Matthew 23:1–39

Be careful! There is false teaching where you are!

Jesus warned those who listened to him against false religion. It seemed to be correct. But it did not bring honour to God.

In the first century, there were many religious systems. But Jesus was not speaking about false religion in this passage. He spoke about something that was more dangerous than that. It was to give the wrong meanings to true religion. That was what Jesus condemned.

There was the religion of the teachers and of the Pharisees. It was often wrong. But some very sincere people tried to obey it. The many rules and regulations were often stupid. Only very religious people could have accepted them. The religion of the teachers and of the Pharisees seemed to be very spiritual. It seemed to be about the right things. Its disciples were very eager to be right. They were eager to do what was right too. So, the OT was the most important thing for them.

But there was a danger in all this. The religious teachers and the *Pharisees had started right. Then they completely changed the true religion. It was hard to tell what was true and what was false. This is what Jesus talked about in the rest of the chapter.

Jesus suggested that this sort of religion was like a heavy load. It became just two long lists. There was a list called ‘Things that you must do’. There was another list called ‘Things that you must not do’. But this religion offered nothing that would make the load lighter. (Compare 11:28–30.) The teachers forced heavy loads on other people. But they found ways to avoid the load themselves.

There are people who have a religion like this. But these people have a wrong idea about the life that pleases God. (Read verses 5–11.) They want power and honour. They want people to respect and admire them. But Jesus gave a contrast. He spoke about the attitude of a real believer. A real believer is a servant of the Father in heaven. He or she is a servant of the *Messiah. (Read verses 9–10.) There should always be a humble attitude in every action.

Very bad trouble will come (verses 13–39)

In these verses, Jesus pointed out some wrong attitudes. He was speaking about the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. It was their wrong attitudes to God’s word. They were giving wrong meanings to true religion. This was what Jesus taught. In this way, they avoided God’s word. (Read verses 16–22.)

An oath (a strong promise) had a purpose. It should mean that people could trust the words that followed. The teachers explained God’s word. But they did it in a way that made it easy to tell lies!

At the time of Jesus, there was an important subject. It was about an oath (strong promise). Jews often discussed when you must do what you had promised. But Jesus spoke about the important matter immediately. He reminded those who listened about the purpose of God’s laws. His laws in the OT were there to protect the truth. But the religious leaders did not seem to care about this. They invented ways to make oaths that had no meaning.

Then Jesus spoke about the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. Their ideas about what was important were all wrong. They obeyed all the rules of the *OT. But they forgot the principles of the rules. These principles explained the rules. (Read verses 23–24.)

True religion affects the whole person. (Read verses 25–28.) Jesus gave two examples of this fact. First, he mentioned how careful the religious leaders were. They obeyed all the rules about ceremonies. They washed in special ways. They did this to make themselves ‘clean’. But Jesus described what this was like. It was as if they had washed the outside of cups and dishes. But inside they were full of dirt. Jesus said that the religious leaders were like this. They obeyed all the rules. But they did not care about the need to be morally good. Jesus’ point is clear. There must be a change of attitudes. Otherwise, there can be no real change in a life.

The next example is in verses 27–28. It is similar to the first one. The *Jews buried dead people in special graves. They made the grave by cutting into the rocks. A large round stone would often cover the entrance. These graves could be anywhere. Religious people might touch them by mistake. This would make these people ‘dirty’. So, people would paint the graves white. This could make them look attractive on the outside. But, inside the grave there were bones of dead people. Jesus said that the religion of the false teachers might look attractive. But it did not deal with the bad attitudes of men and women.

There was more. (Read verses 29–36.) People whose religion had false ideas refused to listen to the truth. Jesus said that the religious leaders were like this. These leaders were proud. In the past, Jews had behaved very badly. The religious leaders said that they would never have behaved like them. They were sure about this. In the past, Jews had acted against God’s prophets. The leaders thought that they would never behave like that. But, Jesus and his disciples were speaking God’s word to these leaders. And their reactions were exactly the same. Jesus made this clear to the religious leaders.

Jesus had some difficult things to say. But he did not say them in an unkind way. His great desire was that the people would accept him. So, he called those who were listening to him. He called them to come to him. But he warned them too. If they refused, there would be *judgement for them. (Read verses 37–39.)

Questions

• Other people can make religious demands on us. We can demand things from ourselves too. They can be things that Jesus does not ask from us. Why does this happen? Is it because of our consciences? Or is it because of what people might say? How can we escape from a false guilty feeling?
• Christians must declare the full message of the gospel (the Good News about Jesus). It is Good News. But it includes the fact of *judgement. God must judge people who refuse to accept Jesus. How can we declare these truths in a gentle way? Should we ever speak like Jesus spoke in this passage?
• Non-Christians think that religion is dull. They feel that it is not important in their lives. They also think that it is hard and unkind. The Bible would show them that their ideas are wrong. How can people who are in the church help them? How can they show them what true religion is like?