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The Lord Looketh On The Heart (Matthew 23) Jesus exposes and rebukes the destructive, hypocritical attitudes and actions of the scribes and the Pharisees. They tried to appear righteous to men, but Jesus knew their heart. |
The Lord Looketh On The Heart (Matthew 23)
Jesus exposes and rebukes the destructive, hypocritical attitudes and actions of the scribes and the Pharisees. They tried to appear righteous to men, but Jesus knew their heart.
- What they taught and practiced was different (v1-4) – their error here was not in teaching what was right but in teaching and not doing it themselves (Acts 1:1; James 1:22)
- They sought the praise of men, rather than God (v5) – wanted the praise of men and had their reward (Matt. 6:1ff).
- They glorified themselves, rather than God (v6-12) – they wanted to be exalted and so took the focus away from God, where it belonged (Matt. 5:16; 20:25-28; 1 Cor. 3:5).
- They destroyed themselves and others (v13-15) – not content with rejecting Jesus and destroying themselves, they also destroyed others (2 Pet. 2:1-2, 19 vs. 1 Tim. 4:16).
- They were unbalanced (v16-24) – their teachings were arbitrary and based on human wisdom; decided for them-selves what was important (Matt 7:1-5; 22:37-40; Col 3:17)
- They put up a façade (v25-28) – they appeared as one thing to men but they forgot that God knew their heart (1 Sam. 16:7; Rom. 2:16; Heb. 4:12-13).
- They were just like their fathers before them (v29-36) – they too would kill and reject those God sent to them, even Jesus (Matt. 26:3-4; Acts 4:17; 5:27-29, 40-42; Rom. 2:1ff).
- They had made God’s house their own, a house that would be destroyed (v23:37-24:2) – (Matt. 21:12-13; 15:8-9; Eph. 1:22-23; Matt. 7:24-27).
