Jesus and the Pharisees Part 12 – “It’s Easy to Say What We Would Have Done” – Matthew 23:29-39

I used to read about the Exodus and wonder how in the world the Jewish people could consistently turn their back on God and Moses. I mean, time and time again, God would perform some miraculous event to rescue the people, only to see them turn around and say, essentially, “That was good, but so what?” Constantly, they were complaining about the lack of food or water. They were always pining for the good old days of slavery in Egypt. The height of their rejection was when the spies returned from Canaan. Hearing the report, all but four people of record believed they were doomed. Of all the host of Israel, we know of only Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb who believed God could and would deliver the Promised Land into their hands.

Then one day, I realized that, there but for the grace of God, that would be me, too. I can complain with the best of them, and I can forget to see how God has worked in my life. If I had been where the people of Israel were, it’s quite possible that I’d be doing exactly as they did. After all, four against an entire nation tells me the odds are great that I’d be with the majority.

It’s easy to look at the march of history and place ourselves on the right side of events. It’s a mixture of false pride and lack of history that leads us to do so. It is this pompous attitude that Jesus concludes the woes to the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.

Background

The Pharisees prided themselves on their awareness of God as revealed through the laws and the prophets. They were the experts of Jewish culture in presenting their interpretation of the law and the prophets and, by extension, their interpretation of God Himself. Growing out of the Babylonian exile, they rejected their forefathers and their disobedience to God’s law. They set right what was so wrong with Israel. In this light, they began to separate themselves further by claiming that they would never have disregarded the prophets’ warnings, nor would they have rejected God’s laws and commandments. Looking to the past from the safety of the present, the Pharisees were quick to condemn the past while lauding themselves in the present.

Jesus uses these last few verses to call the Pharisees out on their bold claim and point out their true nature. Of all the woes, this is the harshest. And yet it is followed by Jesus’ greatest lamentation for the people of Jerusalem and, by extension, the very same teachers of the law and Pharisees that He has spent the entire chapter telling them just how wrong they were. Jesus was not happy about it, but He didn’t couch His words with hidden meaning.

Central Truth: The Pharisees couldn’t see what was before their eyes.

1. The Pharisees’ claims (29-32)

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers.”

When I was in high school, I was home alone when I caused a grease fire in the kitchen. Seeing the fire, I grabbed an oven mitt and tried to carry the burning pan out of the house, but as I moved it from the stove toward the carport, the flames were sent upon the oven mitt. I dropped the pan onto the linoleum floor of our utility room and tossed the burning glove into the sink where I doused the glove with water. Seeing the fire burning on the floor, I reasoned that water is used to put out fires, as I had just witnessed. So I grabbed a glass of water and threw it on the grease fire. Flames leapt toward the ceiling as the water hit the grease, and I figured it was time to call the fire department. I got the dogs out of the house, ran across the street to ask the neighbors to call the fire department. Unfortunately, the neighbors were not home.

Figuring I would salvage as much as I could from the house, I ran back home and, to my relief, found that the grease fire had burnt itself out. But for a scorched floor where the fire had burnt itself out, the house was none the worse for the wear.

As I related the story to people the next day, I was told all sorts of things, like cover the fire with a pan lid or throw flour on the fire. I appreciated the advice, but I didn’t appreciate the way it seemed to be given. It seemed that every time someone told me what I should have done, it came with a patronizing tone and an unspoken, “How can anyone be such an idiot?”

A patronizing attitude is what I hear when I hear what the Pharisees said about how they would have respected and revered the prophets of old. It’s easy to say what we would have done from the safety of a calm place without the menace of fire or of God’s pending judgments.

Consider some of the prophets and their messages, and ask ourselves honestly if we would have reacted differently than the prophets’ contemporaries. Jeremiah repeatedly told Israel that the best course of action was to surrender to a powerful enemy, even though everyone else was telling the people that God would deliver them. Jeremiah was tossed into a cistern and his message rejected time and again. Had someone told us after Pearl Harbor to turn the other cheek and allow Japan to do as it saw fit, how would we have reacted to such a message? Or if someone told us that the best way to respond to 9-11 was to ignore it and allow terrorists to get away with acts of massive terrorism, would we have said, “That makes sense?”

Amos condemned the materialism and callousness of the wealthy toward the disenfranchised. His message was rejected. Had he presented these same words to America today, there would be those who accused him of being a communist or socialist and denounced him as hating America and all that is good in the world.

We could go on, but I think the point is made.

Jesus points out this truth to the Pharisees and He plays upon a popular tradition of the Pharisees and Jewish culture. The belief and the lessons were that the sons should become like the fathers. Jesus says that the Pharisees’ recognition that their fathers in the killing of the prophets, they are admitting that they are just as guilty. Jesus concludes these verses with the statement, “Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers.” In other words, you’re more like the forefathers than you are ready to admit. And Jesus’ next words remind us of just this truth.

2. The Pharisees’ reality (33-36)

“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify, others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekaiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.”

In these verses, Jesus tells the Pharisees the emptiness of their words are about to come home to roost. They claimed that they would never have rejected the prophets, much less condemned them to death. Never mind that they reject the very Word of God standing in their midst. They have neglected to see the very presence of God with them and have turned not just a blind eye, but a deaf ear to Him. They claim to love God, yet they have absolute contempt for the Son of God.

Knowing this, Jesus goes on to tell them how they will treat the prophets and wise men that Jesus will send to them. Some, like James and Stephen, will be killed by them precisely because of their message of the gospel. Others, like Peter and Andrew, will be crucified because of their message. Granted, the Jewish authorities did not have the power to crucify, but they could get around it, as they did with Jesus. Still others, like Paul and other followers of Christ, would be hounded and stoned and left for dead and scourged, all because of their words about Christ.

These men who profess their devotion to the prophets cannot and will not abide the very prophets of God in their midst. As a result, Jesus tells them the righteous blood from the first martyr to the last, will fall upon them.

We need to be careful to heed Jesus’ words here. There are men and women who come to us today, speaking God’s truth and telling us things we may not want to hear. We can react in one of two ways. We can be like the people of Berea, who listened to Paul’s teachings about Jesus from the Old Testament and then went home to examine the Bible to see if Paul’s words were accurate (cf. Acts 17:10-12). Or we can be like the Pharisees, refusing to allow ourselves to be challenged by the Spirit of God and so rejecting His message to us.

3. Jesus’ Lamentation (37-39)

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

This passage lets us know that all that preceded them in Matthew 23 were words of regret and sorrow. In these words, Jesus reveals the depth of His love for Jerusalem and for the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. Even though they rejected Him, Jesus’ desire had been to gather them into the kingdom of heaven and bring them the peace that is beyond understanding.

In these words, we are reminded that God limits Himself and His sovereignty when it comes to our salvation. While God wants all to be saved (cf. 2 Peter 3:9), He allows us to make up our own minds on whether we will accept Him or not. Jesus’ words are that it was His desire to gather Jerusalem to Him, but they were unwilling to embrace Him and His gift of grace.

In only a few days, Jesus will be crucified and will be seen no more by the majority of people. The next time He will be seen by many will be when He comes again in triumph and judgment, when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. On that day of His return, it will be too late to confess and be saved. Their confession will be one of regret, shock and ultimate despair.

Conclusion

It is foolishness to insist that we are so much better than the Pharisees, to look back in history to see their rejection of Jesus and smugly claim that we would not have done so had we been them. Remember, there but for the grace of God go us.

Jesus tells us in John 14:6 that He is the truth. Those who accept Christ as Lord should never be afraid of the truth. We should not be afraid to have our faith challenged. The challenge will only strengthen our faith by confirming what we already knew or bring us into a greater understanding of Jesus and His message.

In reading today’s passage, let us commit ourselves to listen to Jesus today and be open to His message. Let us commit to staying judgment and condemnation of others and instead commit to walk in Christ’s ways in all areas of our lives. Let us come to Him and receive His grace and protection. Let us find our purpose in Him alone.