March 20, 2022

MATTHEW 23:25-35

1) Who is someone in your life that you are actively trying to teach the gospel?

a) How is it going?

b) If you do not have a person, you should pick one! Who is that person?

2) Jesus calls the Scribes and Pharisees dirty cups that are only clean on the outside, whitewashed tombs full of the dead, and snakes and vipers.

a) Review each of these metaphors and explain them together.

b) Which one did you find most powerful/condemning?

3) What sin has infected our soul that we need to stop glossing over and rather seek to eliminate by the power of the Holy Spirit?

a) Are you being held accountable by anyone or are you trying to fix it on your own?

4) How are we spiritually affecting those around of us?

a) Are we a stumbling block to others through how we behave or speak, or are we encouraging to others?

b) What would others say about us?

6) What is the "root" of the Scribes' and Pharisees' hypocrisy according to V35?

a) Is it possible for us to fall into the same error?

Exhortations

First - If you are pretending to follow Jesus, it is critical for you to know, your sin will find you out. You can fool your spouse, you can fool your children, your grandchildren, your community, your Church, but ultimately that doesn't matter. You cannot, and you will not, fool the One who knows all things, the Judge of the living and the dead Jesus Christ before whom we must all give an account. No creature is hidden from His sight (Hebrews 4:13). 

Second - You read Matthew 23 and begin to wonder, was there any hope for a scribe or a pharisee? The answer is a resounding yes (Phil 3:1-6). God is a God of grace who delights in saving sinners and making them His own for His glory. 

Definitions

Woe - Decleration of divine judgment uttered by a prophet on a people or individual for their wickedness.

Hypocrite - Literally an actor in a play. They pretend to be something or someone they are not.

Viper - A snake common to Israel that would often look like a stick and would strike unsuspecting people looking for firewood.