During His time on Earth, Jesus Christ was a
skilled wordsmith. His communication had the ability to instruct, encourage,
criticize, or condemn. He used whatever communication that was needed at the
time to make His divine point.
The
eight “terribles” (or woes) apply primarily to a religious group in Jesus’ time
known as the Pharisees. The word Pharisee is derived from an Aramaic word
meaning, "separated." They were a group that held to the immortality
of the soul, the resurrection of the dead, and punishment or reward in the afterlife based on how one
behaved in their mortal life. Jesus portrays the Pharisees as religious
authorities who perform ritual observance of details, which made them look
acceptable outwardly, but left the inner person unreformed.
The
fact that there are eight terribles in Matthew 23 is significant. Seven is a
number of completeness, and eight is a number of new order. Seven days complete
one week, but the eighth day begins a new order.
A
Christian passes through many stages before being created in the likeness and
image of the Lord. “When anyone is in
Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything
is new! “(II Corinthians 5:17, ERV) Here are the eight terribles Jesus spoke upon
the Pharisees. (Do any of these apply to us today?)
1.
“How
terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You shut
people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter yourselves, and you won’t
allow those who want to enter to do so.” (Matthew
23:13, CEB) The
Pharisees
did all they could to shut others out
spiritually. False religion and pretense are always the worst enemies of the
truth. They are far more dangerous than immorality or indifference. The Pharisees were held guilty before God of blocking the way
for others seeking to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.
2.
“How
terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour
widows’ houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive
greater condemnation!” (Matthew
23:14, ISV) The Pharisees were charged with
devouring widows’ houses and making long prayers to impress others. The verse is
omitted in most manuscripts. The Pharisees taught about
God, but did not love God. They did not enter the Kingdom of Heaven themselves nor did
they let others enter.
3.
“How
terrible it will be for you, legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You
travel over sea and land to make one convert. But when they’ve been converted,
they become twice the child of Hell you are.” (Matthew
23:15, CEB) The Pharisees were described as extremely
energetic on both land and sea to make proselytes of the Jewish religion. But
when they were successful, Jesus said the above words. Christ used the word Gehenna, a reference to
eternal damnation, rather than to Hades, the temporary abode of the wicked in
the intermediate state. The Pharisees and their proselytes both would end up in
eternal damnation. They preached God but converted
people to dead religion.
4.
“How
terrible it will be for you blind guides who say, ‘If people swear by the
temple, it’s nothing. But if people swear by the gold in the temple, they are
obligated to do what they swore.’” (Matthew 23:
16, CEB) The Pharisees held
swearing by the gold of the temple bound the oath. Jesus denounced them as both
fools and blind, as obviously the gold was meaningless unless it was sanctified
by the temple, and the gift on the altar was meaningless unless it was given
significance by the altar. Christ concluded that an oath based on the temple
was binding, just as an oath based on Heaven carried with it the significance
of the throne of God, and God who sits on the throne.
5.
“How terrible it will
be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You give to God a tenth of
mint, dill, and cumin, but you forget about the more important matters of the
Law: justice, peace, and faith. You ought to give a tenth but without
forgetting about those more important matters. “(Matthew 23:23, CEB) The Pharisees showed hypocrisy in
tithing. While they were so concerned in paying the tithe down to the smallest
amount owed, they omitted the really important matters like obeying the law and
manifesting mercy and faith. Jesus repeated His charge that they were blind,
straining out a gnat or a small insect, but swallowing a camel. He was, of
course, speaking figuratively of their dealing with minutiae but omitting the
really important things.
6.
“How
terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You clean
the outside of the cup and plate, but inside they are full of violence and
pleasure seeking.” (Matthew 23:25,
CEB) Jesus repeated the
charge that the Pharisees were hypocrites (merely actors acting a part). Jesus
charged them with cleaning the outside of the cup and the platter but being
unconcerned about what was inside, where cleanliness really matters. He meant
by this that they were concerned with ceremonial cleanliness, that which men
observed, but not really concerned with holiness. While observing ceremonial
rites of cleansing, they were not above extortion and excess. They presented an
appearance of being self-restrained, and not involved in carnal matters, They
were dirty inside, and were full of hidden carnal desires. They were full of greed and self-indulgence.
7. “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites!
You are like whitewashed tombs. They look beautiful on the outside. But inside
they are full of dead bones and all kinds of filth.” (Matthew 23:27, CEB) , Jesus described them as whited sepulchers (graves)
that had been made beautiful and white on the outside, but within were full of
dead men’s bones. This illustrated that the Pharisees were outwardly righteous
but inwardly full of hypocrisy and iniquity. They exhibited themselves as
righteous on account of being scrupulous keepers of the law, but were in fact
not righteous. Their mask of righteousness hid a secret inner world of ungodly
thoughts and feelings. They were full of wickedness.
8. How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites!
You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. “(Matthew 23:29, CEB) Jesus
concluded with their building tombs of the prophets and garnishing them with
decorations and claiming that they would not be partakers with their fathers in
martyring prophets. Jesus called their very witness into account that they were
the children of those who killed the prophets. He told them, in Matthew 23:32 (ERV), “And you will finish the sin that your ancestors started!” In other words, do what your fathers did and even do
worse. Jesus was, of course, referring to their intent to kill Him and to their
later persecution of the church.
“Curiously, the righteous
Pharisees had little historical impact save for a brief time in a remote corner
of the Roman Empire. But Jesus' disciples (an ornery, undependable, and
hopelessly flawed group of men) became drunk with the power of a Gospel that
offered free forgiveness to the worst sinners and traitors. Those men managed
to change the world.”
(Philip Yancey) [i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“23. Jesus Condemns the
Scribes and Pharisees” by www.walvoord.com
·
“The Chapter of 8 Woes”
(http://www.openheavensministries.org/messages/tcot8w.htm)
·
“Who Were the
Pharisees?” by Don Stewart
·
“Woes of the Pharisees” from Wikipedia
Topic suggested by my
daughter, Allena Kinker
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