What do I know with Isaac Carroll
What do I know with Isaac Carroll
Beyond the Law: Finding True Faith in Matthew 23
What happens when religious performance replaces genuine faith? Matthew 23 captures Jesus at his most confrontational, delivering a blistering critique of religious hypocrisy that resonates powerfully today.
The scribes and Pharisees had positioned themselves as authorities on Moses' law, yet Jesus exposes the glaring contradiction between their teaching and their practice. They created burdensome religious requirements they themselves wouldn't follow, seeking prestige and recognition rather than authentic relationship with God. "They do all their deeds to be noticed by people," Jesus declares, before pronouncing seven devastating "woes" against their hypocrisy.
This episode explores how religious leaders had become barriers rather than bridges to God's kingdom. They focused obsessively on minor details while neglecting "the weightier provisions of the law" – justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Jesus uses vivid metaphors, comparing them to "whitewashed tombs" that appear beautiful on the outside but contain death within. His passionate condemnation reveals something crucial: God is more concerned with the condition of our hearts than with outward religious performance.
Yet even amid this fierce confrontation, we discover Jesus' profound compassion. His lament over Jerusalem – "How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks" – reveals his deep love for those caught in religious systems that miss the heart of God's law. The episode concludes by examining the parable of the sheep and goats, showing how authentic faith always manifests in loving actions toward others. Listen now to discover why true spirituality isn't about religious performance but demonstrating genuine love – the ultimate proof of our relationship with God.
May God bless you and lead you always.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Isaac Carroll, and this is what Do I Know? Alright, in today's Bible study we are going to be in Matthew 23. We'll begin in verse 1. Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples, saying the scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and comply with it all, but do not do as they do, for they say the things but they do not do them. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger. And they do all their deeds to be noticed by people, for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. And they love the places of honor at banquets and the seat of honor at synagogue and personal greetings in the marketplaces and being called Rabbi by the people. But as for you, do not be called Rabbi, for only one is your teacher and you are all brothers and sisters. And do not call anyone on earth your father, for only one is your father, he who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders, for only one is your leader, and that is Christ. But the greatest of you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
Speaker 1:Alright, let's stop here at verse 12 real quick and discuss what we've just read. Now Jesus says that the scribes and the Pharisees had seated themselves in the seat of Moses. Now we know Moses was ordained by God to be the bringer of the law and he was the leader of Israel at that time. And now these men were the leaders of Israel. So Jesus says to the people to do what they told them to do, but not to do as they did. The problem with these religious leaders was that they weren't trying to open the way to heaven so people could understand God. No, they wanted to show how legalistic they were, how smart they were. And then they added to the law their own traditions. We read this in Matthew 15, starting in verse 1.
Speaker 1:Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem. They asked why do your disciples break the traditions of the elders? May you not wash their hands before they eat? Jesus replied and why do you break the commandments of God? For the sake of your traditions. For God said Honor your father and your mother, and anyone who curses his father or mother should be put to death, but you say that if anyone says to his father or mother, whatever you would have received from me is a gift devoted to God, he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your traditions, you hypocrites. Isaiah prophesied correctly about you. These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain and they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.
Speaker 1:Alright, how this is relevant to me, and maybe it can be relevant to you, is, at one time I was guilty of being an advocate for the law, because the people who brought me up in church, people who brought me up in the Word, they emphasized the need for the law, and I didn't understand why the law was given and evidently they didn't either and they said that if every man was going to be judged by how they lived their life, which is the law, then we needed to keep the law. The law was the most important thing, and it was a burden that obviously Israel couldn't carry. It was a burden I couldn't carry, but because I believed it, I also laid that same burden on others, and that's why it's so important to be careful who you have pour into you, and it's why I believe Jesus gives this next teaching. He starts in verse eight. He says but as for you, do not be called rabbi, for you only have one teacher, all right. Jesus is saying that you have one teacher. Now. This isn't saying that you shouldn't have other people pour into you from God's Word. He's saying that God's Word has to be your teacher. Everything that's spoken to you has to reflect God's Word.
Speaker 1:I thought everything that I was being taught was from God's Word and they showed me from God's Word where it was at, but without understanding or without seeing the entire scripture, without getting the context of why it was given. I was blinded as they were, and it affected my walk with Christ. It affected my desire to walk with Christ. I mean, I knew I couldn't be good enough and that I was never going to be, no matter how hard I tried. If I was ever going to make it into heaven because of the sin nature that I had, then what's the point and that's the wrong narrative to give somebody and it's a problem with a lot of people today is they believe that because so many people have taught it? Problem with a lot of people today is they believe that because so many people have taught it. The whole point of Jesus coming was to relieve us from that.
Speaker 1:So it is very important to be conscious of who's pouring into you and not take everything they say as the law, because, remember, they're only human and they have their ideas of what the word is communicating. Always go back and test it to what the word says. The word has to be the final authority and that's why Jesus says only have one father, call no man your father. Back in Jesus' time, the father was the head of the house and the head of the house had final say. He was the final authority in all things in that home. And God has to be the final authority in our lives, not our teachers, not people who pour in this, not people we look up to God. God and the word of God has to be the only authority in our life. That is absolute. All right, let's continue.
Speaker 1:But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people, for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who would enter go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte, and when it becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you yourselves. Woe to you blind guides who say whoever swears by the temple that it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gold on the temple is obligated. But whoever swears by the gold on the temple is obligated. You fools and blind men. Which is more important? The gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? And you say whoever swears by the altar that it is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering that is obligated. You blind men. Which is more important? The offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering? Therefore, whoever swears by the altar swears by both the altar and everything on it. And the one who swears by the temple swears both by the temple and him who dwells in it. And the one who swears by heaven swears by both the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
Speaker 1:Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you tithe mint and dill and cumin and you have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, like justice, mercy, faithfulness. But these are the things you should have done without neglecting the other. You blind guides, you strain at a gnat, yet you swallow a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. A gnat, yet you swallow a camel. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisees. First you clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so the outside of it may also be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, verse 2.
Speaker 1:Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you build the tombs of the prophets and you decorate the monuments of the righteous and you say If we had been living in the days of our Father, we would not have taken part with them in the shedding of the blood of the prophets. So you testify against yourselves that you are the sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You snakes, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in their synagogues and persecute from city to city, so that upon you will fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berekeh, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. Jerusalem, jerusalem who kills the prophet and stones those who have been sent to her. How often I have wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you, desolate. For I say to you, from now on you will not see me until you say Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Speaker 1:All right, we come to the end of chapter 23. Well, I hope this end of chapter 23 didn't destroy your sweet, loving, kind, fluffy, clouded, all full of joy and peace and happiness. Kumbaya, jesus that you had in your mind because Jesus just lays the smack down on these men, and we're talking about God made flesh point out his wrath and anger upon these men because of their hearts, and it should be a real eye-opener to us that we need to rend our hearts and be mindful, even though God is a loving God, he is a merciful and gracious God and he is good Lord. I know he is. He has done so much for me and he has put up with so much for me that I know how merciful he can be. And even in the end of this, he proves it when he says Jerusalem, jerusalem, who killed the prophets and stones those who have been sent to her? How often I wanted to gather Together your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
Speaker 1:He wants everyone to be saved and he's angry at those who shut the door of heaven in people's faces. He's angry at people who are full of pride and self-deceit. And it's sad, it really is. It's sad. So many people out there have the wrong idea about Christianity and about Jesus, and it's because of Christians and myself just as much to blame over the years as anybody.
Speaker 1:And what's sad about it is that I love the Lord and these men love God. And it's not our zealousness for God that saves us, it's our love for one another, jesus. He spells this out in giving us two commandments. Two commandments are love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, with all your mind. Basically, love God with every aspect of your being and love your neighbor as yourself. Well, how do we love God? Well, jesus says if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. You prove your love by keeping my commandments. The commandment he gave you was to love God and love people. So to prove the first one, you have to do the second one.
Speaker 1:I tell you, and the message is made clear in Matthew 25, when Jesus proclaims the parable of the sheep and the goats, and I believe it starts around 31. Let me find it. Yes, starting in verse 31, it says when the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on the right Come, you, who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you for the foundation of the world.
Speaker 1:For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothed you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king replied truly. I tell you, whatever you did for the one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me. Then he will say to those on the left depart from me, you who are accursed, enter the eternal fire, prepare for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in. I was naked and you did not clothe me. I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. And they too will reply Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger, or naked, or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then the king will answer Truly. I tell you, whenever you did not do for the one of the least of these, you did not do for the one of the least of these, you did not do it for me and they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.
Speaker 1:A lot of people like to say I'm saved by faith. Well, faith has a look and it looks like the sheep here in this parable the ones who loved, who showed love to each other. Those are the ones that showed their faith, the ones that didn't proved they didn't believe in the first place. I'm going to end this one here. We'll pick up in Matthew 24 in our next Bible study. Until then, I love you guys. God bless.