The Condemnation of the Religious Leaders, Part 1

Jim ButlerMatthew 23:13

Matthew 23:13 introduces the first of eight woes Christ pronounces upon the scribes and Pharisees — men who, rather than opening the kingdom of heaven, slammed its door in the faces of those seeking entrance. The sermon establishes the prophetic precedent for Christ's condemnation by tracing the woe-oracle tradition through Isaiah and Habakkuk, and by grounding Christ's authority in the Deuteronomy 18 promise of the coming prophet. The first woe is shown to encapsulate all the rest: the religious leaders shut out others through hypocrisy, legalism, doctrinal heresy, and above all their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. The sermon closes with a direct call to believe the gospel — to look to Christ and live, as Israel once looked to the bronze serpent in the wilderness.