V13 – Jesus calls the teachers of religious law and the pharisees… hypocrites. The merriam webster meaning of this is ” a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion. 2. : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.”
It is a dangerous place to say one thing but behave the other way. A big question for me is… Am I a hypocrite? Do I say I love Jesus and I am his follower yet I do not do what He commands? Does my life (outward and inner) reflect Jesus?
(Lord, cleanse me of hypocrisy. Bring me unto full submission to you. Let my life reflect you/ Create in me a clean heart Oh God, a heart filled with love for you and for all people. When I am tempted, help me to act as Jesus would. Let my life and my heart be drawn to you with a desire to please you in every way. Let my walk reflect Christ.)
V15 – When we have preached Christ and a person commits their life to be a disciple, we must be careful to teach them to keep their commitment and obedience to Him. We have to be careful to ensure that we ourselves and truly following the Lord so that we can be a good example of Faith.
The Pharisees made a lot of effort to convert people but then they made those converts children of hell, just like they themselves were. Our light must shine and our salt must not lose its saltiness.
V16-22 – The pharisees did not seem to have in-depth of understanding of what they were doing and saying and that’s why Jesus calls them fools. They were materialistic and that’s why they would swear by the gifts on the altar, gold in the temple etc. but failed to realize the more important side which Jesus was telling them here.
Jesus explains that when you swear by heaven, you are also swearing by the throne of God and by God. Swearing is like giving an oath and allegiance, it is a vow. And Jesus warns the Pharisees against careless use of vows without thought. And it is the same with us, be careful not to swear or vow unless you mean it and it is a Godly vow. When you make a vow, you must keep it.
Jesus explains it more in
Matthew 5:33-37 TLB – “Again, the law of Moses says, ‘You shall not break your vows to God but must fulfill them all.’ But I say: Don’t make any vows! And even to say ‘By heavens!’ is a sacred vow to God, for the heavens are God’s throne. And if you say ‘By the earth!’ it is a sacred vow, for the earth is his footstool. And don’t swear ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the capital of the great King. 36 Don’t even swear ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. Say just a simple ‘Yes, I will’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong.
The Message Bible puts it this way –
“And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong.
Lord, may you cause me to be very conscious and careful about careless and worthless talk that is embedded in evil. Strengthen me that I may be careful about the words of my mouth. Let my mouth and lips be for giving you glory in all I say.
V23-28 – Jesus now speaks about outward godliness and religion with inward hypocrisy. The Pharisees were very careful about outward appearances but did not care about true Godliness. They did not care about justice, mercy and faith in Christ, and did not care walking in ways that are truly pleasing to God. Yet, they had the word of God and were actually teachers of the word of God. But even though they had it, they were not careful to learn God’s will. They had turned the word of God to be an instrument for their gain and glorification.
This is a warning to us, let us not be hypocrites because then we are dead. Our faith in Jesus must be genuine. Genuine disciples and servants, ready to do the father’s will.
Help me Father. I need you. Give me sincerity and wash me of all lies and impurities. Cleanse me in your blood, and mold me so that I can become like you, Jesus. Forgive me of all hypocrisy and correct me.
V29-36 – The Pharisees and their ancestors were prophet killers and oppressors. And Jesus speaks of their judgement. The Lord made the effort to send “prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law” But the Pharisees and the people of Israel, rather than listening to them, injured and killed them. God sent messengers with his Word which has the power to save their souls but they rejected it and harmed the messengers.
Do you and I do the same?
Do you take with high esteem the word of God? James says:
James 1:21 NLT – So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.