Who makes you holy?
“Eyes to See”
(Matthew 23:16-22, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, May 11, 2008)
Matthew 23:16-22 16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
Introduction – Woes…
In this chapter of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus has some important things to say about the scribes and the Pharisees. These teachers of the law and this religious party that was especially focused on issues of law-keeping were mentioned with repeated use of the word “woe” by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is a way of pointing out in a most serious way that someone is facing big trouble, normally from the hand of Almighty God, for what he is doing. Jesus uses this word seven times in this one chapter, in all cases against the scribes and the Pharisees.
In the Old Testament a woe was not something that was always pronounced on someone else. Remember that the prophet Isaiah, when he saw the glory of God in the heavenly counsel said this: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Isaiah felt the weight of his own sin when He was in the presence of God, so he pronounced a woe upon himself. As we go through these passages in Matthew 23, it should not be very surprising to us if we find ourselves on the wrong end of a woe here or there, since we too are very capable of being like the Pharisees in ways that are not spiritually commendable. If that happens to you, remember what happened to Isaiah when he pronounced a woe upon himself. Isaiah 6:6-7: “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’” That burning coal from the altar in Isaiah 6 stands for the only thing that can really atone for our sins and cleanse our consciences, the blood of Jesus Christ sprinkled upon our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our deepest sins are forgiven. It is our privilege to walk now in newness of life, and we only can do that as God makes us holy.
Blind guides (16)
Our passage today contains the only “woe to you” in Matthew 23 not followed by the words “scribes and Pharisees.” Instead Jesus uses the unflattering and humorous image of “blind guides.” This is not the first time that Jesus used this expression to refer to this group. At an earlier point in His ministry, when they were questioning His disciples about why they did not do the ceremonial washings that were a part of the Pharisaic life Jesus corrected them sharply. Some of Jesus’ disciples seemed concerned that the correction might have been too much. They said to Him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” This is how He answered that concern: “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
That incident came up because of something about which the Pharisees had expressed concern. The difference in Matthew 23 is that Jesus is now on His way to the cross. He is taking these precious moments of remaining teaching time to condemn the Pharisaic way in the strongest terms possible. Before He dies for sinners, Christ wants us to know in no uncertain terms that there is no continuity between where the Pharisees would lead their disciples, and where Jesus is leading His disciples. The Pharisees are leading their disciples into justification by law-keeping. Jesus is leading His disciples to the cross, to justification by Christ, and to a life of true holiness. The Pharisaic way is the way of a blind guide leading other blind people into a pit that brings no life. The Christian way is the way of a Savior leading sinners to light and life through His own death and resurrection.
The temple and the gold in the temple (16-17)
The difference in these two ways can be seen in the various specific provisions of the Pharisaic code of conduct. In the verses before us, the issue is one of speech. The question is this: Are there ways of making a verbal commitment where your sworn word need not be considered a real promise? Is there a way that your “Yes” can actually mean “No” if you end up needing it to mean “No” rather than “Yes.” The Pharisees have ways of doing this very thing, more by their accepted practice than by their written traditions. Jesus, on the other hand, insists that your “Yes” be “Yes” and your “No” be “No.” How did the Pharisees justify their position? They said that the weight of your swearing depended upon the thing by which you swore. Therefore, if you swore by the temple in
The altar and the gift on the altar (18-19)
The second example is very similar. The altar was the place of sacrifice in the Old Testament. As the temple made the gold holy, the altar made the offering holy. To value gold and man’s offerings as more important than the temple and the altar of God, suggests a man-centered and worldly way of looking at temple worship. The worshipper needed to think about things based on what they really meant. The blood of bulls and goats sacrificed on the altar in the temple could not actually take away the guilt of sin. Nevertheless these were very important pictures of a coming blood sacrifice that would remove our guilt. The true and final sacrifice would be the offering up of Christ through His death on the cross. We are told in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Christ purified the heavenly sanctuary for us, making the way for us to be with God. This is of far greater worth than gold, or anything else that man ever offered in the temple in
Oaths and God (20-22)
God does not lie, and He does not need to do anything to prove to men His truthfulness. Nevertheless, when He wanted to assure us of something, as a matter of accommodating our weakness, the Lord did make an oath. In that oath He assured us that Christ would be our priest and king forever. Since there was nothing greater that He could swear by, He swore by Himself. The fact is that any oath that we could ever make always leads us back to God. Every promise that we could make by anything holy will eventually lead us to the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and the only one who can sanctify anything or anyone. The Pharisees seemed to act as if the holiest thing was the last thing they touched, as if they were holiness. But anyone knows that it is not holy lie and steal. We can never devise ways for us to be systematically untrue, but somehow spiritually OK. This is what the Pharisees did in the way that they used oaths. The fact is that anyone who swore by anything in the temple ultimately swore by the God whose presence in the temple made the temple holy. Ultimately all oaths go back to God. The Lord no longer inhabits a temple in
The scribes and Pharisees were blind guides. Their practices and philosophies could never lead us into the heavenly sanctuary. They suggest that life is all about money and our own offerings. They do not rejoice in the one sacrifice for sin, because they did not adequately see their own sin or their need for a perfect sacrifice. There are certain solemn occasions that even today call for us to make an oath. We do that when we take on some office, when making wedding promises, or in joining a church. We do that to recognize the importance of the occasion, and we do it in the name of God, reminding ourselves that we are in the presence of a holy God. We never use our oaths as a way of lying, for we know that whether we use the form of an oath or not, our “Yes” must always be “Yes” and our “No” must always be “No.” This was not only something Jesus taught, it was something He did.
When Christ agreed to come to earth as the Sacrifice that purified the way for us to be with God in heaven, he said “Yes” to His Father. He meant what He said. God has sworn by Himself concerning the matters of our eternal salvation. How serious was Christ about His promise to obey the Father for the salvation of sinners? He was obedient even to the point of death on the cross. That would have been the occasion for a lesser man to back out of his promise. This example of faithfulness has obvious implications for us. Paul writes in Philippians 2:5-11:
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus is holy. He is the way of holiness. The Pharisees were blind guides. They could not see that they needed God to make them holy. May the God who sanctifies us through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you holy.
Questions for meditation and discussion:
1. What is an oath? How was it used in Old Testament times? Are we allowed to make oaths today?
2. How did the Pharisees use oaths? What does this reveal about their intentions?
3. In the examples given, what things did the Pharisees view as most serious? What does this tell us about them?
4. What does God view as most important in heaven or on earth? How does that inform our speech?
posted by Pastor Magee at 10:00 AM
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