Matthew 23:25-39

Matthew 23:25-39

In His grace God has given us a choice. He will neither impose His desires on us nor protect us from the consequences of rebellious choices. In this powerful conclusion to the woes Jesus explains the foundation for the rebellion of the religious elite and the results that that rebellion will bring. This is a message that is timely for the church today and our lives as individual followers.

The root problem for pharisaical religion was that they focused on external appearance rather than inner, moral character. They appear deeply religious as they debated such things as the relative importance of ceremonial cleanliness of the inside or the outside of a cup. Yet, all the while that they held these debates their inner, moral character was rotten. What was worse, they were OK with that rottenness. Jesus compares their duality to a tomb that is filled with the decay and rot, but outside is beautiful, pristine white. This internal rot working with an outward pretense of piety is a damning combination. It leaves a person completely guilty, but self-deluded thinking that their pious acts indicate they are righteous. Such people are “sons of vipers” with no escape from the doom of hell.

As in the past when God sent prophets, so Jesus would send His people. But just like in the Old Testament they would be rejected and persecuted. Pessimism is often the correct view. In verse 37, we see Jesus’s heartbreak expressed by His wanting to protect Jerusalem but Jerusalem not wanting Him. As a result, the house or temple is literally left abandoned. This is more than the destruction of A.D. 70. This was an expression of the reality that God had departed from the temple worship and the people of Israel. Note that Jesus emphasizes that, “your house is being left to you desolate”. Emphasis added.

The decline of the church in the West, and in America specifically, is because we have rejected the Lord. The decline is not the result in a change in culture or generations. The church has collectively and individually been content to have a godless faith to suit our internal, rotten morals. As churches close and buildings are abandoned or sold, we need to realize that long before the apparent end came that church left the Lord and the Lord abandoned them.

"Lord, give us the grace to follow You, not what is comfortable, popular or pleasing. AMEN"