Woes

  • Persecutors of the Prophets

    Matthew 23:29–36

    Matthew Henry says it is easy for us to assume that we would be unlike the scribes and Pharisees and follow Jesus willingly. Yet even centuries later, he writes, “Christ in his Spirit, in his word, in his ministers, is ...Read More

  • Dead Men Walking

    Matthew 23:27–28

    Truth be told, there is a bit of hypocrisy in all of us. We often try hard to impress other people with our piety, trying to get the pastor and other people to notice our willingness to pray and serve ...Read More

  • Inward Cleanliness

    Matthew 23:25–26

    According to Matthew Henry: “those sins must be conscientiously abstained from, which the eye of God only is a witness to, who searches the heart.” We can easily think we are being obedient if we do many good deeds, however ...Read More

  • The Sanctity of Vows

    Matthew 23:16–22

    John MacArthur comments that “swearing by those things [temple, altar, and so on] is tantamount to swearing by God Himself” (The MacArthur Bible Commentary, p. 1,169). Any godly commitment we make must be honored, for the Lord prizes truth ...Read More

  • Increasing Another’s Guilt

    Matthew 23:13–15

    As we preach the Gospel to our friends and neighbors we must always stress grace, otherwise we can convert people to a Christianized form of moralism that implies it is possible for us to get right with God through our ...Read More