Hey everybody! Thank you for joining me in daily Bible reading as we seek to glorify Jesus, know Him more, and interpret the truth of His Word.
If this is your first time going through the Bible, I am incredibly excited to have you here. If this is your 5000th time, I am humbled that you are here and hope you grow in your relationship with Jesus along with me. May we all seek to know Him more and apply what we learn to further our mission of spreading the gospel. If you missed a day and want to catch up, visit the archives page HERE! But there is no shame if you start today! Day 260, Matthew 23:25-26 — The Eight Woes Matthew 23:25-26 (NASB1995) “25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.” Context Matthew has been recording Jesus’ debate with the religious leaders since arriving in Jerusalem. Following a lengthy debate with them about taxes, marriage, and other topics, Jesus turns to His disciples to condemn woes upon the religious leaders for their hypocrisy and unbelief. A ‘woe’, or ouaí in Greek, is a term used ‘to pity’ or ‘proclaim doom on.’ Jesus is proclaiming ‘woes’ or ‘pity’ or ‘doom’ upon the religious leaders for several reasons: for being stumbling blocks to the lost sheep of Israel (v. 13), devourers of widows (v. 14), steering converted Gentiles away from God’s law into their more restrictive version of the law (v. 15), swearing oaths in God’s name (vs. 16-22), and being hyper-legalistic instead of loving (vs. 23-24). Review Yesterday, we read Jesus’ woe against the Pharisees for prioritizing their obedience in tithing while ignoring having justice and mercy for the people of Israel and faithfulness to God. God commanded Israel to tithe specific crops as a holy sacrifice in reverence to Him. However, the Pharisees added to this requirement by requiring one must include mint, dill, cummin, and other minuscule plants, spices, and herbs, even though God did not explicitly command it in the law. Notably, Jesus does not condemn the Pharisees for requiring further tithes in this woe. He condemns them for their legalistic obedience and ignorance. While obedience to the law was important, it did not eclipse truly knowing and loving Him and serving God’s people. Instead of focusing on what matters most to God, they were self-centered and ruthlessly burdensome. They only seek to serve themselves in their obedience to the law instead of faithfully serving God and His people. Matthew gives us this powerful image of the religious leaders carefully focusing on every little detail but missing what was much more significant in God’s sight: loving Him and loving others. In their obsession to obey God, they missed out on truly knowing Him. Discussion Today, we continue Jesus’ woes against the Pharisees. We briefly discussed this passage on Day 32 about Matthew 5:8. In that passage, Jesus speaks about the inward purity needed to enter the kingdom of heaven. The Greek word used for pure in that verse is katharós, meaning ‘clean’, ‘guiltless’, ‘innocent’, ‘virtuous’, and ‘void of evil’. Notably, katharós is the same word used for ‘clean’ in this passage, revealing that Jesus is speaking about one’s inward cleanliness or purity. Jesus says, “25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.” Ritual purity was important to the Pharisees as they would wash their cups and themselves in ritual baths for an image of outward purification.[1] Notably, there was a debate between the schools of Hillel and Shammai about this ritual cleansing.[2] The school of Shammai believed cups counted as clean if they looked outwardly clean.[3] Conversely, the school of Hillel believed the inside of the cup must be clean first.[4] Jesus’ woe figuratively sides with the school of Hillel about inward cleanliness or katharós, countering the Pharisees’ alignment with Shammai. The Pharisees emphasized having an image of outward purity to receive worldly honor and acclaim. They did this to look more godly and spiritual than others—and it worked. Their hyper-legalism gave them the appearance of holy men who were close to God. However, Jesus reveals their motivation for this image is for naught, as they remain inwardly destitute. Their good works were not from a clean heart of love for God and His people but from their love of themselves. Jesus adds, “26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.” Jesus references the school of Hillel’s belief about inward purity here as He condemns the Pharisees’ blatant ignorance. Because they were so hyper-focused on having an outward image of purity, they neglected God’s desire for them to have pure and undefiled hearts. Jesus clarifies they should repent and turn from their hypocrisy and genuinely turn to God, so they can properly serve the people of Israel as He desires. Instead, they remain hard-hearted and stand condemned in God’s sight because they refuse to repent and accept Jesus’ transformative teachings. We will continue Jesus’ woes tomorrow. Application Once again, Jesus’ woes provide a challenge for us to reflect. Do you often have a sense of pride in your religious practice and outward image? Do you boast about what you have done for the LORD? About your ‘title’ or ‘status’ within your local church? About whom you know? About how much better you are than other Christians? If so, you resemble the Pharisees, who were motivated by their titles, societal status, accomplishments, and image of holiness. Notably, it is not bad to be proud of your accomplishments. Obviously, the Pharisees boasted in their works from a defiled heart seeking acclaim from man. They cared not for others and did not genuinely love God. This is likely not as applicable, but pride’s deceptive whispers can lead to depraved thinking and the wide road to one’s self-destruction. Instead, we must remain focused only on Jesus and forfeit all worldly acclaim that seeks to put us on a pedestal. We must become lowly as we become more Christlike—as to be truly Christlike results in one’s complete death to self. There is almost nothing more important than this posture of self-death. The wide road of pride is always enticing, but we must discern when it lingers in our hearts. We must root it out and present ourselves to the LORD as a humble sacrifice. Without this posture of humility, one can easily fall into prideful temptations that seek an image of outward holiness and neglect inward purity. May we praise, worship, honor, and glorify Jesus every day in all that we do while continually pursuing righteousness, holiness, and forgiveness as He forgave us. Looking Ahead Thank you for joining today’s daily Bible reading! Next, we read Matthew 23:27-28. I hope you join me! I have made commenting available, so please feel free to discuss the reading and ask questions. If you do not want to discuss publicly, you can reach out to me privately. We are on this journey together. References [1] Craig Keener, “IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, Second Edition.” [2] Ibid. [3] Ibid. [4] Ibid.
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