aligned in false religions following false leaders today. They're saying no to Jesus Christ. What other option is there but the awfulness of hell. God says, "I want to gather you, but you're unwilling to come." The invitation of grace is "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."