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Jericho to the
Cross 4 of 4
Matthew
23:37-39
by Paul
George
It probably would be
advisable for us to compare these final words of Jesus in Matthew 23 to His
words regarding Jerusalem in Luke 19:41-44.
“Now when Jesus approached
Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known in this
day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden
from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up
a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they
level you to the ground and your children within you and they will not leave in
you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your
visitation’” (Luke 19:41-44).
It is amazing the number of
interpreters of Matthew 23:37-39 and Luke 19:41-44 have difficulty believing
that the historical Jesus ever said what Matthew and Luke recorded in their
Gospels. Some believe the judgments of Matthew 23 were unfair. They claim Jesus
is violating His own command to love your enemies (5:43-48). They attribute what
they call hateful in Matthew 23 to Matthew and not Jesus. Increasingly one
hears the solution of attributing the chapter’s hateful parts to a surcharged
Matthew. Why is it that the scholars find Jesus’ words so offensive and
repulsive? This kind of prophetic condemnation is not new; it is frequently
found in the Old Testament prophets. It is likewise found in the preaching of
John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7-12).
The scribes and Pharisees
are not only going to play a leading role in the arrest and crucifixion of our
Jesus they are the “blind guides,” who are responsible for leading others to
condemnation (Matthew 23:13-15). Jesus not only speaks strongly and with
severity to the scribes and Pharisees because they are hypocrites; He speaks
strongly in the hearing of the masses, because they must know who it is they are
inclined to follow. To choose to follow the scribes and Pharisees is to choose
to proceed on the path to certain condemnation. This is no time for candy-coated
messages when judgment is both certain and near.
Why do some scholars have a
problem with Jesus’ indictments in chapter 23? The scribes were scholars and
teachers. They are a part of an elite, academic community. They have their
academic robes, tassels, etc. and they are often given special titles,
recognition, and places of honor. They lay heavy loads on their students, and
offer little help. In the name of scholarship, they make decisions that are not
valid. They may teach one way and live another. Most importantly, they may teach
in a way that turns people from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. No
wonder they are uncomfortable hearing strong words of condemnation and the
threat of condemnation. Unsaved Bible scholars may claim to be men of God, but
when they do, they are hypocrites.
The severity of our Lord’s
words seems appropriate in the light of the situation He was in and the people
were in. Let us consider Jesus’ “hard words” in Matthew 23 in the light of the
last three verses of this chapter.
First, when Jesus speaks, He
speaks as God. The prophets spoke for God, but Jesus spoke as God. Jesus is not
merely a prophet He is the Prophet. He is the Prophet who sends out prophets and
wise men (Matthew 23:34). He is the One of whom all the prophets spoke (John
1:45; 1 Peter 1:10-12). He is the One who desires to gather Jerusalem’s children
and keep them under His protective “wing” (Matthew 23:37). He is the One who is
going to return, and when He does people will say, “Blessed is the one who comes
in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39). Jesus speaks as One having authority,
and not as their scribes (Matthew 7:28-29). You expect one with infinite
authority to speak in an authoritative way, especially when judgment is needed.
Second, Jesus speaks
severely, but with tears in His eyes. These last verses inform us that Jesus
loved Jerusalem and His chosen people deeply. He takes no delight in the eternal
destruction of lost sinners:
“For I take no delight in
the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! (Ezekiel
18:32)
Third, Jesus speaks as One
whose desire it is to protect His own people as a mother hen protects her
chicks. The imagery here reveals the heart of Jesus, and of His compassion.
Fourth, Jesus’ words of
condemnation, like those of the prophets, and John the Baptist, were strongly
stated, but with the goal of calling men to repentance. Jesus, who was the
fulfillment of all the prophets of old foretold, was totally in character with
those prophets in condemning sin and warning sinners of the coming wrath of God,
unless they repent.
Fifth, Jesus speaks strongly
of judgment that is actually coming upon those who have rejected Him, and this
judgment is coming soon. Is it harsh to tell a cancer patient that they will
soon die unless they undergo major surgery? Is it harsh to insist motorists turn
around when the road ahead is washed out and that unless they turn around they
will plunge to their death? The peril of which our Lord speaks is real. The
shocking bluntness of Jesus is a measure of how real and how terrible it is.
Sixth, Jesus speaks of His
return and of the blessings that will accompany Him. It will only be a few hours
before the people will cry out, “Away with Him” (John 19:15). These people know
that He is coming back, and His return will mean blessing to those who receive
Him for who He is.
Seventh, Jesus does not
speak only to the scribes and Pharisees, but to all Jerusalem. While the scribes
and Pharisees must bear their guilt as leaders, the people of Jerusalem will
bear their guilt for choosing to follow the wrong leaders, and thus for their
participation in the death of Jesus. Until now, it was the favor of the crowds
that kept Jesus alive, but that is about to end. Jesus’ words of imminent
judgment include the people of Jerusalem, along with their leaders.
Let us remember that Matthew
23 is Jesus’ final public preaching. These are the last words the scribes and
Pharisees and people of Jerusalem will hear from the lips of Jesus. As Matthew
5-7 introduced Jesus’ public ministry to Israel, so Matthew 23 concludes it.
Would the scribes and Pharisees dare to presume that they could take “the chair
of Moses” and use it to achieve their own goals? Jesus made it clear in His
Sermon on the Mount that their religion would not get them there, and the people
rightly grasped that Jesus spoke with greater authority than the scribes and
Pharisees. Why would we be surprised that Jesus would speak with such authority
here, in Matthew 23? Why are we surprised that Jesus speaks of their eternal
torment in hell? If Jesus is whom He claims to be, the Son of God and Israel’s
Messiah, then does He not have the right to speak as He does here? If the
scribes and Pharisees have resolved to kill Jesus, just as their forefathers
killed the prophets of their time, does Jesus not speak rightly here? Who you
are determines what you have the right to say. A general can rebuke a private
and can certainly order his punishment. A private dare not speak the same way to
a general. Matthew 23 is completely consistent with Jesus’ claims and those of
the Old Testament prophets, including John the Baptist regarding Jesus’ identity
and authority.
Jesus’ words of condemnation
reflect reality. Here is how God feels about sin. Here is how God will judge
sin. Here is how seriously God takes the sin of religious hypocrisy. Here is how
God will judge ungodly leaders, who not only reject Him, but who lead others to
their eternal destruction. Are men uncomfortable with these words? They should
be! However, these words convey the truth about sin and judgment.
These words of Jesus in
verses 37-39 speak of the destruction of Jerusalem, which will come upon that
generation that rejected and crucified Him. History tells us that this judgment
did come, just as Jesus said it would. If history has verified our Lord’s
authority and accuracy regarding that generation, it is only right that we
acknowledge His authority and accuracy about the judgment which is still future,
the judgment that will come upon all men who reject Him as the Messiah, and as
God’s only provision for eternal salvation. Do the words of Jesus in Matthew 23
sound severe? They are, and they are true. His severe words should convey to us
how serious the rejection of Jesus is. The rejection of Jesus by Israel’s
leaders, and by the people of Jerusalem, led to His crucifixion and to the
destruction of Jerusalem. Rejecting Jesus as God’s promised Messiah is a most
serious matter. It leads to God’s eternal judgment.
The good news of the gospel
is that receiving Jesus as the Messiah leads to eternal blessings. Those who can
say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” are those who will have
their sins forgiven and who will spend eternity enjoying Him, and the blessings
He provides. Let the severity of our Lord’s words serve to indicate how serious
the decision is to accept Jesus or to reject Him, as Messiah, as God’s only
provision for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life.
Is it unduly harsh and
unloving to tell condemned people that they are under divine condemnation? The
reaction that some have to the severity of Jesus in Matthew 23 is also seen by
the way Christians are lamb basted for speaking against sin today. We are told
that it is harsh and unloving for us to tell homosexuals that this behavior is
sin and that it results in eternal judgment. However, this is what the Apostle
Paul told the Corinthians, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! The sexually immoral, idolaters,
adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the
greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the
kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
In the Book of Revelation,
we are told, “Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can have access to
the tree of life and can enter into the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs
and the sorcerers and the sexually immoral, and the murderers, and the idolaters
and everyone who loves and practices falsehood! (Revelation 22:14-15).
The Apostle Paul told the
Romans, “For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their
women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, and likewise
the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed in their
passions for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in
themselves the due penalty for their error. And just as they did not see fit to
acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be
done. They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness,
covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit,
hostility. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant,
boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless,
covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless. Although they fully know God’s righteous
decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them
but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:26-32).
Does God hate homosexuality
as sin? Yes! Will God judge homosexuality as sin? Yes! However, homosexuality
that God will judge. Homosexuality is not the only sin that will keep men from
heaven and condemn them to eternal separation from God. God condemns
homosexuality, alongside adultery, (heterosexual) immorality and greed and
drunkenness and murder, envy and a list of other sins, including hypocrisy. God
condemns all sin, and its punishment is eternal torment. However, God has also
provided a remedy for sin. Jesus Christ came to bear our sins, to suffer our
punishment, and to give us His righteousness, so that we can spend eternity with
Him. The loving thing to do is to imitate Jesus in Matthew 23 and to warn men of
the eternal consequences of sin, foremost of which is rejecting Him as our
Savior. Turning hell-bent sinners to Jesus, and thus toward heaven, by trusting
in Jesus, is the loving thing to do. This also applies to those who try to
justify the sinful activity of sinful humanity and label sin a sickness. It also
applies to those who stand before God and join same sex couples to together as
husband and wife.
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