Matthew 23 – The Listening Plan

Devotional

Eight times in this chapter Jesus calls the religious elites of His day “hypocrites.” Eight times He pronounces “woe” (judgment) upon them. Their religious hypocrisy made heaven inaccessible. Their religious piety was an external show, but secretly they took advantage of the disadvantaged. They paid scrupulous attention to certain aspects of God’s law while treating people with merciless injustice. They spent excessive time perfecting the pageantry of religion and external righteousness, but inwardly their wicked hearts remained untouched.

Every time I read Matthew 23 I am struck by how easy it is to become a pharisee.