Day 106: Matthew 23:1–36

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence!” (v. 25).

Paul’s father entrusted him to the finest rabbinic school, but he was not there alone. He was surrounded by good and bad influences. He saw people who were the real thing, and he saw people who were religious frauds.

We need look no further than the Word of God to see many of the influences Saul encountered among the Pharisees of Jerusalem. Saul was a contemporary of Jesus. Soon after Saul finished his education in Jerusalem and presumably headed back to Tarsus, John the Baptist began to “prepare the way for the Lord” (Matt. 3:3). In no time at all, Jesus was on the scene, teaching in the same synagogue where Saul had recently stood. Saul found influences like the wise teacher Gamaliel, but he also experienced influences like the ones Jesus so aptly described in the Gospels. In fact, many of the Pharisees and members of the Sanhedrin whom Christ encountered were Saul’s instructors or classmates.

The term Pharisee was meant to represent genuine piety and deep devotion to God. Although exceptions certainly existed among the Pharisees, in the days of Jesus and Saul the term had become synonymous with hypocrisy and cynicism.

Matthew 23 is an entire discourse addressed to the teachers of the law and Pharisees. I hope you’ve taken the time to read the chapter carefully. Notice all the specific ways Jesus described the same people Saul encountered in Jerusalem. When I did this, I made a list. For example, I didn’t just note that they were hypocritical, but described the ways they were hypocritical. My list looked something like this: they made demands of others that they themselves did not keep (v. 4); they made their religious actions into show to impress others (v. 5); they loved to be the center of attention (v. 6); and they not only wouldn’t enter the kingdom of God, they prevented others from entering (v. 13). What a horrible description.

Take a thorough look at these characteristics and the others you see in Matthew 23. Do you see any that describe you as well? Godly people are valiant people. They are people with the courage to ask God to spotlight areas of weakness, sin, and failure. Then God can strengthen, heal, and complete what is lacking.