Mark Sorensen And here we are, our final “Woe” of Jesus to the Pharisees.
In case you have just joined the “Woe” readings, allow me to offer a quick catch-up for you. Jesus, as a guest of one of the Pharisees, reclines in one of their homes and opens up with these seven “Woes” found in Matthew 23 speaking out against the Pharisees and their ulterior motives, misguided teachings, and deception. Seriously? Jesus holds nothing back (not necessarily taken from the pages of, How to Win Friends and Influence People).
Our final “Woe” from Matthew 23:
“How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You make fine tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who lived good lives; and you claim that if you had lived during the time of your ancestors, you would not have done what they did and killed the prophets. So you actually admit that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets! Go on, then, and finish up what your ancestors started!” Matthew 23:29-32 (GNT)
Monument keepers. That’s what the Pharisees had become.
Let’s dig deeper.
The prophets were well respected in Judaism and the Pharisees had taken upon themselves the business of building large, ornate monuments to respect the prophets. Not a bad thing, right? However, it was the motives behind their buildings that Jesus was referencing. They were giving the impression that, had they lived in the time of the prophets, they would have been on the side of the prophets and not sided with those who wanted to persecute them. However, Jesus knew their hearts.
They saw themselves as heirs to the prophets. Jesus saw them as heirs to those who killed the prophets. In fact, at this point in John’s Gospel, the Pharisees were already plotting the murder of Jesus. So Jesus’ response? “Go on, then, and finish up what your ancestors started!” (Matt 23:32)
Ouch.
It doesn’t take long to catch on that the primary rub Jesus had with the Pharisees of the day was their hypocrisy. They loved putting on a good show. The problem with it all was that it was empty and void of authenticity. They loved to claim allegiance to the prophets through the preservation of the monuments, but they missed being in fellowship and claiming allegiance to God in their midst through Jesus Christ. And, even greater, they missed playing their part in His story by becoming builders of His Kingdom.
The Pharisees missed it. They had turned into museum keepers and tour guides with great smiles, having all the right answers, but lost their identity in the process.
What a reminder for the church today. We must be careful.
It can become so easy to become “museum keepers” of our spaces that ministry becomes maintenance and we lose the simple fact that we’re not simply called to be monument preservers, but, instead, fishers of men and women. We can use the church as a raft and cling to it for safety in the midst of troubled waters, or, instead, we can hook up the trawls and fish for the Kingdom.
Let’s get to work, friends;)
Thankful that we’re called to run the race together and we’re not alone in the process!
“As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us. So then, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way, and of the sin which holds on to us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us.” Hebrews 12:1
