As we are winding down our exposition of Matthew 23 on Sunday morning, we have observed some graphic imagery of Jesus to describe the self-righteous hypocrites. In a word, Jesus detests hypocrisy. He never negotiates or compromises with it. He hates it, and it must be eradicated from our lives. What is also interesting is our Lord’s discussion of hell. Matthew is the gospel that speaks of hell the most, and in Matthew Jesus never brings up hell to a pagan (not that it would be wrong to do so). Rather, when Jesus talks about hell in Matthew it is always in a context of religious people. Or to put it another way, Jesus addresses the subject of hell to a group of people that don’t believe they are going there (just read Matthew 7:21-23). It really is amazing to study. Here are a few other “terms of endearment” Jesus gives the self-righteous hypocrites.
1. Corrupt leaven (Luke 12:1).
2. Whitewashed tombs (Matthew 23:27).
3. Concealed tombs (Luke 11:44).
4. Wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15).
5. Hypocrites (a personal favorite of Matthew) (Matthew 6:2, 5, 16; 15:7; 22:18; 23:13, 15, 23, 27, 29; 24:51
6. Blind (Matthew 15:14; 23:16, 17, 19, 24, 26)
7. Offspring of vipers (Matthew 3:7; 23:33)
8. Children of the devil (John 8:44)
Clearly Jesus had no use for religious hypocrisy. And we should seek to rid it from our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment