The Grief of Jesus | Matthew 23:1-39

• Sermon Transcript

  All right, good morning. You were much more chatty this morning than normal. I will say that. It's amazing what an extra hour of sleep will do for you. Amen. All right. Well, today we're talking about the grief of Jesus as we look at the getting to the last week of his earthly life, before his death. And there's a grief that is synonymous with mourning. Mo you are in ING not this morning. With mourning, and sadness. This is a grief that deals with death and things like tragedies. That's not the type of grief we're talking about today. There's a grief that is more of like being sad or disappointed when you call this the disappointment of Jesus, but I think grief is a better word. Disappointed with people, disappointed with your community, disappointed with your family, disappointed with people through their actions, their decisions. If you have children, you understand this, amen. And you remember what it was like when you were a child. And it was always the worst when your father or mother or parent or whoever, you did something wrong, and they weren't angry with you, but they were what? Disappointed. That was the worst because you understood that they grieved over what you had done. As Jesus enters the last week of his life, as he enters into Jerusalem, he verbally reveals his frustration, his disappointment, his grief for the Jewish people. And that's what we're looking at today, with the grief of Jesus. We're in Matthew 23. It is a long passage. So I'm just gonna read verses one through 12. Before we pray. Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, the scribes and the Pharisees, sit on Moses asleep. 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 it feasts in 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. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled. And whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Heavenly Father, we thank you today for this passage of Scripture you've given us or we do thank you for your word. And as we look at this passage of the day, Father, I pray that you would take these words written these these sermon that I've tried to develop you and make it into something supernatural, you would make it your word that we would hear it, we would receive it today that your spiritual workforce in this place, we ask these things in Jesus name, amen. This passage today, I want to give you five things that we see in this extended passage that that grieved Jesus five things that we see in this first 12 verses are kind of an introduction into this whole passage. And so it's kind of an introduction that gives us into these things. But and the overarching thing here that that grieves Jesus number one, is that he is grieved by hypocrisy. He's grieved by hypocrisy. Now, on some level, all people are hypocrites. We're all sinners. We all do things that we say we shouldn't do that on some level. That is the case, right? But he's talking about something much more deeper than just sinners not doing what they say they should do or want to do, or tell him to do it. He's talking about a deep level of hypocrisy. And he was grieved by it. versus one says, He said this disciples verse to that The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses seat and he says in verse three, so do observe whatever they tell you, but not through works for they preach. But they do not practice. Jesus tells his Jewish followers, that the scribes, the Pharisees, who were at the same time lawyers and theological scholars, that they they had the proper authority, both religious and legal in the Jewish community. So he says, because of that, listen to them, when they teach God's word, they have the proper authority, because we know that that God's word will not return void. And atheists can stand up here and read God's word and not believe it, but it would affect the believers hearts for our good, because it is powerful. It is living and active. So he says, they sit in Moses seat, it doesn't matter who says it, it'll have a supernatural effect. So listen to them. But that's as far as you go. Do not follow their examples of how they live. He says they preach. They don't practice what they preach every Have you heard that phrase before? You know, practice what you preach? Did you know it's in the Bible where they are right? It is. It's Biblical. They were the definition of hypocrites. A hypocrite is someone who says this, fill in the blank is what you must do. But they themselves don't even try to live up to that standard by which they have instructed others that is apostasy. We saw this during the COVID years, which almost seems like a fever dream doesn't it seems like something that didn't really happen. Look back at it. And we really go through all that craziness, right? We think about it. We saw this during the COVID law. As you may remember, the state of California had a very strict masking laws when you had to wear masks get away from the house, all these kinds of things and and during all this, there was a photo released of the governor of California at dinner with people and he wasn't wearing a mask. And everyone went wild over it. Right because it was a man who would have press conference after press conference telling people to wear masks, wear masks in your home, we'll find you if we catch you not wearing a mask all these things. And then there he was having some swanky dinner with some friends and family. And nobody was wearing a mask and people were upset about it, because that is the definition of hypocrisy. And this is what grieved Jesus. He further describes in verse four. He says this, they tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear. They lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with the finger. He says that that hypocrites place the burdens on people's backs. But they don't carry them they they place a moral burden of how they should live. But they don't even attempt to live that way. He says verse five, that they do all their deeds to be seen by others. Now without going into detail about these phylacteries and fringes, all these kind of things, which we could. It was part of their uniform as these religious leaders and they made them look ostentatious. They made them look visible, so that people from a long way away would say, oh, there is the chief priest, there is the Pharisee they must be super holy. The issue wasn't that they were wearing these uniforms issues that they made them so that they would bring attention to them. It will be like if we have if pastors were identified by a bow tie, it'd be like if I wear a bow tie this big are you think of as a cartoon character first, but you know what I mean, to draw attention to people. He says in verse six, they they love the the place of honor at feasts, and the best seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the marketplace. They love being called rabbi by others. What they loved most about being the religious leaders was being the religious leaders. That's what they loved about it, the position. They love the perks that came with their positions. But they didn't love the ministry. They didn't love the people. They loved the perks. Jesus says to His disciples did not put so much emphasis in titles. He says you're not to be called rabbi for you have one teacher and verse nine and call no man your father if you have one father and verse 10. Don't be caught instructors for you have one instructor what he's saying is that it's respectful to call people, especially religious leaders and government leaders is it's, it's respectful to call them by their titles, right. So you call them governor so and so and Mayor, so and so and Pastor so and so says that this was they were they were basically all in the same type of realm here in the Jewish community. He said, But don't view the person with the title as any better inherently better than those without. He says, because we're all from the same family. We're all in the same Jewish family. We all have the same teacher and father are God in heaven. And so then he then explains verse 11, true religious leadership, he says this, the greatest among you is not the ones that love the great things. The greatest among you is your servant. Whoever exalts himself, Jesus says, oh, he'll be humbled. But he humbles himself will be exalted. Jesus is grieved by hypocrisy. And so he instead he encourages his disciples, humility, and service. Number two, Jesus is grieved, also, by moralism. He's grieved by moralism. So at this point, Jesus turns and he speaks directly to the hypocrites of the day, the religious leaders, and he gives a series of woes which hearkened back to the way that the Old Testament prophets would speak. And he says in verse 13, but Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, and he calls them hypocrites, now a hypocrite refer to someone who was an actor. Literally, that's what it meant. They played a role that played a part, but they weren't really who they were portraying to be. So he calls the religious leaders, actors, which is an insult by the way, Woe to you, religious leaders, actors. Now, in the Old Testament tradition, the prophecy says Woe to them. And the religious experts certainly understood the reference certainly understood they were on the receiving end of an Old Testament prophetic message. He says this, in verse 13, you shut the kingdom of heaven, and people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in because of their hypocrisy, because of their false teaching. Instead of showing the way to the kingdom of heaven, they keep that door closed. They keep that portal closed. They were not teaching faith in God. They were not teaching faith in the coming Messiah. They were teaching faith and their own works. They were teaching moralism moralism is telling others what one must do to get into heaven. The Pharisees had all these rules by which they control the people, and they had to do in order to get in to the kingdom of God. So Jesus tells them that they close this door not only for the people, but they close it for themselves as well. Look at verse 15. He says, Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte. And when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. Whoa, Jesus put on the brakes now who Jesus is getting fired up. Still would sinning but he's getting fired up. He says that they go to great lengths to convert people to their religion, their moralism, but their religion makes them a child of hell, not of heaven. They do all this work just to make people believe they know God when they're really just children of the devil. So Jesus was grieved by this moralism. He was grieved by the emphasis on works and acts and looking the part and playing the part and not emphasizing the coming of the Messiah who was he was greed by moralism. Third, Jesus is grieved by dishonesty, dishonesty, Jesus then critiques a cultural practice of swearing on certain things. Well, we don't know what's known as making oaths. Look at verse 16. He says, What do you mean he calls them blind guides? What you don't want a guy that's been Line trust me, who say, If anyone swears by the temple it is nothing for anyone swears by the gold of the temple. He is bound by his oath you you blindfolds for which is greater the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred. And you say if anyone swears by the altar is nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift that is only the author, he is bound by those of you blind men, which is greater the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred. So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it. Whoever swears by the temple swears by it and him by who dwells in it, whoever swears by Heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by Him who sits upon it. What's he talking about? Well, Jews were not allowed to swear to god, this is one of the reasons why we don't encourage this either, you know, is odd when someone says I swear to God, it kind of makes us cringe for a reason. So they couldn't swear to God. So they would swear to godly quote unquote, things. Like the temple, or the gold in the temple or the altar, I swear by the altar, I swear by the Oregon, or the pulpit, or the piano, or the stained glass, windows, things like this, they will swear by godly things, to let them know how important this oath they're making is that couldn't swear by God. But they would do that. And then look for loopholes in their oaths to take advantage of people. It was a dishonest practice. So the religious leaders were dishonest. And they took their advantage of people by purely deceiving. This purposeful dishonesty, especially among the religious leaders grieved Jesus and aggrieved him today, they didn't have the right motivations. They were dishonest and what they were about and why they were the religious leaders. Let me ask you a question. What is your motivation for being here today? What is your motivation for being here today? There was a time or being a member of a church, especially in the south gained you a certain cultural advantage. Those times are long gone. We live in an ever increasing post Christian world, which is why if you're here today, you are God's people. I'm certain of it. Maybe 40 years ago, that might have been the case. The pews might have been filled with lost people who were just here because it looked good. Those days are gone. But maybe you're here for primarily for for business contacts. Or maybe you're here just to cause problems, which I hope not. Or maybe you're here to gain some position by which people can be impressed by you. I don't know what your motivation is. Hopefully, it's not a bad motivation. Hopefully, none of us have those bad motivations. But if it is, if you search your heart, and it's not what it should be, Jesus would say to you well to you. If your primary motivation for being here is not to know Christ better, and to grow closer to Him, you're here for the wrong reasons. So what is your motivation? Are you honest with yourself as to why you are here? Today, because Jesus is grieved by dishonesty and motivations with his people. Number four. Jesus is grieved by virtue signaling, virtue signaling, I did not make that word up. This is what the new generation you know, we're in the old generation. Now I'm in Generation X. And we're I'm old now. It's all about the millennials and my kids are Gen Z. Then my daughter tells me my two youngest children are a completely different generation. They're the Alpha generation which scares me What is that gonna be like the Alpha generation, while right. But But virtue signaling is what our generation calls the the idea of being sanctimonious, what we used to call self righteous, self righteous virtue signaling it, it's making a point of showing others how pious how holy how good a person is. Look at Holy I am. Let me tell you how old I am. Let me show you how holy I am. He says in verse 23, Woe to you scribes, the Pharisees, hypocrites. For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and neglect Did the weightier matters of the wall justice and mercy and faithfulness? These y'all to have done without neglecting the others? You blind guides straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel, Jesus pump the brakes, right? What is he saying? He says the hypocrites tides, either spice racks. They gave 10% of everything that existed. They were so good people could see that they saw that they they would know that. But, justice, mercy. They knew nothing of those things. Because it didn't necessarily make them look good. If they did, man, they would do it. What's talking about when talks about gnats and camels? Well, gnats and camels are both considered unclean animals. So believe it or not, some especially pious people would put up screens to keep gnats from flying into their homes and to their areas I lived in because of a gnat flew in and accidentally gotten into their drink and they accidentally drank it and then that went into their body then they broke a commandment so they didn't want to do it unknowingly. So let's let's put up screens in case and that comes in and gets into my coffee Jesus says the same people who are doing this are off on the side when I'm I can see eating whole camels he says they're blind are hypocrites. People see through their show and that's one of the interesting things about hypocrisy is most people see through it. But they do it anyway. There a policy of virtue signaling is no look at me I got these these these screens up somewhat accidentally swallow a nap. Meanwhile, I'm over there eating the hoofs off the camel. He says verse 25, what do you ascribe some Pharisees, hypocrites for you clean the outside of the cup and the plate but inside there full of greed and self indulgence, you Blind Pharisee first clean the inside of the cup on the plate and the outside also may be clean. Woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones, and all uncleanness so you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Now, this makes a little more sense to us here. I took it to your house and served a dinner. And I cook for you which had been a minor minor miracle. And, and I gave him a good china. And I said, you know, I just washed this for you. So I'll clean up like, expected that thanks. And you look inside the bowl. And there's like dead flies and cobwebs. Leftover stained macaroni and cheese and all kinds of stuff. You said this isn't clean. I began looking at the outside of that box is sparkling clean. You didn't clean the inside? Why do you need the inside clean? Because that's where the food goes. That's the most important part. See what Jesus is saying. You look good on the outside. But inside your moldy, dirty. Your heart is sick, then it makes it even worse. He talks about tombs which they couldn't be arounded people. It's like It's like It's like It's like you go to a tomb and you and you whitewash it. And you say I have the prettiest tomb here. We get the most beautiful ornate tomb. It's whitewashed, it's, it's clean. And he says that's silly. Why would you care so much about that? When inside the tomb, it's just a bunch of pile of bones. He says that, on the outside hypocrites. You look clean. But inside your hearts are dirty. Inside there is death. They were spiritually dead. So Jesus is grieved by virtue signaling and the number five. Maybe the thing that grieved him the most is his greed by ignorance. Ignorance from people who should not have been ignorant people who should have known better verse 29. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying if we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them and shedding the blood of the Prophet he says, Listen, we would not have killed the prophets like our fathers and we can't imagine why they did that. We celebrate the prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and all them, we would not have tried to kill them. First 31 Thus, you witnessed against yourself that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure your father's You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? He says, verse 34, therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues, and persecute from town to town, so that it on you may come all the righteous bloodshed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Bera kya, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar, truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Now, if they weren't going to kill them before they were going to kill them now. He says, the ignorance of the religious leaders grieved Jesus the most they would say, how can our ancestors killed the prophecy says, You killed one, just recently between the sanctuary and the altar. You killed one what? We would never you did? And you will. Because you will do this. They were ignorant of the past. They are ignorant of the truth. They are ignorant of their own sin. They were ignorant, and Jesus grieves for them. When we see here, verse 37, to 32. And he says it's like he's dead in the woods. He's on the seventh woes. And then sorrow and grief come out. He says, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. City, a God, City of David, the once center of the known world. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. Just how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, you are not willing. So your house is left to you desolate For I tell you, you will not see me again. Until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Jesus wanted to be like a mother hen. Who would take all the little chickadees under her wing. But they wouldn't go. They will rebellious. This grieved Jesus, if your parents you know how it is, as you always want your kids to come to you just want them to make good decisions. You don't want them to be ignorant of things and they don't. They're rebellious and aggrieved you. Jesus could not make them have faith in who he was. He couldn't force faith. Faith is something you have to have on your own. You have to be convicted and put your faith in Jesus. So he grieved their ignorance. What area in your life today? As we look through this passage? Are you guilty of grieving Jesus today? Is it? Is it hypocrisy? Is it moralism? Is it dishonesty? Is it virtue signaling in some way is even harder now? The virtue signaling with social media, very careful with it. It's so easy to do it. Is it? Ignorance? Maybe you didn't know what you didn't know? Have you ever thought that there might be a place in your life where Jesus is green? Now here's the good news. Jesus to you, is like a mother hen whose wings erode. He says just come in. Just come to me. Quit rebelling. Quit putting on a show. Quit playing a role. Follow me. income to me. Amen. It's a matter of what we've done. It's a matter of the sin we've committed. If we repent, come to Jesus. He takes us down that's the gospel If that's the gospel, he takes us in today. If there's something in your life that's grieving Jesus, leave it there. Give it to him. And he says, Come on in. So he can be proud of who you are. Because you put your faith in him. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this passage. It grieves us to read about these things, these woes. It's hard to read through it and hard listen and hard preach. NOT want to incur encouragement there for us. But the encouragement Father, that we can turn to you, we can turn to you at any point, and you receive this father, there's one here that's never placed their faith in you that today they would do that. And that they would come into your family. For those of us Lord who have strayed and find ourselves doing things and living ways we should not do or we know is wrong. And today we make a commitment or to to follow you and to come into your into your brood, so to speak, Lord, you'd bring us in. We would stay there we love you. We ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.