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Church of the Nazarene - East Rockingham Campus
Encounters Part 1
The Pharisee's
Locations & Times
Church of The Nazarene- East Rock
East Side Hwy, Elkton, VA 22827, USA
Sunday 9:00 AM
Sunday 10:30 AM
Today we begin our Easter teaching series called Encounters. Throughout this series we will be looking at encounters that Jesus had with people to see how it changed their lives and what we can learn for our lives today.
Our series begins today with Jesus encountering the Pharisee's in Matthew 23. This particular encounter we are looking at today, happens on Tuesday of passion week.
Our series begins today with Jesus encountering the Pharisee's in Matthew 23. This particular encounter we are looking at today, happens on Tuesday of passion week.
Throughout the gospel accounts you will read of different encounters with the Pharisee’s and legal experts.
The Pharisee’s were a group of Jewish religious folks who had completely separated their lives from normal activity to dedicate themselves to the strict observing of the law of Moses. They were the best of the best as far as being religious goes.
The Legal experts or scribes (depending on your translation) that are also mentioned here in the text- They were professional religious intellectuals. They were highly trained in the law of Moses, they were often asked to teach and give rulings when there was a dispute.
After multiple failed attempts to trap Jesus in his words, Jesus turns his attention to the crowds of people in the temple and addresses them. That’s where we pick up in Matthew 23
The Pharisee’s were a group of Jewish religious folks who had completely separated their lives from normal activity to dedicate themselves to the strict observing of the law of Moses. They were the best of the best as far as being religious goes.
The Legal experts or scribes (depending on your translation) that are also mentioned here in the text- They were professional religious intellectuals. They were highly trained in the law of Moses, they were often asked to teach and give rulings when there was a dispute.
After multiple failed attempts to trap Jesus in his words, Jesus turns his attention to the crowds of people in the temple and addresses them. That’s where we pick up in Matthew 23
Jesus reveals that most of what these Pharisee’s were doing, was for show, was to impress other people- Jesus says “don’t do that”
After speaking to the crowds, he then turns his attention directly to the Pharisee’s and legal experts and begins to reveal what’s really behind all of their religious practices.
After speaking to the crowds, he then turns his attention directly to the Pharisee’s and legal experts and begins to reveal what’s really behind all of their religious practices.
The word hypocrite here means to be a play actor, a pretender. A person who does right things for the wrong reasons. A person who says one thing and does another.
Jesus calls the Pharisee’s and legal experts hypocrites because all of their religious rules and activities actually prevent people from finding God- and they themselves don’t even have a relationship with him. They are pretending.
Jesus calls the Pharisee’s and legal experts hypocrites because all of their religious rules and activities actually prevent people from finding God- and they themselves don’t even have a relationship with him. They are pretending.
Here Jesus seems to be calling out a convoluted system of swearing oaths- by the temple, by things inside of it- they had a whole system established for how serious something needed to be sworn in.
For Jesus, he says let your yes be yes and your no be no.
For Jesus, he says let your yes be yes and your no be no.
The Pharisee’s were so attune to religious details, they would tithe on their spices and seasonings. That itself wasn’t the problem.
They were hypocrites because they took tithing to that level of detail, but they failed to look after the major things like justice, peace, and faith.
They were hypocrites because they took tithing to that level of detail, but they failed to look after the major things like justice, peace, and faith.
The Pharisee’s and scribes had a beautiful exterior of religious ceremony and piety- but inside it was gross, full of violence and pleasure seeking.
What was on the outside, did not match the inside, and that's a brig problem for Jesus.
What was on the outside, did not match the inside, and that's a brig problem for Jesus.
Today as we read about the encounter with Jesus and Pharisee’s we should be careful not to miss the real encounter that matters the most for us today. And that’s Jesus encounter with hypocrisy.
The real enemy of this passage is not the pharisee’s or the legal experts. It’s not the Law or the Jewish people. It’s the hypocrisy of people claiming the name of God and not living his life.
And friends that is an enemy that crosses generations, cultures, and all sorts of experience. Right into my life and yours.
The real enemy of this passage is not the pharisee’s or the legal experts. It’s not the Law or the Jewish people. It’s the hypocrisy of people claiming the name of God and not living his life.
And friends that is an enemy that crosses generations, cultures, and all sorts of experience. Right into my life and yours.
This is not about being mad at the Pharisee’s, or hypocrites in our world today- it’s about taking an honest look in the mirror and asking: Lord, is there hypocrisy in me?
The danger of hypocrisy is that it can cause us not to enter the kingdom of heaven.Both to miss the fullness of Christ now, and after we die, that we might miss eternity in heaven.
And the other danger of hypocrisy in our life, is that it might cause OTHERS to miss the kingdom of God.
Author Brennen Manning says: "The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
That’s the twin danger of hypocrisy.
Today we seek the Lord in dealing with hypocrisy in our life. We ask him to search our hearts, to reveal to us the places of our own hypocrisy, and to lead us to repentance.
The danger of hypocrisy is that it can cause us not to enter the kingdom of heaven.Both to miss the fullness of Christ now, and after we die, that we might miss eternity in heaven.
And the other danger of hypocrisy in our life, is that it might cause OTHERS to miss the kingdom of God.
Author Brennen Manning says: "The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."
That’s the twin danger of hypocrisy.
Today we seek the Lord in dealing with hypocrisy in our life. We ask him to search our hearts, to reveal to us the places of our own hypocrisy, and to lead us to repentance.