Matthew 23:01-12 “Revolutionizing Religion”
Translation
& Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church Manhattan KS, 23 June 2013
Translation
23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples 23:2 saying,
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit upon the seat of Moses,
23:3 therefore y’all must
keep holding onto and acting upon all of whatever things they speak to you, but
don’t act according their deeds, for they speak and don’t act [accordingly].
23:4 For they are tying on heavy and hard-to-bear
burdens,
and they are placing them upon the shoulders of men,
but they are not willing
to move them with their finger.
23:5 But they are doing
all of their deeds in order to be watched by men,
so they are making their phylacteries bigger and
enlarging the tassels on their garments,
23:6 and they like the principal seats at the dinners
and the principal chairs in the synagogues,
23:7 and the greetings in
the marketplaces and to be called by men, “Rabbi, rabbi!”
23:8 But as for y’all, don’t start being called ‘Rabbi,’
for your Spiritual Guide [teacher] is The One, whereas
y’all are all brothers.
23:9 and don’t start calling [anyone] among yourselves on this earth
“Father,”
for your heavenly Father is The One.
23:10 and don’t start being called “[Spiritual] Guides,”
for the [Spiritual] Guide The Christ is the One for
y’all.
23:11 But the greater one among you will be the servant among you,
23:12 and whoever will
exalt himself will be humbled, yet whoever will humble himself will be exalted.
Introduction
- Jesus is still in the Jerusalem temple teaching
during the week before His crucifixion (24:1).
- In Matthew 23, Jesus is addressing His followers,
not the religious leaders. He explains to His disciples and the others in
the crowd the ways in which their religious leaders have gone wrong in
order to help them avoid pitfalls as the apostles take new roles of
leadership in the church and as others take roles of members
in the church.
- Jesus mentions in particular the errors of the scribes
and the Pharisees. Who exactly were these religious groups? John Calvin
explains well in his commentary: “… ‘scribes’… denotes the teachers or
expounders of the Law… and… Luke calls the same persons ‘lawyers.’ Now our
Lord refers peculiarly to the Pharisees, who belonged to the number of the
scribes, because at that time this sect held the highest rank in the
government of the Church, and in
the exposition of Scripture… [W]hile the Sadducees and Essenes preferred
the literal interpretation of Scripture, the Pharisees followed a
different manner of teaching… which was to make subtle inquiries into the mystical
meaning of Scripture. This was also the reason why they received their
name; for they are called ‘Pherusim,’ that is, expounders. And…
they had debased the whole of Scripture by their false opinions…”
- Matthew Henry, in his commentary relates a
saying: “If only two people can make it into heaven, at least one of them
will be a Pharisee.” If the crowds
thought that much of the Pharisees, Jesus needed to offer some caution.
- So Jesus mentions three main problems with their
religion: 1) Hypocrisy, 2) Heavy-handedness, and 3) Humanism, and how to
revolutionize these things.
Exegesis
23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds
and to His disciples
Τοτε ‘ο
Ιησους
ελαλησεν τοις
οχλοις και τοις
μαθηταις αυτου
23:2 saying, “The scribes and the
Pharisees sit upon the seat of Moses,
λεγων Επι της
Μωσεως
καθεδρας
εκαθισαν
‘οι γραμματεις
και ‘οι Φαρισαιοι
- Now, ancient Israel was not like America, where there are chairs and benches everywhere for anyone to sit down. Chairs were
something special and were generally reserved for V.I.P.’s. So when you
think of Moses’ “chair/seat,” think of something more like a judge’s bench
or a king’s throne. When teachers in that culture taught, they taught while
sitting down rather than standing like we do in our culture.
- The seat of Moses had to do with declaring God’s
word to the people of Israel, and Jesus urges the Jews to respect the position
of spiritual authority that these men currently hold.
23:3 therefore y’all must keep holding
onto and acting upon all of whatever things they speak to you, but don’t act according
their deeds, for they speak and don’t act [accordingly].
παντα ουν ‘οσα
εαν
ειπωσιν ‘υμιν
τηρειτε και
ποιειτε
κατα δε τα εργα
αυτων μη
ποιειτε
λεγουσιν γαρ
και ου
ποιουσιν
- Jesus is not one of those wicked revolutionaries
who is against all authority; He is merely against the abuse
of authority.
- There are three
different Greek verbs in this verse:
1) speak (which appears twice and is also
translated “talk,” “tell,” “bid,” or “preach” in the various English versions),
2) keep (which also appears twice in some
versions5 and is also translated “observe” “hold onto” and “obey”),
and
3) act (which appears three times and is also
translated “do” or “practice”).
- Apparently at this point in time, the scribes
were fairly accurate in handling God’s word. Commentator William
Hendriksen wrote, “…on several points they – in distinction from the
Saducees and the Herodians – were telling and teaching the truth... They
believed, for example in the divine decree and providence, in human
responsibility, in the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the
body, the existence of angels, etc. Their views on the canon, too, were
far more biblical than those of others…”
- o
Jesus could encourage His followers to listen when those scribes talked
about the Bible, because
God’s word is good, but Jesus tells His followers not to imitate the way
those scribes lived, because they didn’t obey the Bible themselves;
they lived profligate lives.
- John Calvin commented on this, saying, “It was
common use with these proud hypocrites… to be unyielding in pressing
obligations while at the same time blandly letting themselves off the
injunctions they laid on others and pleasing themselves without a care…”
- For instance, we’ve already seen in 15:3 how
they avoided honoring their parents by their application of the corban
rule. (Cf. Rom. 2:17-24)
- So, Jesus warns against imitating the actions of
those hypocrites. Could Jesus level a
similar criticism at you?
- Jesus also levels
criticism at these religious leaders for their harsh treatment of God’s people:
23:4 For they are tying [binding] on heavy and hard-to-bear burdens, and they are
placing them upon the shoulders of men, but they are not willing to move them
with their finger.
δεσμευουσιν
γαρ
φορτια βαρεα και δυσβαστακτα
και
επιτιθεασιν
επι τους ωμουςτων
ανθρωπων
τω δε δακτυλω
αυτων ου
θελουσιν
κινησαι αυτα
- In the parallel
passage in the gospel of Luke, Jesus aims this accusation particularly at
the nomikos – the experts in
Biblical law.
- Most Bible scholars interpret this heavy burden
as the rules of Jewish culture,
- like those to which Peter referred later during the
Jerusalem council in Acts 15:10, when he said, “placing (epitithemi) upon the neck of the
disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear
(bastazw).” (NASB)
- According to this interpretation, Jesus charges
the scribes with being heavy-handed and overbearing
and not even willing, “‘to move with a finger,’ that is, not even to come
near them, nor to touch them.” – That last bit was actually a quote from
Chrysostom who spoke Greek fluently and lived only a couple hundred years
after Christ, so I am inclined to respect that interpretation.
- Nevertheless, I want to offer another
interpretation which I believe Jesus’ choice of words suggests: The phrase
“burdens hard to bear” appears in only one other place in the Greek Bible,
and that is Psalm 38:4, which speaks of these “burdens” as sins: “For my transgresssions
have gone over mine head: they have pressed heavily upon me like a weighty
burden.” (Brenton,
cf. Isa. 46:1 which calls idols “burdens”)
- And then there is Jesus’ use of the word “finger;”
was there something that priests were supposed to do with their
fingers? Yes! It’s all over the book of Leviticus
– they were to use their fingers to wipe the blood of sacrifices onto the
altar so that God would forgive the sins of the people!
- Leviticus 4:27-31 And if a soul of the people of
the land should sin unwittingly, in doing a thing contrary to any of the
commandments of the Lord, which ought not to be done, and shall
transgress, and his sin should be known to him, wherein he has sinned,
then shall he bring a kid of the goats, a female without blemish shall he
bring for his sin, which he has sinned. And he shall lay his hand on the
head of his sin-offering, and they shall slay the kid of the sin-offering
in the place where they slay the victims for whole-burnt-offerings. And
the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and shall put
it on the horns of the altar of whole-burnt-offerings; and all its blood he shall pour forth by the foot
of the altar. And he shall take away all the fat, as the fat is taken away
from the sacrifice of peace-offering, and the priest shall offer it on the
altar for a smell of sweet savour to the Lord; and the
priest shall make atonement for him, and his sin shall be forgiven him. (Brenton)
- I believe that Jesus used a parallel expression
from the Psalms for sin and referred to what the priests should be doing
with their fingers to indicate that these religious leaders were weighing
their people down with rules that increased their guilt before God, but
they weren’t applying God’s grace to those people to show them how
to be free from their sins. What terrible oppression!
- Do you ever find yourself
tempted to act like that – heaping guilt on your spouse or your children
or your co-workers rather than offering them God’s grace?
- Jesus,
on the other hand, was “lifting a finger” to help:
- in Luke
11:20 He says, “Since I am casting out demons by the finger of God, then
the kingdom of God has arrived upon you” (NAW).
- Furthermore,
in Matt. 11:28-30, Jesus invited “heavy-laden” souls to come to Him and
“find rest.”
- Now Jesus has
accused the Pharisees in v.3 of hypocrisy (saying but not doing) and of
heavy-handedness in v.4 (oppressively burdening with rules instead of
pointing to God’s forgiveness), now, in v.5 Jesus comes at the Pharisees
with a third criticism: Humanism (or man-centered showing off)
23:5 But they are doing all of their
deeds in order to be watched by men, so they are making their phylacteries bigger and enlarging the tassels
on their garments.
παντα δε
τα εργα αυτων
ποιουσιν προς
το θεαθηναι τοις
ανθρωποις
πλατυνουσιν δε
τα φυλακτηρια
αυτων και
μεγαλυνουσιν
τα κρασπεδα [των
‘ιματιων αυτων]
- Back in Matthew 6, Jesus already spoke to this when He said, “Hold
closely your righteousness, not to act in front of men in order to be
watched by them; now if
you don’t, you aren’t holding a reward alongside your father in heaven. Therefore,
whenever you do charity, you should not trumpet before yourself as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the avenues in order that they
might be glorified by men. I’m
telling you truly, they are holding out on their reward. But as for you,
when doing charity, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is
doing, in order that your charity might be in secret, and your father who
sees in secret will reward you. And whenever y’all pray, you shall not be
as the hypocrites that love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets in order that they might be put in the limelight by
men. I’m telling you truly, they are holding off on their reward. But as
for you, whenever you pray, enter into your closet, and after you have
closed your door, start praying to your Father who is in the secret
[place], and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (NAW)
- The
parallel passages in the gospels of Mark (12:38) and Luke (20:46) mention
that these scribes liked to walk around in stoles, or long robes to
distinguish themselves by their clothing.
- The Greek word translated
“watched/ seen/ noticed is “theatenai,”
and is the word from which we get our English words “theater, theatrics.”
- “[W]hatever kind of
spectators any one may have, it becomes his study to please these…”
~Chrysostom, c. 400 A.D. So the question is: Who are you studying to please?
- If we try to act
like our lives are organized around God in order to impress people,
when our lives are actually organized around ourselves, that is
hypocrisy, and Jesus sees right through our little acts. As we have seen
in The Beatitudes and elsewhere, Jesus wants our heart; He is not
looking for mere outward acts of worship, He calls us to worship
God with the right attitude.
- At issue here is
phylacteries and clothing tassels. This requires some explanation today:
o
In the O.T. law, God told the men to
attach blue tasselsNAS,NIV (bordersKJV, fringesESV)
to the corners of their clothing as reminder to follow God’s commands rather
than doing their own will:
Numbers 15:37-40 The LORD also
spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they
shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments
throughout their generations,
and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue. It shall
be a tassel for you to look at and remember all the commandments of the LORD,
so as to do them and not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after
which you played the harlot, so that you may remember to do all
My commandments and be holy to your God.
o
Also in Deuteronomy 6, God told them
to do additional things to remember His commandments: Deuteronomy 6:6-9 These words, which I am commanding you today, shall
be on your heart. You shall
teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your
house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on
your forehead. You shall
write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Although it says
“they shall be in your heart,” some Jews took it literally, tying strips of
paper (called phylacteries) onto themselves!
- “Phylacteries… were worn on the left arm, toward
the heart, and on the forehead. They were capsules containing on parchment
these four passages of Scripture [from Exodus and Deuteronomy]: Exodus 13:1-10; Exodus 13:11-16;
Deuteronomy 6:4-9; and Deuteronomy 11:13-21. That for the
head was to consist of a box with four compartments, each containing a
slip of parchment inscribed with one of the four passages. Each of these
slips was to be tied up with well-washed hair from a calf's tail; lest, if
tied with wool or thread, any fungoid growth should ever pollute them. The
phylactery of the arm was to contain a single slip, with the same four
passages written in four columns of seven lines each. The black leather
straps by which they were fastened were wound seven times round the arm
and three times round the hand… They profanely imagined that God wore the tephillin... It was also said that
they prevented all hostile demons from injuring any Israelite.”
~Marvin Vincent
- Nowadays we do it
with things like Christian T-shirts and “What Would Jesus Do” wristbands
and cross necklaces. None of these are wrong in and of themselves if we
are really using them to remind us of God’s word, but when they become
status symbols or superstitious charms, they are worse than not having such
reminders at all.
- By Jesus’ day, some
Jews were getting competitive with these things. In order to prove that
they were holier and more godly, they’d make their tassels and their
phylacteries bigger than everybody else’s. Then everybody else would have
to make tassels and phylacteries bigger to prove they weren’t slipping in
their spirituality, and then the spiritual leaders would feel like they
have go and make them even bigger. By the third Century, women were
wearing whole gospels on their necklaces.
It’s a vicious cycle!
- But, as God told the
prophet Samuel of old, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but
God looks at the heart.” The only reason for making the religious
symbols bigger was for other men to see. The size of their
phylacteries and tassels meant nothing to God.
- “It is a gracious
ambition to covet to be really more holy than others, but it is a
proud ambition to covet to appear so. It is good to excel in real
piety… It is the guise of hypocrisy to make more ado than needs in
external service...” ~Matthew Henry
- In
what ways do we try to display our spirituality with things that
would only be meaningful to other people and wouldn’t make a bit of
difference to God? Furthermore, do you ever feel threatened
by other people’s practice of their faith and feel like you have to compete
with them and show you are just as good a Christian as they are? Either
way, that is going off track towards Humanism, because the genuineness and
depth of your relationship with God is between you and God in your heart.
23:6 They
also like the principal seats at the dinners and the principal chairs in the
synagogues,
φιλουσιν
δε
την
πρωτοκλισιαν
εν τοις
δειπνοις και
τας πρωτοκαθεδριας
εν ταις
συναγωγαις
23:7 and
the greetings in the marketplaces and to be called by men, “Rabbi, rabbi!”
και τους
ασπασμους εν
ταις αγοραις
και καλεισθαι ‘υπο
των ανθρωπων ‘Ραββι
[‘ραββι]
- Again, this reflects
a culture which was much more class-conscious than that of the Western United States. But even in our culture, we see how the officers in the Army don’t
fraternize socially with the enlisted soldiers, and even officers of different
ranks kind-of keep to themselves. In Jesus’ culture, everyone was
painfully aware of the social pecking-order. Some men had esteemed families,
some men had esteemed occupations, some men had political or
economic clout, and everything was taken into consideration when
guests were seated at a dinner table.
- The protoklisia that they loved were
literally the “first couches,” since they ate while reclining on couches
in that culture. To translate that into our culture, the KJV conceives of
those privileged spots as VIP rooms, and most other English translations
call them “places of honor.”
- Similarly the
privileged seat in the synagogue or church building of that time was the protokathedros, literally the “first
seat” and figuratively the chiefKJV,NAS, bestNKJ,ESV,
or most importantNIV one. That would be like pastor’s chair at
the front – although for most churches, it seems the seats fartherest to
the back are actually the most sought-after spots.
- It’s still that way
today in traditional Oriental cultures:
- I remember when my
Dad travelled through Iran in the 1970’s, he said that he was always
given the seat furtherest away from the door, because, as a pastor and a
foreign guest, he would always be given the most honorable seat.
- When
I did mission work in rural Uganda in 2005, I would be given the most
special seat of all – a white, plastic lawn chair, while the rest of the
people in the churches would sit on rough, wooden benches. Now, I could get used to that kind of respect
and honor!
- It comes through titles too. In fairly recent
history to Jesus’ day, religious leaders had taken up the title “Rabbi”
which means “great one.” They liked it so much that they encouraged people
to call them by that title, saying, “He who salutes his teacher, and does
not call him Rabbi, provokes the divine Majesty to depart from Israel!”
“Well, we wouldn’t want God to abandon
our country, so I guess we’d better call our priests by the title of
Rabbi!”
- Today, “Reverend” is the practical equivalent to
the Jewish title, “Rabbi.” When I passed my ordination exams in the Presbyterian
Church as a younger man, I started finding letters in my mailbox addressed
to “The Reverend Nate Wilson.” Wow, I liked the sound of that! Even though
most of it was junk mail pedaling clerical collars and LED church signs
and such, it felt good for people to give me that special title. But is
that why God put me in a position of church leadership? Certainly not.
- Sure, there are benefits which can be enjoyed,
but Jesus just finished saying in the last chapter that the greatest
commandment was to love the Lord, and here, instead of loving the
Lord, these scribes are loving what? The best seats!
- They had got it backwards by seeking glory and
honor and benefits for themselves rather than directing glory,
honor, and blessings toward God.
- So we see these three problems: Hypocrisy (saying
but not doing), Harshness (burdening with rules instead of pointing to
God’s forgiveness), and Humanistic, Man-centered outward religion (Seeking
to accumulate honor to self rather than humbly giving honor to God). When these kinds of things characterize a
religious community, what can be done to reform it? How can we join in a
revolution against this kind of religiosity? Jesus tells us in
the next verses:
23:8 But as for y’all, don’t start
being called ‘Rabbi,’ for your Spiritual Guide [teacher] is The One, whereas y’all are all brothers.
‘Υμεις δε μη
κληθητε
‘Ραββι, εἷς γαρ εστιν
‘υμων ‘ο καθηγητης
παντες δε ‘υμεις
αδελφοι εστε
- Dealing with the last problem first, Jesus says,
in effect, “You want to revolutionize the way the Pharisees abuse their
positions by always sucking in glory to themselves? Then start treating
each other as peers and refuse to accept any title that exalts you above
the fellowship of believers.”
- Peter is not to be
considered “first among equals,” and apostles are not to carry on the tradition
of being called Rabbi. Instead, as the rest of the New Testament plays
out, they seemed to go with labels that described their duties between God
and man, such as:
- “apostle” (which
means “man who has been sent on a mission” in Greek), or
- “pastor” (which
means “sheep-herder”), or
- “bishop” (which
means “one who keeps watch over” and protects), or
- “messenger” (the
word for “messenger” and the word for “angel” is the same in Greek), or
- “deacon” (which
means “servant”).
- The fact that they used such titles
in the Bible indicates that there is still a place for leadership
in the church to be respected and followed, but it is a different kind of
leadership which is not self-aggrandizing, but rather promotes the
brotherhood of all believers and consciously keeps God at the center of the
Church and all her functions.
- The Greek word translated “teacher” or “Spiritual
Guide” is a unique one, found nowhere else outside this passage in the
Greek Bible. Its root is the Greek word agw,
which means “lead/guide,” so I take it to mean that this isn’t merely
talking about teaching (which is clearly encouraged in the church),
but going beyond teaching to become a guiding force in the life of
another person.
- One of the hallmarks
of aberrant leaders is the amount of control they exercise over their followers.
Any church that tries to keep you exclusively under its system of teaching
while discouraging you from being exposed to other Christian teachers is
either a cult or fast on its way to becoming one.
- Most religions are “man-following”
religions. We see that in the Hindu and New Age religions where gurus,
maharishis, or spiritual guidance counselors act as mediators between the
spirit world and their followers – or for those less spiritually-oriented,
in the many non-religious Self-Help circles, mentors act as mediators
between a certain ideal of physical fitness or health or skill or
knowledge which they have achieved and their followers who want to achieve
that same ideal. That can become a very religious and all-consuming
man-following pursuit.
- But Christianity is
not about following a mere human. God Himself has always instructed His
people with what they need to know. God the Father spoke directly to Moses
in the Old Testament; Jesus taught His disciples directly in the Gospels,
and the Holy Spirit, the third person of our Trinitarian God, took over
the teaching role with God’s people in the New Testament:
- John 13:13 “You
call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am” (NASB),
- John 14:26 “But the
Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He
will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that
I said to you” (NASB),
- 1
John 2:27 “And the anointing which you yourselves received from Him
remains in you, and you have no need for someone to be teaching you. But as
His anointing is teaching you concerning everything--and it is true; it
is not a lie--just as it taught you, you remain in Him.” (NAW).
- This same Holy
Spirit is the one we should be looking to as our ultimate spiritual
leader and teacher.
23:9 and don’t start calling [anyone]
among yourselves on this earth, “Father,” for your heavenly Father is The One,
και Πατερα
μη καλεσητε ‘υμων
επι της γης εἷς
γαρ εστιν ‘ο Πατηρ
‘υμων ‘ο [εν τοις]
ουρανοις
- One has to wonder why the Roman Catholics, in the
face of such an express command from Christ, call priests “Father” and
call their chief priest “Pope” (which also means “Father” in Latin). I’m
sure they have a squirrelly explanation though.
- Now, the Bible says there is a place for
spiritual leadership:
- The Apostle Paul said, “Follow my
example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1Cor. 11:1, NIV),
- and to show the elders of the church “double
honor” (I Tim. 5:17).
- And in the book of Hebrews 13:17 we are
commanded to “submit to your leaders who keep watch over your souls.”
- In fact, Paul even calls himself the Corinthian
church’s “father” in 1 Cor. 4:15.
- But here Jesus is putting a limit on how far that
should go: A father carries natural, God-given authority over the life of
his children. When we humans start calling someone who is not our father,
“Father,” we open ourselves up to them taking a place of authority in our
lives which God never gave them the authority to take over us.
- Now, it’s one thing if you’ve lost your father
and you are legally adopted and you enter into a relationship with your
adoptive father. It’s quite healthy to honor and obey him.
- But it’s not healthy to form that kind of
relationship with just anybody. God doesn’t want His people forming attachments
with all kinds of spiritual leaders and trying to obey them all.
- “[T]he honour of
‘father’ is falsely given to men if it obscures the glory of God, and
this happens whenever a mortal man is reckoned as ‘father’ without regard
to God.” ~John Calvin
- Matthew Henry put
it this way in his commentary, “[C]onstitute no man the father of your
religion, that is, the founder, author, director, and governor, of it.” ….
We must not… pin our faith
on any man's sleeve, because we know not whither he will carry it.”
- Christianity is not
a man-centered religion; it is the only truly God-centered
religion. The only one whom we should unquestioningly obey and
honor without any qualification is God Himself.
- This is good news for all who did not have a good
earthly father. The ideal of love and leadership and provision can never
be limited to our imperfect earthly fathers. Wherever our earthly fathers
failed, God will not fail. God is perfect in every way and He can be
trusted with everything and obeyed without any bad consequence ever.
- But for a human spiritual leader to require the
kind of unquestioning obedience and unqualified honor that is due to God
and in a lesser way to our earthly fathers is to steal authority and honor
from both, and that kind of abuse wreaks havoc socially and spiritually.
23:10 and don’t start being called “[Spiritual]
Guides” for the [Spiritual] Guide The Christ is the One for y’all.
μηδε κληθητε
Καθηγηται εἷς γαρ
‘υμων εστιν [‘ο]
καθηγητης ‘ο
χριστος
- This is a follow-up on v.8 where that unique
Greek word for “teacher/leader/Master” is introduced. In case there is any
question who “the one” is in verses 8 and 9, Jesus states it explicitly:
the One who is your “exalted Rabbi” your “heavenly Father,” and your “Master/Teacher/Leader,”
is the Christ, the Messiah, Jesus Himself, our God.
- Now, what is the root from which all these abuses
of authority spring? Why do people steal glory from God with these titles?
It comes from pride. After
mentioning symptoms of pride in vs. 1-10, Jesus goes to the root
of the problem in the following verses:
23:11 But the greater one among you
will be the servant among you,
‘Ο δε
μειζων ‘υμων
εσται ‘υμων
διακονος
23:12 and
whoever will exalt himself will be humbled, yet whoever will humble himself
will be exalted.
‘οστις δε ‘υψωσει
‘εαυτον
ταπεινωθησεται
και ‘οστις
ταπεινωσει ‘εαυτον
‘υψωθησεται
Conclusion
Now, I want to come back to these last two verses this evening and
meditate more on this principle of humility, because it is also key to
revolutionizing false religion. But to close for now,
- Jesus has called out religion that is Hypocritical
(talking about the Bible but not doing what the Bible says);
- He has called out religion that is Harsh
(burdening others with rules instead of pointing to God’s forgiveness);
and
- He has called out religion that is Humanistic
(Seeking to get honor from other people rather than humbly giving honor to
God),
And boy have we seen these kinds of problems in religion today, and if
we’re honest, it’s there in our own hearts as well.
If we want to see a revolution – a revival – then we must follow Jesus’
teaching here and fight on all three fronts.
- We need to strive to increasingly be “doers of
the word” (who practice what we preach),
- We need to increasingly become share-ers of God’s
grace with others (pointing out the way of forgiveness), and
- We need to become increasingly more humble honor-ers
of God (recognizing Him as our great one, our Father, our Guide).
Oh, may God give us this kind of revival!
Matthew 23:11-12 “A Charge to New Christians: Prize Humility”
Translation
& Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church Manhattan KS, 23 June 2013
Translation
23:1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples 23:2 saying,
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit upon the seat of Moses,
23:3 therefore y’all must
keep holding onto and acting upon all of whatever things they speak to you, but
don’t act according their deeds, for they speak and don’t act [accordingly].
23:4 For they are tying on heavy and hard-to-bear
burdens,
and they are placing them upon the shoulders of men,
but they are not willing
to move them with their finger.
23:5 But they are doing
all of their deeds in order to be watched by men,
so they are making their phylacteries bigger and
enlarging the tassels on their garments,
23:6 and they like the principal seats at the dinners
and the principal chairs in the synagogues,
23:7 and the greetings in
the marketplaces and to be called by men, “Rabbi, rabbi!”
23:8 But as for y’all, don’t start being called ‘Rabbi,’
for your Spiritual Guide [teacher] is The One, whereas
y’all are all brothers.
23:9 and don’t start calling [anyone] among yourselves on this earth
“Father,”
for your heavenly Father is The One.
23:10 and don’t start being called “[Spiritual] Guides,”
for the [Spiritual] Guide The Christ is the One for
y’all.
23:11 But the greater one among you will be the servant among you,
23:12 and whoever will
exalt himself will be humbled, yet whoever will humble himself will be exalted.”
Introduction
- Remember Ruth, the great-grandmother of King
David, whose name is one of the very few women included in the genealogy of
Christ? How did she get that position of honor? She humbled herself and left
her country in order to follow the God of Israel and follow her
mother-in-law.
- Remember Mary, the mother of Jesus? How did she
get such a position of honor to be the mother of our Lord? She didn’t earn
it, but she did humble herself before God and she endured humiliation to
become Jesus’ mother.
- Remember the other Mary whom Jesus said would
have her story told wherever the Gospel was preached? How did her story
become so important? She humbled herself before Jesus by wiping His feet
with her hair and spending her life earnings on a bottle of perfume to
pour over His feet.
This sermon is designed to be a word of advice to two new believers who
are coming to be baptized. As I have prayed about what kind of a charge I could
give at this baptism, the words of our Lord Jesus in Matthew 23:11-12 have rung
in my mind. If there was any single principle which could protect you from
failing in your walk with God it would be humility.
The opposite of humility is pride, and we looked this morning at the
beginning of Matthew chapter 23, how pride ruins our relationship with God by
turning us into Hypocrites (who talk about the Bible but don’t obey it), into Harsh,
graceless people (who oppress others instead of pointing to God’s forgiveness),
and into Humanists (who seek to accumulate honor to self rather than humbly
giving honor to God). The solution to all these problems is Godly humility.
Here is what Jesus said,
Exegesis
23:11 “But the greater one among you
will be the servant among you,
‘Ο δε μειζων
‘υμων εσται ‘υμων διακονος
- In Matt. 18:1-4, Jesus’ disciples asked Him, “‘…which [of us] is
greater in the kingdom of the heavens?’ Then Jesus summoned a child and
stood it in the midst of them, and He said, ‘Really, I’m telling y’all,
unless your [direction] happens to be turned and y’all become like the
children, you shall never enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
Therefore, whichever one [of you] will humble himself like this child, it
is this man who is the greater one in the kingdom of the heavens.”
- Jesus connected greatness with childlike
humility. Here we see how that humility is best applied, and that
is in serving others: “The greatest will be the servant.”
- Greatness does not
come from getting people to call you respectable titles like “Reverend” or
“Doctor” or “Major General,” and getting VIP treatment; it does not come
through making people dependent on you; it doesn’t come through ordering
people around, and it doesn’t come through the way you dress; instead, it
comes through considering other peoples’ interests and acting to further their
interests even when it doesn’t do anything to further your interests.
- Now, it takes a spiritual fight to live out that
way of thinking, because we are constantly conditioned by the people and
the media in our culture to think of fashion, power, and position as what
makes people great. We have to guard our hearts against accepting those
lies from our culture and instead keep believing that what God thinks is
great is truly the best.
- “[T]he highest rank in the Church is not rule
but service.” ~John Calvin
- Jesus continues in v.12…
23:12
and whoever will exalt himself will be humbled, yet whoever will humble himself
will be exalted.”
‘οστις δε ‘υψωσει
‘εαυτον
ταπεινωθησεται
και ‘οστις
ταπεινωσει ‘εαυτον
‘υψωθησεται
- The world tells us, “If you exalt yourself you
will have a higher status, but if you humble yourself [and who
would want to do that???] you will be abasedKJV [duh!]” But Jesus says that’s a lie.
- “Nebuchadnezzar, in
the height of his pride, was turned to be a fellow-commoner with the
beasts; Herod, to be a feast for the worms; and Babylon, that sat as a
queen, to be the scorn of nations. God made the proud and aspiring priests
contemptible and base (Mal. 2:9), and the lying prophet to be the tail, (Isa. 9:15). But if proud
men have not marks of humiliation set upon them in this world, there is a
day coming, when they shall rise to
everlasting shame and contempt (Dan. 12:2); so plentifully will he reward the proud doer!
Psalm 31:23… [H]onour is like the shadow, which flees from those
that pursue it, and grasp at it, but follows those that flee
from it…” ~Matthew Henry
- The active and
passive voices of these verbs are key here. Honor and respect are not
things you can get for yourself; you can’t force people to give you honor
and respect. The one thing you can do effectively is to humble
yourself. Jesus says when you do that, you will be exalted [passive voice]
– exaltation comes to you without you doing anything to get it for
yourself.
- This does not mean moping around and
thinking you’re pond scum – no, you were made in the image of God Almighty.
- And it does not mean that you have to do
everything that everybody else tells you – no, you are in the service of
the Most High God, and you get your orders from Him through His Spirit
and His Word.
- So how do we
fight pride and humble ourselves? I see 3 ways that the Bible tells us to
do this:
- Don’t
try to put yourself first
- In Luke
14:7-11, Jesus said, “When you are invited by someone to a
wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more
distinguished than you may have been invited by him, and he who invited
you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and
then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. But when you are
invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has
invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher;’ then you
will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. For
everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself
will be exalted” (NASB).
- Psalm 75:5-7
Lift not up your horn on high... For God is the judge; he puts down one,
and raises up another. (Brenton)
- cf. Proverbs 18:12,
Isaiah 2:11-12, Ezekiel 17:24, Daniel 5:20
- What are ways we do that today?
- Bragging – “I’m the best! Everybody look at me!”
- One-upping – “You have two trees in your
backyard? Well, I have five trees in my backyard!” Don’t put down
other people when they say something that is amazing to them by saying
something more amazing. Just express amazement with them.
- Pushing in front of others to be first - “Me
first! There’s only a dozen popsicles in that box, and I don’t want to
be the one that doesn’t get one!”
- Even Shyness can
be a way of focusing attention on yourself rather than others. “I’m not
going to consider your interests; I’m just going to protect myself.”
- These are all things we need
to put away. Don’t put yourself first.
- Confess
your sins
- Luke 18:11-14
"The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank
You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or
even like this tax collector. 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all
that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even
unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast,
saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you, this man went
to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself
will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." (NASB) We need to be like the tax collector who said,
“God be merciful to me, the sinner,” rather than like the Pharisee who
only thought about the good things he had done.
- 1 Peter 5:6-7
GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD,
BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. Therefore humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting
all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (NASB)
- James 4:6-11
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it
says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO
THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." Submit
therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near
to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and
purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep;
let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble
yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. Do not
speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or
judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you
judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. (NASB) Acknowledging the authority of God to convict you of doing wrong
and confessing your sin to God (and to others if appropriate) is to
humble yourself before the Lord and resist the Devil. The Devil doesn’t
want you to acknowledge God’s authority and confess your sins. When you
weep over your sins and cast your anxiety upon the Lord Jesus, He will
give you grace. He will forgive your sins and purify your heart.
- So, Don’t put yourself first; Confess your sins,
and ….
- Think
about other people’s needs and help them
- Jesus said Matt. 20:27 ‘whoever wishes to be
first among you shall be your servant’ “This plainly means, ‘shall show
that he is so by becoming your servant’” ~JFB
- 1
Peter 5:5-7 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe
yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO
THE HUMBLE. (NASB)
- Philippians 2:3-8
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard
one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own
personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude
in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in
the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant... (NASB) Jesus set the example for us by showing us how to love by serving.
Think about what other people are wanting and help them get what they
need.
- Maybe it is a word of comfort or encouragement,
maybe it is information to instruct them, maybe it is a physical or
financial need. If we are attuned to what other people need, we can
abandon ourselves to help them.
- Sometimes they don’t know what they need, for
instance, most lost people don’t know that they need to hear the Gospel,
and it takes humbling ourselves and being willing to endure a put-down
to talk to them about how God has provided forgiveness of sins through
the death and resurrection of Jesus(2 Corinthians 11:7),
- but God can help us understand their true needs
as He sees them and as His Holy Spirit guides us, if we are willing to
humble ourselves.
Conclusion
So, all you believers in Jesus, take on the attitude of Christ, the
attitude of humility, and you will do well in your Christian life. Don’t put
yourself first, rather confess your sins before God and think about other
people’s needs and help them.