Children of Hell

Matthew 23:1-33

Immanuel – 3/16/25

          God cared and provided for Israel like a beloved bride. He forgave her offenses, broke her bonds of slavery, and brought her into a land of abundance. Even after she repeatedly wandered from Him, and gave herself over to sin and self-destruction, God never gave up on His beloved bride. Again and again, He rescued her, healed her wounds, washed her in His word.

          His steadfast love and faithfulness never failed. And God made a promise to His people: At the fullness of time He would come to them. He would walk among them. Here’s one of the more obvious prophecies:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.                                                          -Isaiah 9:6

          This prophesied Son would be called Mighty God. God Almighty loved His people with fierce love, and He was coming to dwell among them. And this child would become Israel’s, and humanity’s, Everlasting Father. It was prophesied.

          The prophesies also pointed to a specific time when this God-Son would appear. The Jews of Jesus’ day understood they were living in the time of expectation. It’s why there was so much messianic fervor, so much anticipation of Roman overthrow, so much zealotry. In those days there were many messianic imposters. It’s why the religious leaders were so leery of anyone claiming messianic authority.

          Isn’t that how this whole confrontation in the temple began, back in chapter 21, with the religious leaders demanding to know where Jesus’ authority came from? They challenged His authority. They did not trust Him. They did not believe Him. They wanted to destroy Him.

          The Messiah, the God-Son, was in their midst, but they could not see Him. Those who were meant to lead Israel to God, were incapable of seeing God who dwelt among them. Indeed, they were not children of God. They were children of hell. And today we hear Jesus denounce them, and warn His disciples not to become like them.

          Read vs 1

          After multiple attempts trying to trap Jesus in words, the Pharisees and Sadducees have been silenced. As 22:46 says, they did not dare to ask Him any more questions.

          But still standing there in the temple court, Jesus begins to speak. Listening are Jesus’ disciples, some that may become disciples, and some that are skeptical. Then there are those in the crowd that outright oppose Jesus; not the least of which would be the Pharisees. Indeed, the Pharisees are in this crowd too.

          Brothers and sisters, it would do us well to place ourselves in that crowd, and to heed these warnings and woes. Terrible is the alternative!

          Read vs 2-3

          Moses’ seat is a metaphorical way to say that the Pharisees were teaching authoritatively from the Mosaic Law. They were the authorities on what God’s law said and how people were to obey it. Jesus disagreed with the Pharisees on many points, but these religious leaders really did believe and teach many things that were true.

          So it is with biting irony that Jesus tells the crowd, “Obey what the Pharisees teach, just don’t do what they do! Some of the things they teach you are commendable, but they do not practice what they preach.”

          All of us know what this means. Someone talks about their dynamic relationship with God, they tell other people how to have one too, but get beneath the surface of their lives just a little bit and find that they are nothing like the person they say they are. Someone who does not practice what they preach is a hypocrite.

          Jesus then goes on to warn the crowd of their hypocritical practices.

          Read vs 4

If you can move your finger to help, it is literally the least you could do. But even this least amount of effort, the Pharisees are not willing to do. What does this look like? When people struggle to do the things the Pharisees teach, the Pharisees tell them they wouldn’t struggle so much if they did it better. “Do better. Be better.”

A parent that constantly tells their child to be better, and does not comfort, does not help, and does not show affection unless the child meets expectations; is a parent that loads their child with guilt, insecurity, anxiety, and a complex of other issues. This is what happens when someone is taught that good performance earns love. Such is the crushing burden the Pharisees placed upon the shoulders of the Jews: Only good performance earns you favor with God.

Contrast this with Jesus’ words.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 

-Matthew 11:28-30

Regardless of your starting point, Jesus beckons every sinner to come to Him. If you are crushed by the burdens of life, exhausted by trying to perform, He calls to you. He is gentle and lowly. The burden He offers lifts the heart. The work He gives brings rest to your soul.

But to walk in the way of the Pharisees, to listen to their teaching, is to think that God will only accept you when you have made yourself good enough. It is to think that you are too unworthy to receive His love. It is to perform, and do lots of religious things, and to do ministry, so that you can convince yourself, and you can convince others, that you are good enough. But God sees right through it.

Yes, such is the way of the Pharisees. So much of what they did was simply so others would see it.

Read vs 5-7

In obedience to the laws of Shema (which we read last week) the Pharisees would wear portions of the law in a little box tied to their foreheads. These are called phylacteries. Most Jews only wore phylacteries during prayer; the Pharisees wore them all the time and wore ones that were bigger.

The Mosaic Law required the fringes of a garment to have tassels. Jesus wore these tassels. But the tassels on the Pharisee’s garments were longer and more ornate. Large Phylacteries, long tassels, how magnificent! How religious!

In secular spaces, the Pharisees were offended when they did not get seats of honor. They wanted people to give them recognition in the marketplace. They wanted to be treated like rabbis. In Jesus’ day, the title “rabbi” was used for more than just teachers. Sometimes it was even used of princes. There was a certain magnificence associated with the title “rabbi.” In both a religious context and a secular context, the Pharisees craved magnificence.

But it must not be like that for the disciples of Jesus! Followers of Jesus are not to seek the applause of men.

Read vs 8-10

Rabbi, father, instructor: all titles that disciples of Jesus are to repudiate. Jesus is not saying that there can’t be teachers and spiritual fathers in the church. If He was, then all the teachings in the New Testament – outside of the Gospels – could not exist. What Jesus is saying is that though you might be gifted to teach, don’t do it for the recognition. You may have discipled someone in the faith, but do not insist that they give you an honorary title – like father. You might have a PhD, but are you really going to make everyone call you doctor?

Though I am the Senior Pastor of this church, the only things I have to offer are that which Christ has already given to me. He placed it in my hands so I could gift it to you. Likewise, what God has gifted you with, becomes a gift to me. We are gifts to one another, you and I. Neither is better. None are above. I have not been given special revelations. I have the same book as you. And just like you, I am striving to live up to the words that I preach, wanting to become more and more like Christ. All of us disciples must not fix our eyes on any man, but on Christ, our great instructor and our Everlasting Father.

While the Pharisees used titles and externals to make themselves increase in everyone’s eyes, disciples make Jesus increase while we decrease! We disciples serve one another, we love one another, we chose the path of humility, and we make Christ increase for one another. That’s the thrust of verses 1-10.

Read vs 11-12

We have heard Jesus teach this same thing numerous times before in the Gospel of Matthew. When God looks at His people, the great ones are the ones serving, living self-sacrificially for the sake of others, laying aside their desires, ambitions, plans, even their own rights, for the good of others. Is this not what Christ has done for us? The Pharisees would not lift a measly finger. Jesus gave His life.

Only the path of humility will lead to exaltation. In the kingdom of God, lowliness is glory, gentleness is honorable. Those that make demands, that cut out others who do not feed their ambitions, who objectify people, who are high on their own self-importance, these shall be humbled.

Then, the God-Son, goes on to proclaim seven woes over the Pharisees. There are Pharisees in the crowd, but the denouncements are really against the whole pharisaic system: what they Pharisees taught, what their followers believed, what they all practiced. These are woes against the Pharisees of that generation and not anyone here. But beware of their hypocrisy!

The woes Jesus pronounces are filled with righteous anger towards the Pharisees. But He is also grieved. I want you to hear anguish in Jesus’ voice: sadness and indignation. It becomes obvious after we hear Jesus’ fiery words today, and next week we will hear His lament over Jerusalem. This whole pharisaic system makes Him furious and mournful.

Before we step through these seven woes, a quick parenthesis.

(Parenthesis)

You’ll perhaps notice that verse 14 is missing from our Bibles. The words of verse 14, which you will find in the footnotes, were certainly said by Jesus, but we find them accurately recorded in Mark and Luke. Most scholars I came across agree that verse 14 was a scribal error, so they drop it to the footnotes.

(Close Parenthesis)

Read vs 13

How terrible for the God-Son to say that you have shut the door to His kingdom, which He has opened, in people’s faces! What a terrifying indictment!

Instead of showing the people how to have relationship with God, the Pharisees gave them rules instead. Instead of showing them God’s love, they made them feel guilt. It would be like never talking to your spouse, but thinking that working hard all day, putting food on the table, making sure your chores are all finished, that these are the things that would make her love you. You’ve earned it, so you deserve it. But what really happens is that you’ve slammed shut the door of your heart and there is no relationship.

The Pharisees have taught people to relate to God in this kind of way. Then, perhaps even worse, they have clearly been influencing the Jews not to follow Jesus. Whatever Jesus would open to them, the Pharisees would be quick to shut. They claim to know God, but they refuse to listen to the God-Son. Hypocrites!

Read vs 15

The Pharisees were so zealous for God that they went on mission trips – certainly a more difficult task than it is today! Not only did they shut the door to the kingdom on their proselytes, or converts, but they made them into worse children of hell than them. They taught their new disciples the same hypocrisy they were engaged in. Often, new converts are more zealous than those who converted them. Brimming with religious fervor, the zealous converts became twice the children of hell as the Pharisees.

Don’t miss that, Jesus called the Pharisees children of hell. Surely, this enraged them! The fact they could not recognize this, yet proclaimed to be children of God: Hypocrites! I can’t help but think of Proverbs, and that a fool does not know he is a fool.

Read vs 16-22

Now Jesus calls the Pharisees blind. Those who claimed to see are lost in the darkness of their own hypocrisy!

The Pharisees had developed a dizzying number of rules surrounding oaths. Jesus lists a few examples. Jesus points out two fallacies in their thinking. First, their oaths lack common sense. An oath can be sworn on temple gold, but not the temple? The temple is where God dwells, and God’s presence makes both the temple and the gold sacred. How can anyone say the gold is more significant than that which contains the presence of God? There’s no common sense in it. Jesus points out the same lack of common sense in binding oaths to altars and heaven.

The second fallacy is implied. If anyone knows God, would they really think He is concerned with the precise wording of an oath? That’s not at all what God wants. God desires truthfulness. When you make a truth claim, simply let it be true. When you make a commitment, do what you have said.

In the Sermon on the Mount we heard Jesus teach,

“But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all… Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.”                   -Matthew 5:34,37

The Pharisees invoke oaths in an entirely nonsensical and superficial way. They claim to perceive spiritual truths, but they are unable to see the truth of their hypocrisy! As Jesus says in verse 19, “You blind men!”

Read vs 23-24

The Mosaic Law said that everything you own is God’s. Therefore, a tenth of Israel’s income and a tenth of their produce was to be returned to God. Even the smallest herbs of the garden were parsed out and tithed by the Pharisees – scrupulous law keepers that they were!

But as for mercy, they mercilessly held people to the ridged standards of their own traditions and teachings, burdening them with guilt and fear.

As for justice, they could not see the injustice of placing heavy burdens on the people while using every loophole they could to get around the law. For instance, the Law prohibited anyone from traveling far from their home on the Sabbath Day. The Pharisees would place provisions of food in houses or booths along the road, claim that those places became figurative homes when their food was inside, and they would travel much longer distances than the common Jew.

As for faithfulness, everywhere in Matthew’s Gospel, faith indicates relationship with God. They have neglected their relationship with God. They perform all the duties, they rigorously engage in rituals, they even teach other people about God; but they do not know God. They have entirely ignored Him. Even their prayers are devoid of relationship with God. Their religion is all about them. There is no faithfulness.

In their eagerness to follow the minutia of the law, they have forgotten God, and they do not love their neighbor. They have strained the gnat from their milk but have unwittingly swallowed a camel. (Both gnats and camels are unclean animals in the Law.) Jesus says, “Sure, don’t eat the gnat. But more importantly, refrain from devouring camels! Hypocrites!”

Read vs 25-26

Who would eat from a bowl that has been washed a thousand times, but only on the outside. The inside is grimy and nasty. The Pharisees were so concerned with externals – looking impressive, appearing religious – but they put no work into cleansing their hearts.

Instead, their hearts were full of greed and self-indulgence. A self-indulgent person continually gives in to their own desires: extra time to lounge, comfort in food, binging on entertainment, constantly treating themself. They lack self-restraint. They cannot and will not discipline themselves. Pharisees make it look like they are disciplined, but those are externals, they are a show. They are driven by their own selfish desires.

They are also full of greed. Yes, they’ve become rich on the backs of the people. But even if they appear to be zealous for God, their lives show that possessions and comfort are more important than faithful obedience. Pure on the outside, filthy on the inside. Hypocrites!

Verse 26 indicates that if the Pharisees repent, and turn from their self-indulgent and greedy ways, then they would be clean, they would find salvation. For they would see that they cannot make themselves clean, only the God-Son could do that. Only Christ can change the innermost parts of a person. Astounding, that even in the midst of pronouncing woes, Jesus is offering salvation.

Read vs 27-28

The Law declared that corpses and bones were unclean, as well as tombs. Tombs would be whitewashed so a passing Jew would not accidentally touch the tomb and become unclean. But, somewhat ironically, a whole hillside filled with whitewashed tombs was quite a beautiful sight.

The Pharisees were like these beautiful tombs filled with death. Their externals gave the pretext of righteousness, of a true worshipper of God – who is the source of all life. Meanwhile their hearts were filled with death – with hypocrisy and lawlessness. Calling the Pharisees lawless was a special kind of zinger.

To break one law is to become a lawbreaker. Jesus has said that the Pharisees are guilty of shutting people out of the kingdom, spiritual blindness; neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness; they are greedy and self-indulgent. The Pharisees must have been seething.

As we saw last week, the law is summed up with two laws. First, love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul. Love others as you love yourself. The Pharisees were guided by neither of these laws: only love for self – flagrant lawlessness. They put on a show of righteousness but are festering in deathly hypocrisy!

Read vs 29-32

If the Pharisees are building tombs and monuments for the prophets, it means that the prophets received no such honors when they died. These prophets were killed by the kings and religious leaders. But the Pharisees were not like those who came before them. They are better. They rightly honor the prophets. And the people applaud their vacuous virtue signaling.

But Jesus casts the prophet buriers in with the prophet killers. They wanted to honor the prophets, but they did not want to heed their message. They did not see themselves in the rebukes of the prophets, or hear in their ear the call to repent. They did not recognize the One to whom all the prophets pointed. Not only that, they wanted to kill Jesus. They witness against themselves: incriminated as prophet killers.

Jesus says, “Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.” Another way to say that would be, “Go ahead, finish the work your prophet-killing ancestors started.” And they will. They will have Jesus crucified. They will have His disciples executed.

Read vs 33

Serpents and vipers were often a symbolic way to speak of the demonic. The final home of demons is in the torment of hell. Not only has Jesus identified the Pharisees with prophet killers, but now He also identifies them with the demonic. How shall they, in all their self-righteous hypocrisy, escape being cast to the fire? Today, we let the question hang. What could they possibly have done to be saved?

Do you know? Judgement for lawlessness comes for all. Do you now how to be saved from condemnation?

Turn and follow Jesus. Come to Him to find rest. Learn what it means to have relationship with the Son of God. Find that all of your sins are forgiven, that the love of God is upon you, and there is nothing you must do to find God’s favor. Come to Jesus and find salvation and life and the unmerited love of God!

And how do you know if you are a hypocrite, especially since hypocrites are blind, and unable to see their hypocrisy?

Ask these diagnostic questions of yourself.

When you serve someone else, are you miffed if no one acknowledges it?

Do you stretch the truth about how much you pray, or read your Bible, or share the gospel?

Do you look down on other people for not putting in the same kind of effort you’ve put in?

Do you look down on them because they keep struggling with the same thing over and over again?

Do you judge people for the tiniest infractions while you are comfortable with your pet sins?

Do you concern yourself with people’s performance, meanwhile, you’ve done nothing to help them/encourage them in their relationship with God.

This woeful passage from Matthew 23 is in the Bible so we will wrestle with it, so we will look at ourselves and rend the roots of hypocrisy from our hearts. Let us not be whitewashed tombs, filled with death! Let no traces of pharisaic hypocrisy keep us from Jesus!

While the Pharisees used titles and externals to make themselves increase in everyone’s eyes, disciples are happy to decrease while they make Jesus increase! We disciples serve one another, we love one another, we chose the path of humility, and we make Christ increase for one another.