Part 2.

Steve Gentry

[0:01] Good morning. How are you? [0:04] Well welcome to week two. [0:07] Everything is going pretty smoothly so far I hope. [0:10] At least it is for me because I haven’t done anything yet. [0:13] I just want to welcome you guys to the village. My name is Steve. [0:16] One of the pastors here. Just a couple things I want to tell you about before we

[0:20] really get into God’s word here. Just a couple of plugs I gotta get in every week. [0:24] The first thing is this is not all we do. [0:27] We do a bunch of different things throughout the week. [0:29] The first thing I want to tell you about is something we here call community groups. [0:34] You may know them as small groups or even kind of like Sunday school. [0:38] We do them a little different. Just throughout the week we have a bunch of different groups

[0:41] that meet in homes of people that come here. [0:44] What we do in those groups is some of them go through books. [0:47] Other ones just get together and talk about what we talk about here on Sunday mornings. [0:52] Because we kind of realize that sitting here for an hour on Sunday morning [0:57] and hearing a message from God’s word, sometimes it’s hard to just hear somebody speak [1:01] and actually apply what’s said into our lives.

[1:04] So what we do is some people from our church, we usually have them in groups of five or ten, [1:08] they get together and just talk about what we talk about on Sunday morning [1:11] and just ask each other the question. [1:13] Where can we fit this into our lives? [1:16] What does this mean about my life? Does this mean I need to change something in my life? [1:20] So if you want more information about those, we have a table out here with some cards on

[1:25] to tell you about our different groups or you can just go to the website. [1:28] Second thing I want to plug is our football cleanup. [1:31] Next Saturday morning we are starting our partnership with Clover Hill High School. [1:35] And they’ve asked us to help them clean the stadium on Saturday mornings [1:39] after their Friday night football games at home. [1:41] And we’re going to do that. We’re going to serve the community and thank them for letting us use their school.

[1:46] And also just thank them for letting us be a part of the community here. [1:48] We don’t just want to be here and gather and this is it. [1:52] We want to go into the community. We want to serve them. [1:56] Because Jesus said one of the marks of his disciples would be that we would serve people. [2:00] And that’s kind of just a small token and a small start of how we’re going to serve this community [2:05] and serve Richmond at large.

[2:07] If you want more information on that one, look on the website. [2:10] But we’re going to be meeting in the Clover Hill parking lot at 8 a.m. next Saturday morning. [2:15] There’s contact info on the website if you want more information on that. [2:20] Well, this morning, I said that stuff really fast, sorry about that. [2:24] This morning we find ourselves in another really interesting place in scripture. [2:30] We started this church and we’re starting by going over some of the really tough things

[2:34] that Jesus has said that we need to live out in our lives or that he wants to bring into our lives [2:40] and dramatically change us. [2:43] Last week we started the series No Perfect People Aloud by talking about Jesus versus religion. [2:49] This week we’re going to get a little tougher and we’re going to talk about Jesus versus hypocrisy. [2:55] If you ask anybody on the street, what their biggest problem with people who go to church is [3:01] is that they’re hypocrites.

[3:03] They preach one thing and then they live their lives in a completely different way. [3:08] Well, this morning what we’re going to do is we’re going to tackle what Jesus had to say about that [3:11] in Matthew 23. What does Jesus have to say about hypocrisy? [3:16] What does he have to say about hypocrites? [3:17] So this morning it’s Jesus versus hypocrisy. [3:21] But before I get into Matthew 23, I have to kind of set it up.

[3:24] I have to kind of explain what’s going on, kind of like I did last week. [3:28] Jesus is going into a series of sayings here that are called the seven woes. [3:34] Where he’s pretty much calling the religious leaders of that day to task on how they’re leading people. [3:40] But this is actually the end of a long conversation he’s been having with a huge group of religious leaders, [3:47] a huge crowd, and even his own disciples. [3:50] If you go back, he gives a bunch of parables in answering some questions.

[3:55] And then finally it says that the Sadducees, who were a group of people who didn’t believe in miracles [4:01] and they were religious leaders, they had asked Jesus about the resurrection and Jesus had answered them. [4:06] And then it says that they were silenced. [4:09] But then a lawyer steps forward. [4:13] A man who’s totally devout to the law. [4:16] And he says, Jesus, let me ask you a question.

[4:18] What is the greatest commandment? [4:22] And without stopping, Jesus says some words that have really transformed culture [4:27] and a really series of verses that is just very popular to recite. [4:32] It’s the great commandment.

[4:35] Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. [4:38] And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. [4:43] And these are things that people attempt to live by. [4:46] We strive to live by, we say we have to have God first, and then after that we love people.

[4:53] But what’s interesting is what happens next. [4:57] Because that’s typically where we stop. [4:59] We say, okay, love God, love people. Got it, I’ll do my best. [5:03] But that’s not where Jesus stops. [5:05] The next thing that Jesus says makes you think he’s almost like a riddler.

[5:10] Because right after he says this, it says the Sadducees were silenced, [5:13] nobody said anything to him again, and then Jesus turns the table on them [5:16] in such a fashion that’s unlike the Jesus that we think about. [5:20] We think about this kind, caring guy who would never be rude to anybody. [5:24] He looks back at the crowd that’s been questioning him, trying to trip him up, [5:28] and he says, let me ask you a question.

[5:34] And his question is so odd, that usually it’s one of those parts of scripture [5:38] where we just kind of glance over and we’re like, I have no idea what that means. [5:42] He says, let me ask you a question. [5:45] Whose son is the Messiah? [5:47] Because you see, the Jews, Israel, had been setting up their lives [5:51] looking for the prophesied Messiah from the Old Testament.

[5:56] And Jesus says, whose son will the Messiah be? [5:59] Who’s going to come and redeem Israel?

[6:02] And they say, King David. [6:04] Because the Old Testament says he’ll come from the line of David. [6:08] So he’ll come from King David. [6:09] And they’re like, well that makes sense. Ah, we win Jesus. [6:11] Then Jesus says, but let me ask you another question. [6:13] Isn’t there a section in Psalms

[6:18] where David says the Messiah will be his Lord? [6:22] So how then can he be both his son and his Lord?

[6:32] And they just don’t say anything. [6:35] Because they don’t know. [6:37] And Jesus appears to not even answer it himself. [6:40] All it says right after this verse at the end of chapter 2 is [6:43] and they were silenced and it says in the Greek [6:46] it says they never asked him another question again.

[6:50] Because he had stumped them. [6:52] I don’t know, how can someone be someone’s son and Lord? [6:56] But then it’s almost like we go to a [6:59] We just kind of disconnect the chapters from each other. [7:02] We don’t think they play off of each other. [7:04] But chapter 23 goes directly after chapter 22.

[7:09] There really is no break. [7:10] It’s the same conversation that Jesus has been having with them. [7:14] As soon as he asks this kind of riddling question to them [7:17] he goes directly into chapter 23 and he’s talking to them. [7:21] So join me in Matthew chapter 23 and verse 1. [7:26] It will be up on the screen if you don’t have your Bible or if you can’t see it.

[7:31] This could be a problem.

[7:33] Matthew chapter 23, I’m going to start and I’m going to read the first 12 verses. [7:37] Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples. [7:41] So as soon as he says this riddle he goes on.

[7:45] The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. [7:50] So practice and observe whatever they tell you. [7:53] But not what they do. [7:56] For they preach but do not practice. [7:59] They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear. [8:02] And lay them on people’s shoulders.

[8:04] But they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. [8:08] They do all their deeds to be seen by others. [8:12] For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. [8:16] If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry. [8:18] I’ll talk about it later. [8:20] What’s a phylactery? I don’t know.

[8:24] And they love the place of honor at feasts. [8:27] And the best seats in the synagogues. [8:30] And greetings in the market places. [8:32] And being called rabbi by others. [8:34] But you are not to be called rabbis. [8:38] For you have one teacher and you are all brothers.

[8:40] And call no man your father on earth. [8:43] For you have one father who is in heaven. [8:46] Neither be called instructors. [8:47] For you have one instructor. [8:49] The Christ or the Messiah. [8:52] The anointed of God who will save them.

[8:55] The greatest among you shall be your servant. [8:59] Whoever exalts himself will be humbled. [9:01] And whoever humbles himself will be exalted. [9:04] If you notice verse 12, you were here last week. [9:07] How did he end last week? [9:08] With the exact same phrase.

[9:11] But last week it’s a different parable.

[9:16] See the big question you get from here. [9:19] If we are starting this talk. [9:21] This is number one who are the scribes and Pharisees. [9:24] Who are these people? [9:25] Well the scribes were people who their whole job was to interpret the scripture. [9:31] They would sit in synagogue day after day.

[9:34] Sitting in what was called Moses’ seat. [9:37] And archeologists in Israel have actually unearthed. [9:39] It used to be thought that when he says Moses’ seat. [9:41] He’s talking about something that didn’t exist. [9:44] He’s just making a spiritual example. [9:46] But it’s actually been found in the old synagogues.

[9:48] That they actually had a seat. [9:51] That they called Moses’ seat. [9:53] It was a seat of authority. [9:55] That the scribes and the Pharisees would sit in. [9:58] When they’re teaching the law. [9:59] To show that they had the authority to teach the law.

[10:03] So Jesus is saying you literally sit in a seat. [10:06] And the scribes would interpret the scriptures for them. [10:09] The Old Testament. [10:10] But then the Pharisees. [10:13] Whenever there would be a question. [10:15] As to how to obey the scriptures that had been interpreted.

[10:19] The Pharisees would stand there. [10:21] And they would say okay this is how you obey it. [10:23] These are the steps that you need to take.

[10:27] And so they would tell people exactly how to obey the law. [10:31] Piece by piece. [10:32] That was the Pharisees’ job.

[10:35] But Jesus here is saying. [10:38] You sit in the synagogues. [10:40] And He’s talking to the disciples and the crowd. [10:42] That are all around the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the scribes. [10:45] And He’s saying listen to what they say when they’re teaching. [10:48] Because they actually have the scriptures open.

[10:50] They’re reading them. [10:50] Saying they’re reading my word. [10:53] So listen to that. [10:55] But when you see how they live. [11:00] Ignore it. [11:02] Because they are not my people.

[11:06] They’re not from me.

[11:10] And this is absolutely counter-cultural. [11:13] To everything a Jew in the first century would ever think. [11:18] The scribes and the Pharisees were their leaders. [11:22] The scribes and the Pharisees like I said last week. [11:24] Were the people that they feared. [11:26] Because these were the ones that had religion under control.

[11:30] They got it. [11:32] They were the good guys.

[11:36] And Jesus is standing in front of a crowd that has lived their entire lives. [11:39] In fear of these people. [11:41] And parents who are raising their children to be like these people. [11:44] And He’s saying if you follow what they say you’re wrong.

[11:49] Because they’re not good. [11:51] They’re not from me. [11:53] As a matter of fact, you shouldn’t even call them rabbi. [11:56] Because in that culture, if you had someone that taught you. [11:59] To give them authority in your life, you would call them rabbi or instructor. [12:04] And you’re saying I follow you.

[12:06] You’re my spiritual father. [12:08] And Jesus is saying you should not call them that. [12:11] You have one spiritual father. [12:12] You have one rabbi. [12:14] He is God in heaven. [12:15] And you have one Christ.

[12:20] And He’s talking about Himself.

[12:25] And it’s absolutely against everything we even today would ever think we’re supposed to do. [12:32] Because the crowd has been gathered there potentially. [12:36] Some scripture doesn’t tell us. [12:38] But some of them were there to see can the Pharisees trip Jesus up? [12:42] Can they get Jesus to say something wrong?

[12:46] And Jesus is now saying don’t follow the people. [12:49] You’ve been following. [12:51] You’ve been obeying. [12:52] You’ve been obeying. [12:52] [12:52] You’ve been listening to your entire life.

[12:57] Because they’re hypocrites. [12:59] What is a hypocrite? [13:02] That’s the big question that comes out of this. [13:03] What’s a hypocrite? [13:04] Well look at what Jesus says in this first section of verses. [13:07] He says listen to what they say, but don’t follow what they do.

[13:12] If ever you see a hypocrite in this culture, I’m sure all of you at some point of your life had said that’s a hypocrite. [13:19] It’s somebody that says one thing and does another. [13:21] It’s like having a personal trainer who weighs 400 pounds of fat.

[13:28] He’s a hypocrite. [13:29] He’s telling me to eat right. [13:30] He’s telling me to exercise. [13:32] And he’s going to Golden Corral every night.

[13:36] He’s a hypocrite. [13:38] Somebody that says one thing and does another. [13:41] And that’s exactly what Jesus is saying the Pharisees do. [13:44] He’s saying they tie these burdens around your necks and tell you this is how you have to live. [13:52] But they won’t even lift a finger to do it themselves.

[13:59] He’s saying that they’re telling you to do one thing and they’re not doing it.

[14:07] So we have hypocrisy. [14:10] But the question then must become why are the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites? [14:14] The fact is that it’s very easy to look at the minute details of what they were doing and say they’re hypocrites. [14:21] But here remember we’ve got to connect 22 to 23 and say what is Jesus really saying about them? [14:28] What was the purpose of the scribes and the Pharisees? [14:31] The purpose of the scribes remember was to teach the law.

[14:34] And then the Pharisees taught how to follow the law. [14:38] They gave laws about following laws.

[14:43] Jesus is saying these men are hypocrites not only because they don’t do what they’re supposed to do. [14:50] But also because they can’t even answer questions that are really clear in the scriptures. [14:57] He’s saying these are your so-called experts in scripture and they cannot answer questions about scripture.

[15:05] This is where the basis of their absolute hypocrisy was. [15:10] Jesus is asking them a clear question from the Old Testament. [15:14] He’s saying who is the Messiah? [15:18] Because when he says whose son is the Messiah? [15:21] Well he’s King David’s son. [15:24] They knew because Jesus was called Rabbi in the first century.

[15:27] He was an instructor.

[15:31] They knew whose line Jesus came from. [15:34] Jesus came directly from the lineage of David. [15:37] Do you think it’s just by accident that Matthew writes chapter 1 really boring about the begats? [15:44] In Matthew chapter 1, Matthew writes and he connects the dots between David and Jesus. [15:53] In Matthew 22, Jesus ends the chapter saying whose son will he be? [15:59] Well King David.

[16:02] But isn’t he the Messiah? [16:03] How can he be both Lord and Son at the same time? [16:08] Because they already knew Jesus was a son of David.

[16:14] But what they’re unwilling to realize is that Jesus is also God. [16:18] You have a group of people who have ceased to read the Old Testament looking for God to come and redeem them. [16:27] And rather what they’ve begun to do is say we must be what we can bring the Messiah through our obedience. [16:35] And they’re looking for a human that will simply be like King David and deliver them from the hands of the Roman government who was in charge at that time.

[16:49] Jesus is saying you’re not looking for the right Messiah and that’s why you can’t answer this question.

[16:56] You can’t even lead your people to who the Messiah will be because you have such a terrible view of the Old Testament. [17:05] And Jesus is standing right there and they all know He’s the Son of David. [17:09] And so they all know Jesus is saying He’s the Messiah. [17:13] But He’s saying more than that. [17:15] Because He’s saying didn’t David identify the Messiah as Lord? [17:21] He’s saying the Messiah is God.

[17:26] Jesus is identifying Himself saying I’m standing right in front of you and I’m God. [17:32] You are trying to trip up the Messiah. [17:36] You are denying face to face the Son of God. [17:41] The Lord of King David is standing right in front of you. [17:45] And all you can do is try to tempt Him to sin against your laws which aren’t even Old Testament laws.

[17:56] Remember the part where I talked to you about the phylacteries? [17:59] Let me tell you what those were. [18:02] In the book of Deuteronomy, one of the rules that God gives, not really a rule, a law. [18:08] What He’s saying is He says you shall take my law, you shall bind it in your head, you shall bind it on your body. [18:18] And what He’s doing in Deuteronomy, He’s saying memorize the law. [18:22] Memorize the Scriptures.

[18:24] Have it inside of you so that you will know it always. [18:27] But that was too hard for the Pharisees.

[18:31] You know what they turned that into? [18:32] They would put on phylacteries and pieces of paper that they would write Scriptures on. [18:38] And they would tie it around their arm. [18:41] And they would tie it around their head. [18:44] They would say, well we are literally obeying the Bible. [18:49] We take it so literally we walk around with Scripture posted all over our body.

[18:53] It’s like watching a guy walk down the street with Post-it notes on himself.

[18:58] And it says you take pride in this. [19:01] And then you take pride in having long fringes. [19:05] Their get ups were so beautiful. [19:07] Everybody could see them coming from miles away. [19:10] And this is what they were masquerading as godliness. [19:13] And Jesus is saying they burden you with laws that aren’t laws because they are telling you how to obey laws.

[19:20] For example, how many steps you were allowed to take outside of your house on Saturday because it was the Sabbath. [19:28] If you took one too many steps, well that’s work. [19:31] Center.

[19:33] Don’t walk too much on Sabbath.

[19:36] They boiled everything down to a minute detail and said, if this, then you are disobedient. [19:44] And Jesus is saying they are not doing it themselves because they are leading you away from the Messiah who is me.

[19:57] Let’s keep going.

[19:59] What does Jesus really have to say about them next though is what’s really. [20:04] This is what eventually leads up to his crucifixion. [20:08] What he is about to say. [20:09] In verse 12, because he has already told the people, your leaders, terrible, don’t follow them. [20:13] Many starts in verse 13 and he says, but woe to you. [20:19] Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.

[20:23] You probably have this vision of Jesus standing there because this is what pop culture has taught us about Jesus.

[20:30] But woe to you. [20:33] Scribes and Pharisees. [20:35] Hypocrites. [20:37] Very kind, very loving. [20:38] No, Jesus is yelling at them. [20:41] He is coming.

[20:41] I’m not going to do it because I don’t want to hurt your ears. [20:43] But Jesus is screaming at them. [20:46] Woe to you. [20:48] You hypocrites.

[20:52] Jesus’ face is red. [20:53] He is mad. [20:55] He is taking them down.

[20:59] For you shut the kingdom of heaven and people’s faces. [21:03] For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. [21:09] Woe to you scribes and hypocrites. [21:11] Scribes and Pharisees. [21:12] Hypocrites. [21:13] For you travel across sea and land to make a single convert or proselyte.

[21:19] And when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. [21:28] We’ll come back to that. [21:30] Woe to you blind guides who say if anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing. [21:34] But if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath. [21:39] You blind fools. [21:41] For which is greater the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred.

[21:47] And you say if anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing. [21:50] But if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath. [21:55] You blind men. [21:57] For which is greater the gift on the altar that makes the gift sacred.

[22:04] So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. [22:08] And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. [22:14] And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. [22:18] Woe to you scribes and Pharisees. [22:20] Hypocrites. [22:21] For you tithe mint and dill and cumin.

[22:24] And have neglected the weightier matters of the law. [22:27] Justice and mercy and faithfulness. [22:30] These you ought to have done without neglecting the others. [22:33] You blind guides. [22:35] Straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. [22:39] Woe to you scribes and Pharisees.

[22:41] Hypocrites. [22:42] For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate. [22:45] But inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. [22:48] You blind Pharisee. [22:51] First clean the inside of the cup and the plate. [22:53] That the outside may be clean.

[22:55] Woe to you scribes and Pharisees. [22:58] Hypocrites. [22:59] For you are like whitewashed tombs. [23:02] Which outwardly appear beautiful. [23:04] But within are full of dead people’s bones. [23:08] And all uncleanness.

[23:11] So you also outwardly appear righteous to others. [23:14] But within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

[23:24] That’s a lot to swallow.

[23:27] I know. [23:27] Jesus.

[23:31] He’s saying some really mean things right there. [23:34] And he probably hurt some feelings. [23:36] I’m not going to lie. [23:37] There could have been some guys that had smiles and then all of a sudden they’re like oh but that hurts my heart.

[23:44] Jesus that was mean.

[23:47] And it was. [23:48] But here’s the key. [23:49] You have to pay attention to what Jesus is actually saying to them. [23:54] You have to pay attention to the fact that he gives them [23:58] this law.

[24:01] And he’s looking at them. [24:03] And his main point in that entire discourse. [24:05] You say well what is he trying to say? [24:07] Give me the details. [24:08] This stuff about swearing oaths and gifts and altars and temples. [24:13] What’s that all about?

[24:14] Let me just break it down to you really simple and then we’ll unfold it. [24:17] What he’s saying right here is the law was never meant to save. [24:22] What the Pharisees had been giving to the people of Israel for years is you can save yourself but you must be righteous. [24:34] Here are the ways that you can become righteous.

[24:39] Don’t take too many steps on Saturday.

[24:42] Do this with your animals. [24:45] If you have mint, dill, and cumin. [24:49] You have to find out. [24:50] You have to weigh it down. [24:52] And you have to get 10% of that out. [24:54] Then you have to take that 10% and you have to bring it to the temple.

[24:57] And you have to give the temple 10% of your spice rack.

[25:03] And that is how you’ll be saved. [25:06] Wear Bible verses. [25:06] On your arm.

[25:09] That’ll save you. [25:11] Like body armor.

[25:16] And Jesus looks at them. [25:17] And he basically goes on and on saying, [25:21] How can you possibly take your own religion seriously? [25:25] Because it looks nothing like what I actually wrote in the Old Testament.

[25:32] He’s saying you have created a religion of lies.

[25:37] Notice a couple of the things that he says to them. [25:39] He says, When you convert someone, you make them twice as much of a child of hell as you are. [25:47] He starts with the most offensive and then he gets less offensive. [25:51] Because for you to make someone twice as much of a child of hell as you are, [25:54] What’s that logically saying? [25:56] You’re a child of hell.

[26:00] In other words, you’re going to hell.

[26:05] And when you get somebody to listen to you, which is basically all of Israel,

[26:12] You’re making them more of a person going on their way to hell than you are. [26:17] Because you do nothing but confuse them. [26:20] You’re not leading them to me. [26:24] You’re leading them to a blind obedience. [26:27] And because of that, you make them a child straight from hell. [26:31] He says they’re blind guides.

[26:38] The reason that he says that is because to a Pharisee, they were the ones that saw clearly. [26:46] Because remember, when the scribes would teach, [26:50] Pharisees would then get up there and say, Okay, this is how you do it. [26:53] We get it. [26:55] And Jesus is saying, You are blind. You can’t even see the scripture. [26:59] Then he tells them, he says, You ignore justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

[27:05] And instead, you bring your spice rack and you start weighing mint, dill, and cumin [27:09] to make sure that you give 10%. [27:13] Remember how we started? [27:14] He gives the great commandment, love God, love people. [27:18] And then he gets back here and he’s saying, You tithe of mint, dill, and cumin, [27:22] but then you don’t even pay attention to what the law is supposed to create.

[27:27] Justice, mercy, faithfulness, love.

[27:32] The law is supposed to make you love God and love people. [27:36] But what you have reduced it to is a simple set of standards [27:40] where you have to come in, weigh your spices, [27:43] you have to make sure you wear the right clothes, [27:45] you have to make sure you have the right haircut from Leviticus, [27:48] you have to make sure that your spice rack is perfectly weighted down,

[27:53] you have body armor as script, you have scripture as body armor,

[27:58] and your fringes are long and flowing so that people know that you look religious.

[28:10] And the question I have when I read this [28:13] is does this in any way resemble religion today?

[28:22] Or how we attempt to earn righteousness from God? [28:27] Because I think if all of us are really serious [28:29] and we look at a verse like Matthew 23, [28:31] especially where he says, You tithe of mint, dill, and cumin, [28:34] but you’ve ignored the weightier matters of the law, [28:36] justice, mercy, and faithfulness,

[28:39] I think we can see a little bit of our own lives in that.

[28:43] Where we wouldn’t dare watch a certain movie.

[28:50] But when it comes to loving others, we fall off.

[28:59] We wouldn’t dare listen to a certain type of music, [29:03] or have a certain haircut,

[29:07] or vote for a certain political candidate.

[29:14] But when it comes to loving others, we’re bankrupt.

[29:22] Because we’re a lot like the Pharisees in the fact that we want our religion to be better than everybody else’s. [29:29] So we bring our spice racks in, [29:32] get all pretty on Sunday mornings, go and sit in church.

[29:37] I was at church. [29:39] I earned a little bit of weight with God this week.

[29:43] Then on Monday morning, talk under our breath about everybody that’s around us. [29:49] Well, I just hate Bob.

[29:53] What a creep.

[29:56] Yeah, I’m a better person than he is. [30:01] I went to church.

[30:04] He doesn’t. [30:05] God loves me more, obviously.

[30:09] Well, that’s good that you can tithe of Dylan Koeman, but you’re ignoring the weightier matters of the law. [30:14] Jesus is not saying, don’t tithe. [30:17] Because remember, in that passage, he says, these you should have done. [30:20] You should be tithing. You should be obeying. [30:24] You should not be setting wicked things before your eyes. [30:26] You should be coming to the temple in first century Israel.

[30:29] You should be obeying. You should be doing all these things. [30:32] But they are not an excuse to ignore God’s basic point. [30:39] Because what they were doing was setting up a system where they could do simple things [30:44] that would just deny certain aspects of their lives. [30:47] But on the inside, they were just as ugly as everyone else. [30:52] But on the outside, they were beautiful.

[30:55] They were religious. [30:57] They had their hair coiffed. [30:59] They had their Bible tucked under their arm. [31:01] And they were heading into church to sing the songs.

[31:06] But in every other aspect of their lives, they didn’t even know who God was. [31:12] Go back to Matthew 22, when he was standing right in front of them saying, [31:19] I’m the son of David. [31:21] And they say, I don’t know who you are.

[31:25] Because they had built a religion based on themselves.

[31:34] And all they could see was themselves.

[31:38] Their laws. Their ways.

[31:44] But Jesus, he goes on. [31:47] Because what Jesus is actually talking about in this passage is transformation. [31:52] Jesus is talking about transformation. [31:56] Look in verse 25 with me. [31:59] Jesus uses the example of a cup that is clean on the outside, but dirty on the inside. [32:09] I have a dishwasher that just malfunctions for some reason.

[32:12] And sometimes I’ll clean my dishes, and I’ll bring cups out, [32:16] and there’ll be something caked on the bottom of the cup. [32:18] And it looks nothing like any type of dirt that I put in the dishwasher. [32:23] It’s like the dishwasher created it itself.

[32:27] And so it’s like, well, I put it back in the dishwasher. [32:29] I can’t drink out of that. I’ll give it one more go. [32:32] And then sometimes it’ll be on the outside. [32:33] And I’m like, well, that’s not so bad. I’ll drink out of that one.

[32:38] I don’t have high standards.

[32:43] But imagine if you would, taking a cup, throwing it in a huge vat of mud, [32:51] picking up a huge glob of it right there on the inside, [32:54] grabbing a dish rag and some palm olive, and cleaning up the outside. [32:58] You’re holding it steady. You’re cleaning the outside. [33:00] The outside’s shiny, spick and span. [33:03] Inside’s still full of mud.

[33:04] And you hand it to someone and you say, here’s a clean glass. [33:07] Yeah, yeah, drink up. It’s clean on the outside.

[33:12] No. You can look in and say, but there’s mud on the inside. [33:16] I’m not drinking out of this.

[33:19] Jesus is saying that is exactly what their religion was causing. [33:24] And this is exactly what many people’s religion today is causing within themselves. [33:29] They say, well, how should we live? [33:31] Well, we’ve got the Ten Commandments. Let’s look at that. [33:33] Thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt, thou shalt, thou shalt. [33:37] Okay, I’ll try that and it’ll clean me up.

[33:41] Nice spick and span.

[33:48] And Jesus looks at that kind of religion and he says, yeah, you look good on the outside. [33:52] You can say the right things. [33:54] You’re talking about the Pharisees here. [33:55] You’re talking about people that had memorized the first five books of the Bible by the age of 12.

[34:01] They could recite, verbatim, the first five books of the Bible. [34:04] Not John 3.16.

[34:11] You’re talking to a group of people here who were completely religious in every way on the outside. [34:17] And Jesus is saying, but you are not clean on the inside.

[34:23] He goes one step further. He says you’re like a cup that’s dirty on the outside. [34:27] Excuse me, clean on the outside, but dirty on the inside. Who’s going to drink out of that? [34:32] But then he says you’re like a grave that somebody comes by and scrubs the tomb clean. [34:37] But there’s still a dead body inside. [34:40] He’s saying your faith is counterfeit. You are wrong. [34:47] Obedience to a law does not transform.

[34:50] It might make you look better, but it does not transform your life. [34:55] Notice the attention to obedience Jesus said they paid. [34:59] They even tithe right down to the last degree. [35:02] But they could not save themselves through this tithe. [35:05] No matter how obedient they were, they could not save themselves.

[35:11] The fact of the matter, he says, but you’ve ignored the weightier matters. [35:13] Because they could not be just. They could not be merciful. [35:17] They could not be faithful. [35:19] Because things like that come out of a heart of love. [35:22] And where does love come from? [35:25] It is not from the exterior. It is from the interior.

[35:31] Jesus is saying you cannot produce yourself what the law is actually asking for.

[35:40] Jesus is saying only God can transform. [35:45] You need to be cleaned from the inside out. [35:50] You cannot have obedience and get it to transform you. [35:54] It does not work that way. [35:57] You can never be obedient enough to get transformation. [36:00] Because obedience is you earning something.

[36:03] Transformation must come from an exterior source. [36:05] And Jesus is saying only God can bring that into your life.

[36:11] But we try really hard.

[36:17] God demands transformation.

[36:22] And transformation brings change.

[36:27] See they’ve been trying to bring it from the outside in. [36:31] But all it has produced is self-righteousness and more sin. [36:35] It has made them hypocrites. [36:37] Jesus is saying transformation comes from the inside out. [36:43] It was about the basis of why they were doing what they were doing. [36:49] They weren’t worshipping God.

[36:51] They were worshipping themselves. [36:54] And Jesus is saying I stand right in front of you. [36:57] The Son of God.

[37:01] And I desire to transform you. [37:05] The point of the law was never for me to give you a list. [37:09] That if you do these things you will become completely righteous. [37:13] That is never God’s intention. [37:15] And that is so how we get confused with the New Testament and the Old Testament. [37:19] We are like God really changed the game up there with Matthew.

[37:22] Before if they were just obeying the Ten Commandments they were okay. [37:26] Jesus is saying no that was never the point. [37:29] I’ve always been the point. [37:33] Because the Old Testament the law exists. [37:36] Paul tells us in the book of Galatians. [37:38] He says as a guide to take you to your realization that you need Jesus.

[37:48] Then he takes you. [37:50] When you realize I’m trying my best. [37:52] I’m doing everything I can. [37:54] But at the end of the day I’m still a hypocrite. [37:58] Because no matter how hard I try to be obedient. [38:02] At the end of the day I still say some things and do other things.

[38:08] The Pharisees are not the only hypocrites.

[38:13] We are hypocrites too.

[38:17] Because no matter how hard I try.

[38:24] I still don’t measure up. [38:27] No matter how hard I try. [38:30] I still at the end of the day kind of have these thoughts of man I was a really good Christian today. [38:38] Better than most.

[38:43] And what Jesus is saying is righteousness doesn’t come from you. [38:49] Comes from him. [38:51] He desired to transform the Pharisees. [38:57] To transform the disciples. [38:59] To transform the crowd. [39:02] But they had to stop looking within themselves for how tedious and minute their obedience was.

[39:09] And see through the law. [39:12] Something’s wrong here. [39:14] I can’t obey it fully no matter how hard I try.

[39:20] And if we’re honest with ourselves we’re there too.

[39:24] No matter how hard I try. [39:26] I’m still a hypocrite. [39:28] I’m still fake. [39:30] I’m still unrighteous in some way. [39:33] And Jesus is saying yes. [39:36] That’s the point.

[39:39] Because in Jesus is found righteousness. [39:42] In Jesus is found justice. [39:44] In Jesus is found mercy. [39:46] In Jesus is found faithfulness. [39:49] In Jesus is found love. [39:53] And he’s standing before them and he’s saying if you will just follow me I will die for your sins.

[40:02] And then he did.

[40:05] And he stands before us with Matthew 23 today saying I died because of your hypocrisy. [40:14] Because most of us have a view of hypocrisy. [40:17] That if someone’s a hypocrite even if they say truth I’m not responsible for that truth. [40:23] Because they’re a hypocrite. [40:25] They negated it. [40:27] And Jesus is standing there saying truth is still truth.

[40:32] I am still God. [40:34] I want to redeem you. [40:36] I want to transform you. [40:38] I want to make it so that you can love. [40:41] I want to make it so that you can be faithful. [40:43] But we can only have it if we trust in him and not in ourselves.

[40:50] If you’re struggling to follow Jesus you have to ask yourself. [40:57] Are you trying to earn him? [41:00] Are you trying to allow him to transform you from the inside out? [41:05] Have you realized your bankruptcy yet? [41:07] The fact that you have no good within yourself? [41:10] That you are nothing but a sinner in his eyes?

[41:14] Have you seen that? [41:17] Because as Jesus stands before them he stands before us.

[41:22] He says are you trusting in your righteousness or mine? [41:25] Because at the end of the day he’s the one that died on the cross. [41:29] It says in 2 Corinthians 5 that he who knew no sin, Jesus, became sin.

[41:39] So that we might become the righteousness of God.

[41:44] You’re not righteous.

[41:47] Jesus is.

[41:50] Stop trusting in yourself. [41:53] Start trusting in him. [41:55] The fact of the matter is no perfect people are allowed.

[42:00] Because we’re all hypocrites.

[42:04] We’re all trying to earn what he has already earned. [42:07] If we will simply trust in him.

[42:13] Let’s pray. [42:14] Father we come before you right now.

[42:22] I pray that you would help us to see our own hypocrisy.

[42:28] That you would help us to see where we fall short. [42:35] Lord the Pharisees were hypocrites. [42:38] But often times we find ourselves falling short as well. [42:43] We find ourselves trying to clean the outside of the cup. [42:46] And hide the inside of the cup from everybody else. [42:49] So they won’t see our real pain, our real hurt, and our real sinfulness.

[42:54] But you see it. [42:57] And more than that you desire to cleanse us of it.

[43:05] Father I pray that you would put these verses in our lives.

[43:11] Transform us from the inside out. [43:14] Because we are absolutely dependent on you. [43:18] We can’t do it. [43:20] Amen.