Matthew 23:24   It is not only these self-righteous Pharisees that are guilty of such hypocrisy. You can find it anywhere. In the pew. On the street corner. In the office. In the farthest reaches of inhabitable earth. We all have a great tendency to have a double standard. We will be quick to outline the…

Matthew 23:23   Jesus does not deny that these leaders were scrupulous about their giving. But, as many today, that’s about all that can be said for them. Giving by itself is usually just a form of self-justification. Whereas, when combined with other good things, such as Jesus mentions here, it is a glory to the…

Matthew 23:22   Even a child could understand. Yet these teachers of the law missed it completely! Bible Reading: 1 Kings 10:1-11:43 Scripture Memory: James 2:15 “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,” Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for today. I don’t always know what Your plan is, but I do…

Matthew 23:21   We have to remember that the idea of free grace for all men was completely foreign to this religious crowd. To consider others being converted without them becoming Jewish in every possible sense was out of the question. Jesus is challenging their ideas of righteousness to get them to understand the purpose of…

Matthew 23:20   One of our common misconceptions concerning Jesus is his disagreement with the Pharisees. They were what we refer to as a ‘strict’ sect of the Jews. We say this as if their real sin was being too strict. The facts of the case however, show that Jesus was, if anything, more strict. Indeed,…

Matthew 23:19   Once again Jesus sets their thinking back on its head. Even the most basic lesson in logic would bring one to the same conclusion. But, their attempts to justify themselves had made them foolish. Bible Reading: 1 Kings 3:1-5:18 Scripture Memory: James 2:14 “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he…

Matthew 23:18   The Jewish religious crowd had made special rules regarding vows. In this way they could vow to do things, and then fail to keep the vow, without any consequences. Or so they thought. It was their way of appearing pious without having to work too hard at it. Their hypocrisy was sickening. Bible…

Matthew 23:17   Professing to be wise, they had become fools. The conclusions to which they had come regarding true holiness illustrated their lack of scruples. Little more than a religious cloak for a money-making scheme was the sin of these supposedly pious men. Though they pretended to love the poor, they loved what they could…

Matthew 23:16   The Jewish leaders had come up with some very specific, very odd, rules. In trying to apply the law of Moses, and their own oral law, they created for themselves a man-made body of regulations that was too confusing to truly understand, let alone live by. They only condemned themselves by pretending to…

Matthew 23:15   The phrase ‘child of hell’ would have been especially offensive to the Jewish leaders. It was a Jewish manner of speaking which meant a very wicked person. The proselytes of the Jews were indeed often even more hypocritical than they themselves. Though the Pharisees converted these from paganism, they gave them no true…