Tag: Pharisees

Jesus’ Harsh Words: The Grace of Rebuke

Matt Erickson2 Comments
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In Luke 11, Jesus offers a series of rebukes to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. These leaders not only had the Word of God but held authority for the Word of God in the lives of others. This should stop us in our tracks as pastors, ministry leaders, elders, or anyone who has some role of authority in the lives of others.

There are certain things about us—things we do and things inside of us—that are distasteful to Jesus. We must hear this side of Jesus’ teaching. We must reconsider whether we only take in Jesus’ loving, gentle words or whether we hear the comprehensive breadth of Jesus’ words. We must open our ears and hear even the words of rebuke as if they were spoken to us.

If our first response to Jesus’ rebuke is to think of how they apply to someone else, then we are likely avoiding the word that Christ is speaking directly to us. We must receive the hard words of Christ with radical humility and openness to correction for our thorough transformation. The spotlight is upon us and we should not be quick to divert it toward another.

The piercing sword of rebuke is a grace and it is vital that we remember that fact. The first step toward healing is an accurate diagnosis. Jesus’ rebuke is the difficult diagnosis that leads to the Soul-physician’s surgical grace in removing sickness from us in order to make our souls whole.

Jesus rebukes the Pharisees first of all because there is a different and better type of cleanness than what they are concerned about. They are concerned about external and superficial cleanliness but not the internal and deeper cleanliness. They are concealing deeper uncleanness of soul under the cover of superficial cleanness. They are like whitewashed graves that are clean and beautiful on the outside but hold death and decay inside.

The cure is found through Jesus the Life-giver who points the way through generosity to the poor (Luke 11:41), attention to justice, and practicing the love of God (11:42). Is this a salvation by works? No, it is the fruit of repentance as we turn toward God from self-seeking religion and hypocrisy. As we repent, Jesus leads us beyond ourselves into something stronger and more alive. It is the healing pathway out of soul-sickness.

Jesus secondly rebukes the experts in the Law because they have kept life from others. They weigh people down with religious burdens, locking the door to life by their mishandling of God’s Law. God’s Word intends to bring life but they wield it in such a way that life is snuffed out through incorrect usage.

The anger of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law reflects the reality that Jesus has touched upon a nerve with His rebuke. Do we feel angry or uncomfortable with the words of Jesus? Do we attempt to turn the attention of the difficult diagnosis toward someone else? Is it too painful to hear?

Linger in it. Do not flinch. Open your heart and mind to the rebuke of Jesus. Inside the rebuke is the grace of a loving and healing God.

What is the Heart of the Spiritual Life with God?: Jesus’ guidance about what truly defiles

Matt Erickson1 Comment

Jesus takes us beyond outward observation into the very heart of our lives. In Matthew 15, a special envoy of Pharisees from Jerusalem arrives to interrogate Jesus. But it is Jesus who confronts them about their confusion over what defiles and what the heart of true spirituality with God is all about.

Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.” (Matthew 15:10b-11)

Jesus wants to take His hearers, and us, deeper than mere outward observance. While there is so much more to Jesus’ ministry, there are at least three things we gather that Jesus intends to do through His teaching and ministry here:

  1. to bring us to the end of ourselves and our power where we know we need an intervention from God
  2. to transform us from the inside out through His saving intervention on the Cross 
  3. to grow us in the abundant life with God through obedience as we walk by faith under the influence of the indwelling Holy Spirit

The Pharisees missed the point about what defiles human life. For something to be defiled meant that it was not holy and could not be in God’s presence or that it was displeasing to God. The Pharisees had become so enamored with ritual purity that they thought ritual purity was primarily about what came into a person as the source of defilement. They knew it was not merely food that could defile someone. Skin diseases, bodily fluids, or contact with someone who was unclean also could be sources of defilement. But the principle behind the Pharisees’ approach to living with God was that the external was what defiled. As Jesus says, they are blind guides who will lead others astray into further blindness.

Jesus, however, brings the discussion about defilement to a deeper level. He says it is not what comes into us but what comes out of us that defiles. Our words are one aspect of that, but more deeply it is what comes from our hearts, or our inner life. Look at Jesus’ words again:

But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. (Matthew 15:18-19)

We must turn to our hearts. Again and again, Jesus drives toward the human heart. In Matthew 12, He says:

The mouth speaks what the heart is full of. A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. (Matthew 12:34b-35)

Jesus is a spiritual cardiologist of sorts, a spiritual heart doctor, and He is trying to get us back to that place with the living God. So how would Jesus diagnose our hearts? What soul-surgery would He recommend? How might we invite Him to do what’s necessary in the deep places of our lives?

Two Contrasting Ways: The Pharisees and Jesus’ Disciples

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In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 23, Jesus follows a series of attacking questions from religious leaders with a scorching critique of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.” (Matthew 23:1-7)

There are three main claims that Jesus makes against these religious leaders. First of all, they are inconsistent (23:3), saying one thing and doing another. Second of all, they burden people (23:4). Their teaching is like burdensome loads on people’s shoulders and they don’t lift a finger to help. This is in dramatic contrast with Jesus’ own words: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30). Third, these teachers of the Law and Pharisees are concerned with appearances and reputation (23:5-6). They focus on what they wear as a sign of religiosity and seek out places of honor in the synagogue and other religious gatherings.

Unfortunately, these figures have lost the point of what relationship with God is all about. The Pharisees were known to give minute attention to the Law of God to a point of detail that they had become legalistic and over-scrupulous in Jesus’ day.  In a sense, they seem full of life, but their life is more truly marked by missing the point, a sort of spiritual death.

Jesus offers a stark contrast between these ways of the Pharisees and the way of Jesus’ disciples.

“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:8-12)

Jesus disciples take a different way. They are called to shun titles and the praise of people (23:8-10). While Jesus singles out the titles “Rabbi,” “Father,” and “Instructor,” these are not the only forms such pride could take. Any title can become a source of pride: Pastor, Elder, Teacher, Council member, Usher, Bible Study or small group leader…you name it, and the human heart can turn it into something to be prideful about. As John Calvin said, “the human heart is a perpetual idol factory.” On the positive, Jesus’ disciples are to follow Jesus’ humble path (23:11-12). Jesus was a humble servant, as most powerfully described in Philippians 2:5-11. Jesus did not grasp ahold of glory for His own use and advantage, but emptied Himself in order to take on human life. As a human, He lived humbly in the form of a servant even to death on a Cross. He became a servant to bring us to God.

Jesus’ way of life – what we call discipleship or Christian formation – is marked by a lively humility that is quite unlike the deathly way of the religious leaders. 

The Woes of the Religiously Misguided

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Continuing our Lenten preaching series, “Scandalous Jesus,” this past weekend at Eastbrook we traveled through Matthew 23. In this chapter-long discourse, Jesus sharply names casts deep shadows over the ways the teachers of the law and Pharisees have lost their way with God. This is no simple passage, however, but calls each of us to a response with Jesus ourselves.

This message is from the ninth part of our longer journey through the Gospel of Matthew, which includes “Family Tree,” “Power in Preparation,” “Becoming Real,” “The Messiah’s Mission,” “Stories of the Kingdom,” “Who Do You Say I Am?“, “‘Tis the Reason,” and “Jesus Said What?!“

You can find the message video and outline below. You can also view the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.” (Matthew 23:3)

Three Critiques of Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees (23:1-6)

They are inconsistent (23:3)

They burden people (23:4)

They are concerned with appearances and reputation (23:5-6)

A Contrast for Jesus’ Disciples (23:8-12)

Shunning titles and praise from people (23:8-10)

Following Jesus’ humble path (23:11-12)

Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees (23:13-36)

1. They keep people out of God’s kingdom (23:13)

2. They make converts who become as misguided as them (23:15)

3. They make oaths that show their blindness about spiritual matters (23:16-22)

4. They practice detailed obedience while disobeying in important matters (23:23-24)

5. They look clean on the outside but are polluted in their inner lives (23:25-26)

6. They look righteous on the outside but are hypocrites on the inside (23:27-28)

7. They stand violently against God’s purposes and messengers (23:29-36)

A Lament from Jesus over Jerusalem (23:37-39)

Jesus’ desire to gather for healing (23:37)

The reality of impending destruction (23:38-39)

Dig Deeper

This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:

  • Memorize Matthew 23:11-12.
  • Take some time to pray through Matthew 23, letting God reveal any areas where you have gotten off-track in your life with God. Confess and repent of those wrong ways in prayer. If there is someone you need to make things right with, prayerfully reach out to them.
  • Prepare for Holy Week by reading Matthew 26 and 27.

Jesus on Divorce and Marriage

Matt EricksonLeave a comment

This past weekend at Eastbrook, we continued our preaching series entitled “Jesus Said What?!” by turning to another tough topic: divorce and marriage. But is that really the only point of these passages? We look at two important passages on these topics in Matthew 19:1-12 and Matthew 22:23-33.

This message is from the eighth part of our longer journey through the Gospel of Matthew, which includes “Family Tree,” “Power in Preparation,” “Becoming Real,” “The Messiah’s Mission,” “Stories of the Kingdom,” “Who Do You Say I Am?“, and “‘Tis the Reason.”

You can find the message video and outline below. You can also view the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

“Haven’t you read,” Jesus replied, that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” (Matthew 19:4-5)

The First Test (Matthew 19:1-12)

The hostile question from the Pharisees (19:3)

Background on divorce in Jesus’ day

Starting in the right place:

  • First principles: Genesis 1:27; 2:24 (19:4-6)
  • Second principles: Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (19:7-9)

The disciples’ shock and the invitation to celibacy for the kingdom (19:10-12)

Key points:

  • The issue of divorce
  • The approach to questions
  • The deeper issue of hard hearts

The Second Test (Matthew 22:23-33)

The hostile question and parable from the Sadducees (22:23-28)

Background on levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25:5-10)

Jesus’ first response (22:29-30)

Jesus’ second response (22:31-32)

Key points:

  • The issue of remarriage and resurrection
  • The approach to questions/debates
  • The deeper issue of disregard for Scripture and God’s power

Responding to Jesus

God and Our Relationships

Questions and MotivationsHearts and Minds

Dig Deeper:

This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:

  • Memorize Matthew 19:6 or 22:32
  • Take time alone with God this week to let God search your heart and mind. Like the Pharisees, have you become hard-hearted? Like the Sadducees, are you disregarding God’s Word or power?
  • Pray about relationships this week. If married, pray for God’s grace and power in your marriage. If single, pray you might live for God’s glory in your singleness. If desiring marriage, pray the Lord would provide a spouse who honors Him but also for true contentment. If divorced, pray for healing from the wounds and scars of divorce. Regardless, ask God to minister to our church so that in all our relationships we would seek Him first.