Matthew 23:1-15

In this chapter Jesus expresses seven woes against the religious leaders of His day. Today we look at the first two of those woes.

First we should note that it was not Jesus’ custom to speak condemnation. Even here He is declaring woes not pronouncing condemnation. He did not come to condemn the world but to bring the message of hope to a world that is condemned already. When He did speak in such fashion it was alway for one of two reasons. Those He was speaking about were either bringing the worship of God into disrepute or hindering others from getting to God. (Actually, the second reason was a result of the first.) This was the case with the religious leaders of His day.

Woe! You are hypocrites refusing to enter the kingdom and guarding the “Keep Out” signs against those who would come in. It is bad enough to refuse to enter into the freedom and joy of the kingdom, but to not allow others to enter is a thing that brings woe. And when God uses the word “woe” I suspect it is something far beyond our ability to comprehend.

Woe! You win converts. You go to great extremes to win converts. But you are winning converts for yourself, not for God. It is an awesome responsibility to bring people into the kingdom. Those who do such work publicly should exercise extreme caution to be sure that it is God’s kingdom, not their own, into which they are bring converts.