Sermon notes

INTRODUCTION

Jesus begins His teaching ministry offering eightfold beatitude to Israel (Matthew 5:1-12); His teaching ministry ends with an eightfold woe against Jerusalem and a prophecy about the destruction of the temple (Matthew 23-25). Jesus’ life with Israel recapitulates Israel ’s history, which begins in exodus and ends with exile.

THE TEXT

“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, ‘What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?’ They said to Him, ‘T he Son of David.’ He said to them, ‘How then does David in the Spirit call Him Lord’ . . . .” (Matthew 22:41-23:12 ).

SON OF DAVID

Jesus’ interrogation in the temple ends, and Jesus turns the tables and poses a riddle to the Pharisees. He returns to the question that alarmed the Jewish leaders in the first place, His identity as “son of David” (cf. 21:9, 15). This has been the underlying question throughout the day of parables and traps: Who is Jesus? Jesus doesn’t answer the question directly, but instead poses a question that the Pharisees cannot answer. Psalm 110:1 says, “Yahweh said to my Lord.” Jesus’ argument is: David wrote the Psalm; the Psalm is about the Messiah, who is David’s son; yet David, against all natural logic, calls his own son his “lord.” We know that Jesus is the son of David who will be exalted to the Father’s right hand, and that He is also the eternal Son of God. But the Pharisees don’t have the categories to answer the question.

WOES

After the Pharisees slink away, Jesus addresses the crowds and His disciples concerning the Jewish leaders. Most of chapter 23 is taken up with “woes.” Frequently used by prophets (over 20 times in Isaiah), “woe” can express pity, call attention to something, or imply a threat or curse. Jesus pities Jerusalem ( 23:37 -38), but His woes are curses against the Jewish leaders. The first woe emphasizes the kingdom of heaven ( 23:13 ), matching the promise of the kingdom to the poor in Spirit (5:3); the last woe refers to persecution of prophets ( 23:29 -35), just like the last Beatitude ( 5:10 -12). Israel ’s blessing has been turned to curse because of her refusal to receive Jesus (cf. 11:20 -24).

LEADERS HUMBLED

Jesus’ attack is intense, but no more intense than the prophets (Jeremiah 23:1; Ezekiel 34:1-10; Isaiah 10:5-19). His indignation is roused by the leaders’ oppression of the people, their lust for honor, and their self-exaltation. Their teaching is fairly sound, and Jesus instructs His disciples to do what the scribes teach (23:2-3; but cf. 16:5-12). But their practice has little relation to their teaching, and no relation to Moses. Their behavior is not consistent with their words (v. 3). They are more like Pharaoh than like Moses, burdening the people but refusing to assist them (v. 4). They have turned Israel ’s faith into another version of the ancient honor game, adorning themselves with markers of piety and competing for the chief positions in the synagogues (vv. 5-6). They puff themselves up with honorific titles (vv. 7-10). As Jesus has emphasized before, true greatness is service (v. 11), and those who exalt themselves are humbled (v. 12). Jesus is denouncing Jewish leaders, but of course the same evils have plagued the church from the beginning.