Matthew 24:13-39, Result of Wrong Religion

Introduction: In the following verses, Jesus gives 8 Woes to the teachers of the law and Pharisees. For personal application, He gives us 8 examples of what results from wrong religion, and folks, our flesh naturally leans toward wrong religion.

I. Verse13:“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

  1. So, there is a door, a way into the kingdom of heaven, but the teachers of the law and Pharisees weren’t walking through it, so they obviously couldn’t lead others in the right direction.
  2. Jesus calls them hypocrites, mask wearers, fakes. Jesus is tearing their masks off, exposing the truth that lies beneath, and what is revealed is ugly, indeed.
  3. So, the first “Woe” for us to pray is that we avoid walking in man’s religion because we become a stumbling block to those who are seeking the truth of the kingdom of heaven.
  4. It is only through the Holy Spirit and God’s Word that we can know right religion; He has given us His Word, and made us all members of a royal priesthood, so we do not have an excuse to let the blind guides lead us away from kingdom of heaven.

II. Verse 14: “They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

  1. James 1:22 tells us that “Religionthat God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world,” yet these religious leaders were doing just the opposite: taking widows’ homes from them.
  2. Likewise, we already read Jesus’s words in Matthew 6:“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you,” yet the religious leaders “make lengthy prayers,” and Jesus went so far as to verbalize their motive: “for a show.”
  3. Jesus makes the resultof religion like the Pharisees’ and teachers of the law’s very clear: they “will be punished most severely.” Now, be careful not to shout out a self-righteous “Amen!” Can we honestly say we haven’t done something “for a show,” enjoying the attention rather than giving the Father every ounce of the glory He deserves?
  4. By the end of this chapter, you’ll find that, although the words of Jesus cut deep, He is not angrywith these men; instead His heart hurt for them. He isn’t cruelly calling them names; instead, His words are peeling their masks off layer by layer until the truth of their “religion” is completely revealed.

III. Verse 15:“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.”

  1. These men were zealous for their religion, but zeal does not equalright actions, and it’s always good to be reminded of that.
  2. Jesus left no room for misinterpretation in His strong words: What good does it do for people to passionately devote themselvesto winning converts if we’re winning them to Isaiah’s prophetic description: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” If that is what we win people to, then we participate in making others “twice as much a child of hell as you are.” Lord, open our eyes to your true, pure religion; help us to be zealous for that truth, winning children to the kingdom of heaven rather than hell.

IV. Verses 16-22: “16 Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.”

  1. Here, Jesus gives specific examples of the “teachings [that] are merely human rules” that Isaiah prophesied about. They religiously taught these ‘proper’ ways to swear, which Jesus points out are obviously not proper at all. These are just a tiny sampling of how these leaders “shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces.”
  2. We’ve already read what Jesus had to say about swearing oaths; he basically said not to swear by anything; instead, “All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37).

V. Verses 23-24: “23 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.”

  1. Note that Jesus explains that tithing should be practiced, but what good does it do if you neglect the foundation of the law, which comes from the character of God: justice, mercy, and faithfulness?
  2. These men were in a leadership role, yet Jesus says they’re blindly guiding others, and in Matthew 15, He adds, “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
  3. The accusation in verse 24, “You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel,” is hyperbole, poking fun at the religious attempt to eat kosher without the proper motive; the end result is full knowledge of small things but complete ignorance of the weightier issues that matter the most. For instance, what good does it do to faithfully attend church (strain out a gnat), yet go on living just like the unbelieving world (swallowing a camel).

VI. Verses 25-28: “25 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” This “Woe” reveals that all of their religious acts are “for a show.” As Timothy warns the Church, there will be those who have a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Tim. 3:5). Lord, keep us from such a temptation!

VII. Verses 29-36:“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started! 33 You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 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 Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.” These men are the culmination of years and years of “religion” that was absent of faith, hope, and love. When Jesus asks, “How will you escape being condemned to hell?” their only option was to grab onto Him as Messiah, allowing Him to change them from the inside out.

VIII. Verses 37-39: “37 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, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”Luke 19 adds that Jesus was crying while He said these words; as harsh as His rebukes had been, they were all said in love, hoping to turn these men from their false faith; however, despite His love and desire to save and protect them, they “were not willing.” We must remember this when we offer people God’s Truth. If they are not willing, then we don’t hate them, we weep for them, and move on in the ministry.

Lord, help us to stand on Your Truth alone; protect us from the results of wrong religion.

Amen and Amen.