Mateus 23
David Guzik · Citado em PreceptAustin
Mateus 23
Guzik - Jesus prophesied about how these leaders would complete the rejection of the prophets their fathers began by persecuting His disciples, whom He would send to them. G Campbell
Mateus 23
Guzik - The religious leaders kept people from the kingdom of heaven by making human traditions and human religious rules more important than God’s Word. This was clearly seen in the way that they opposed and rejected Jesus; if they had opened the kingdom of heaven to men, they would have welcomed and received Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. Matthew
Mateus 23
Guzik - In this respect, the religious leaders were similar to Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses today. They were courageous and energetic messengers, but with a false message. John
Mateus 23
Guzik has a pithy comment - Their tithing was meticulous and noteworthy; but hypocritical because it served to sooth the guilt of their neglect of the weightier matters of the law. It is both possible and common to be distracted with relatively trivial matters while a lost world perishes. And have neglected (aphiemi) the weightier provisions (barus - the more central, more decisive) of the law: justice (krisis - right treatment of others) and mercy (eleos - compassion toward the needy) and faithfulness (pistis - loyalty to God and His truth) - Jesus gives a short list of the he weightier provisions of the law. The Pharisees were disregarding the spirit of the Law obsessing over counting leaves, but failing to obey the other aspects of the law. They were counting leaves and ignoring lives! But the truth is that they had no power to do otherwise because they were so corrupt inside. Their outward religion belied their inward rot! The attitudes and actions of justice, mercy and faithfulness emanate from within, from a heart that is clean. THOUGHT - Are you like the Pharisees, majoring on the minors? You have rules for every minute area of your life, but you put aside the thing God says are more important (justice, mercy, faithfulness). The nature of legalism is to be a stickler for the details, but to be blind to the weightier principles that please God. It's not that tithing is wrong — it's that empty ritual without justice and mercy is worthless. MacArthur makes an excellent point that "Jesus borrowed the word weightier from the rabbinical tradition, which had divided the law into light and heavy categories. In their inverted priorities the scribes and Pharisees had reduced such matters as justice and mercy and faithfulness to the light category and elevated the tithing of garden herbs to the weightier category....The scribes and Pharisees were inequitable, unfair, unjust, unmerciful, brutal, unforgiving, unkind, greedy and abusive of others. They were everything that is contrary to the weightier provisions of the law. Worst of all, they walked by sight rather than faith, trusting in their own works rather than God's grace. (See Matthew Commentary) They majored in minors while failing in the majors of God’s law Warren
Mateus 23
Guzik - Jesus did not call them to choose between outer righteousness and inner righteousness. He called them to be concerned with both, but to first address the inside. True outward righteousness starts on the inside. Gilbrant - In contrast to the Pharisees' focus on external appearances, Jesus taught that the heart must first be cleansed, then good fruits will be the normal result, just as a good tree produces good fruit (7:16-20; 15:18-20). The Bible shows again and again that true righteousness comes by the cleansing power of the Word and the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. When it begins with spiritual life in the heart it can then be demonstrated in daily living. Notice that Jesus did not say that the cleansing of the outside was not important. It is just a fact that a person who was self-centered or self-indulgent, and comes to Jesus and is changed and filled with love for others, will also clean up on the outside as well. (Complete Biblical Library) QUESTION - Why did Jesus say to cleanse the inside of the cup (Matthew 23:26)? GOTQUESTIONS.ORG ANSWER - Jesus came to the nation of Israel proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of the heavens was at hand (Matthew 4:17), because the King (Jesus) had come. He came teaching them about the eternal kingdom of God that was in the heavens and that would one day change addresses, moving to earth in fulfilment of God’s promises. Jesus used many examples and illustrations, and in one instance He challenged His listeners that it was important to “first clean the inside of the cup and dish” (Matthew 23:26). As Jesus proclaimed the coming kingdom, He urged the people to repent, or to change their mind about how they could enter that kingdom. In part because of the teachings of the Pharisees and scribes, many of the people thought that they could enter the kingdom of God based on their lineage or based on their external obedience to the Law of Moses. Jesus strongly contradicted that thought, challenging them especially in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5—7) that external obedience to the law did not constitute righteousness. They needed internal righteousness, and they did not have that internal righteousness. Their righteousness had to be greater than what the Pharisees and scribes were prescribing, or else they could never enter the kingdom (Matthew 5:20). Instead of pursuing their current course of simply trying to look like they had righteousness, Jesus wanted them to look to Him to provide them with the true righteousness that they needed. It was important to cleanse the inside of the cup (Matthew 23:26), Jesus would later explain. First cleaning the inside of the cup was so important, in fact, that Jesus compared those who thought they would enter the kingdom through external obedience to a man who built a house on the sand. Those who looked to Jesus and discovered true righteousness were like a man who built a house on the rock. When the inevitable storm came, the house built on the sand fell, but the house built on the rock stood fast (Matthew 7:24–27). The Pharisees and scribes thought they were righteous, but Jesus called them hypocrites who did not have righteousness and who were misleading others down a path of false righteousness (Matthew 23:13). He exposed their hypocrisy, saying that they were stealing the houses of widows while offering long public prayers to make themselves look holy (Matthew 23:14). He pronounced woe on them for making disciples of themselves and their error, instead of following Jesus as they ought to have done (Matthew 23:15). They were claiming to be guides, but they themselves were blind. They were misrepresenting God and His path to righteousness (Matthew 23:16–22). They were tithing, bringing glory to themselves, but were neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness (Matthew 23:23). Jesus illustrates the spiritual bankruptcy of the religious leaders by saying that they focused on cleaning the outside of the cup and dish but were full of robbery and pursuit of self-interest (Matthew 23:25). Jesus says they should first focus on cleansing the inside of the cup and dish (Matthew 23:26). If they do that, the outside would be clean as well. Jesus further illustrates the problem of hypocrisy by calling them whitewashed tombs—they were pretty on the outside, but they were full of death and decay on the inside (Matthew 23:27–28). Jesus’ message is consistent. To make a cup truly clean, it is important to cleanse the inside of the cup (Matthew 23:26). That is, it is necessary to have authentic, inner righteousness that only Christ can provide. The Pharisees and scribes were pursuing righteousness by their own efforts, but they failed to recognize that even our most righteous deeds are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). We have nothing to offer God that would make us righteous. The only way we can be righteous is faith in Him. This has always been the recipe, as evidenced by the early example of Abraham, who was declared righteous when he believed in God who was speaking to Him (Genesis 15:6). In the same way, we are justified (declared righteous by God) through faith in Him and now have peace with God (Romans 5:1). Because of this we are citizens of His kingdom (Colossians 1:13) and will one day see Him in all the glory of that kingdom (Revelation 19—20). It was true when Jesus first said it—it is important to cleanse the inside of the cup—and it is still true today. Righteousness is on the inside by faith in Jesus. Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. KJV Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. BGT Matthew 23:27 Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι παρομοιάζετε τάφοις κεκονιαμένοις, οἵτινες ἔξωθεν μὲν φαίνονται ὡραῖοι, ἔσωθεν δὲ γέμουσιν ὀστέων νεκρῶν καὶ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας. NET Matthew 23:27 "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. CSB Matthew 23:27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every impurity. ESV Matthew 23:27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. NIV Matthew 23:27 "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 dead men's bones and everything unclean. NLT Matthew 23:27 "What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs-- beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people's bones and all sorts of impurity. YLT Matthew 23:27 'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye are like to whitewashed sepulchres, which outwardly indeed do appear beautiful, and within are full of bones of dead men, and of all uncleanness; MIT Matthew 23:27 How horrible your destiny, scholars and Pharisees, imposters all. You are comparable to whitewashed tomb vaults, which externally appear to be attractive, but inside they are full of the bones of dead people and all kinds of uncleanness. NJB Matthew 23:27 'Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of corruption. NRS Matthew 23:27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. like (term of comparison) - Isa 58:1,2 Lu 11:44 Ac 23:3 tombs: Nu 19:16 Related Passages: Luke 11:44+ (USE OF TOMBS IN SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ILLUSTRATION) “Woe to you! For you are like concealed tombs, and the people who walk over them are unaware of it.” Acts 23:3+ Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?” Numbers 19:16-18+ Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days. 17 ‘Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the burnt purification from sin and flowing water shall be added to them in a vessel. 18 ‘A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one dying naturally or the grave. Psalms 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Whitewashed Tomb with Bones Inside THE CURSE OF WHITEWASHED RELIGION Woe (ouai) to you, scribes (grammateus) and Pharisees (pharisaios), hypocrites (hupokrites)! - This is the 6th of 7 times Jesus calls them hypocrites. Imagine their blood pressure rising each time they hear this deprecatory designation! For (term of explanation) - Jesus explains the "Woe!" Pulpit Commentary gives the background - Once a year, about the fifteenth of the month Adar (ED: MONTH BEFORE PASSOVER AND AFTER THE RAINY SEASON), the Jews used to whitewash the tombs and the places where corpses were buried, partly out of respect for the dead, but chiefly in order to make them conspicuous (ED: FOR PASSOVER WOULD BRING MANY PILGRIMS), and thus to obviate the risk of persons incautiously contracting ceremonial defilement by touching or walking over them (Numbers 19:16,18). William