Verse For Today

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Mt 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone

Mt 23:24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

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The next woe denounced is for the Pharisees ostentation of a precise keeping of the law in smaller matters, and neglecting weightier duties:   They pay tythe of mint, anise, and cummin; but at the omitted judgment, mercy and faith; that is, just dealing with men, charity towards the poor, and faithfulness in their promises and covenants one with another. This, says our Saviour, is to strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.  A proverbial expression, intimating that some persons pretend great niceness and scrupulosity about small matters, and none or but little about duties of the greatest moment.
 
Hence, Note, 1. That hypocrites lay the greatest stress upon the least matters in religion, and place holiness most in those things where God places it least.  Ye tythe mint, &c. but neglect the weightier matters of the law.  This is indeed the bane of all religion and true piety, to prefer ritual and human institutions before divine commands, and the practice of natural religion.  Thus to do, is a certain sign of gross hypocrisy.
 
Observe, 2. That although some duties are of greater moment than others, yet a good man will omit none, but perform every duty the least as well as the greatest, in obedience to the command of God.  These things ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

Mt 23:26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.


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Our Saviour doth not here condemn their legal, or traditional washing of pots of cups, or any external decency and cleanliness in conversation; but his design is to shew them the vanity of outward purity, without inward sancity, and to convince them of the necessity of cleansing the heart, in order to the purifying and reforming the life:  plainly intimating,
 
1. That men's lives could no be so bad, if their hearts were not worse, all the obliquity fo their lives proceeding from the impurity of their hearts and natures.
 
2. That an holy heart will be accompanied with an holy life. A man may be outwardly pure, and yet inwardly filthy; but he that has a pure heart will live a pure and holy life.  Cleanse  that which is within the cup, that the outside may be clean also.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Mt 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

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Here we have a woe denounced against the Pharisees for cheating and deceiving the people with an outward shew, and external appearance of piety and religion:  their lives were seemingly very religious but their hearts were full of hypocrisy and all impurity, like sepulchres painted without, and full of rottenness within.
 
Whence, Learn, That the great design of hypocrisy is to cheat the world with a vain and empty shew of piety.  The ambition of the hypocrite is to be thought good, not to be so; he is the world's saint, not God's.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 23:29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

Mt 23:30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

Mt 23:31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

Mt 23:32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

Mt 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?


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This is the eighth woe denounced by our blessed Saviour against the Pharisees for their grand hypocrisy, in pretending great honour to the saints departed, building their tombs, and garnishing their sepulchres, and declaring against their fathers impiety, That  had they lived in their days, they would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
 
Now their hypocrisy appeared in three particulars.
 
1. In that they continued in their own wickedness, and yet recommended the saints departed; they magnify the saints, but multiply their sins, and instead of imitating their virtues, they content themselves with garnishing their sepulchres.
 
2. In professing great respect to the dead saints, and at the same time persecuting the living.  Palpable hypocrisy!  And yet as gross as it is, it prevails to this day.  The church of Rome, who magnify martyrs, and canonize saints departed, have yet added to their numbers, by shedding of their blood.
 
3. In taking false measures of their love to the saints departed, from their building their tombs, and garnishing their sepulchres; whereas the best evidence of our love unto them is the imitating their virtues, and cherishing their followers.  It is gross hypocisy to pay respect to the relics of saints, and veneration to their images; and at the same time to persecute and afflict their followers.
 
Learn hence, 1. That the world has all along loved the dead saints better than living ones.  Mortui non mordent.  The dead saints example, how bright soever, is not so scorching and troublesome at a distance; and he himself no longer stands in other men's light; whereas the living saints example is a cutting reproof to sin and vice.
 
Observe, 2. That there is a certain civility in human nature, which leads men to a just commendation of the dead, and to a due estimation of their worth.  The Pharisees here though they persecuted the prophets whilst alive, yet had they a mighty veneration for their piety and virtue after they were dead, and thought no honour too great to be done unto them.
 
Note, 3. That it is the grossest hypocrisy to pretend to love goodness, and yet hate and persecute good men.  These hypocritical Pharisees pretended highly to piety and religion, and at the same time killed the prophets, and stoned them that were sent unto them.
 
4. That the highest honour we can pay to the saints departed, is not by raising monuments, and building tombs to their memory; but by a careful imitation of their piety and virtue, following the holiness of their lives, and their patience and constancy at their deaths.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

Mt 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Mt 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

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Observe here, A prophetical prediction, and a severe denunciation.
 
1.  A prediction foretelling what cruel usage the apostle should meet with from the Jews, killing and crucifying some, scourging and stoning others; which accordingly was fulfilled in the crucifying of St. Peter, the scourging of St. Paul, in the stoning of St. Stephen, and killing of St. James.  The first planters and propagators of the gospel sealed their doctrine with their blood, and the blood of the martyrs has all along been the seed of the church.
 
Observe, 2. A severe denunciation,  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from Abel to Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada, 2Ch 24:20 who was the last prophet whose murder is related by name in the Old Testament.  These words are not to be understood as if the end and intent of Christ's sending the prophets were that the Jews might put them to death, and bring their righteous blood upon themselves.  This was the consequence and intent of it.
 
Learn, 1. That raging persecutors have no regard either to the extraordinary mission, or eminent sanctity of persons who reprove them for their sins.  I send unto you prophets, says our Saviour, wise men and Scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify.
 
2. That as the piety of the person, so neither can the sanctity of the place discourage and deter bloody persecutors from their rage and fury against the prophets of God.  In the temple itself, in the court of the house of the Lord, even betwixt the porch and the altar, was Zacharias slain.  That it is a righteous thing with God to punish good men for the impieties of their parents:
 
this is to be understood, 1.  Where the children tread in their fathers steps, and continue in their parents sins; which they do, if they do not confess them, abhor them, and be humbled for them.
 
2. This is to be understood of temporal evils, not of eternal punishments.  No man shall for his father's sins lie down in everlasting burnings.  As our fathers faith will not let us into heaven, so neither will their impiety shut us into hell.  At the day of judgment every man shall be separately considered according to his deeds.

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Mt 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Mt 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

Mt 23:39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.


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Our Lord concludes this chapter with a pathetical lamentation over Jerusalem.  His ingemination or doubling of the word,  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, shews the vehemency of Christ's affection towards them, and the sincerity of his desires for their salvation.
 
Observe, 1. The great kindness and compassion of Christ to the Jews in general, and Jerusalem in particular, set forth by a lively metaphor and similitude; that of a hen gathering her chickens under her wings.  As the hen doth tenderly cherish, and carefully hide and cover her young from the eye of the destroyer; so would Christ have shrouded and sheltered his people from all those birds of prey, and particularly from the Roman eagle, by which they were last devoured.
 
Again, As the hen continueth her call to her young-ones from morning to night, and holds out here wings for shelter to them all the day long; so did Christ wait for his people's repentance and conversion for more than forty years after they had killed his prophets, and murdered himself, before they met with a final overthrow.
 
Observe, 2. The amazing obstinacy and wilfulness of this people, in rejecting this grace and favour, this kindness and condescension of the Lord Jesus Christ; I would have gathered you, but ye would not.
 
Observe, 3. The fatal issue of this obstinacy, Behold your house is left unto you desolate.
 
Is left; that is, certainly and suddenly will be so.  The present tense put for the paulo post futurum, it denotes both the certainty and nearness of this people's ruin.
 
Learn, 1. That the ruin and destruction of sinners is wholly chargeable upon themselves; that is, on their own wilfulness and obstinacy:  I would have gathered you, says Christ, but ye would not.
 
Learn, 2. How deplorably and inexcusably they will perish, who perish by their own wilfulness under the gospel.
 
3. That there is no desire like unto God's desire of a people's repentance; no longing like unto God's longing for a people's salvation:  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often would I have gathered thee?  When shall it once be?  Christ did very seriously desire the conversion of the Jews, who continued still in their impenitency and unbelief.  And consequently they whom he so seriously desired to convert, might have been converted, but they would not be so:  I would have gathered you, but ye would not.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 24:1  And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

Mt 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

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Our blessed Saviour had often acquainted his disciples with his approaching death at Jerusalem.  The Son of man must go up to Jerusalem to be crucified. Now in this chapter he acquaints them with the destruction that should come upon Jerusalem in general, and upon the temple in particular, for their putting him, the Son of God, to death. The disciples, looking upon the temple with wonder and admiration, were apt to think that the temple, in regard of its invincible strength, could not be destroyed; or, at the least, in regard of its incredible magnificence, it was great pity it should be destroyed; and accordingly they say to Christ, See what goodly buildings are here. As if they had said, Master, what great pity it is, that such a magnificent structure should become a ruinous heap!
 
But hence we learn, 1. That sin brings cities and kingdoms, as well as particular and private persons to their end. There are no places so strong, but an Almighty God is able to destroy them, and sin is sufficient to lay them waste.
 
Observe, 2. That the threatenings of God are to be feared, and shall be fulfilled, whatever appearing improbabilities there may be to the contrary. God had threatened Jerusalem with destruction for her sin, and now it is not all her strength that can oppose his power.
 
Learn, 3. That notwithstanding magnificence and worldly glory doth mightily dazzle our eye, yet how little doth it affect Christ's heart. Even the temple itself, that most magnificent structure. Christ values no more than an heap of rubbish, when the impiety of the worshippers had devoted it to destruction.
 
  Not one stone, says Christ, shall be left upon another unthrown down. This threatening was fulfilled forty years after Christ's death, when Titus the Roman emperor destroyed the city and burnt the temple, and Turnus Rufus, the general of his army, ploughed up the very foundation upon which the temple stood. Thus was the threatening of God fulfilled, Zion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps. Jer 26:1
 
The truth and veracity, the faithfulness and fidelity of God, is as much concerned in the execution of his threatenings, as in the performance of his promises.

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Mt 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Mt 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

Mt 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many

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A double question is here propounded by the disciples to our Saviour.
 
First, As to the time of the temple's destruction.
 
Secondly, as to the signs of that destruction.
 
As to the former, the time when the temple should be destroyed. See the curiosity of human nature, both in desiring to know what should be hereafter, and also when that hereafter should be.
 
Thence learn, That there is found with all of us an itching curiosity and desire, rather to inquire and pry into the hidden counsels of God's secret will, than to obey the manifest declarations of God's revealed will:  Tell us when these things shall be.
 
As to their second question, What shall be the sign of his coming; our Saviour acquaints them with this among many others, That there should arise false Christs, false prophets, and seducers, a multitude of impostors, that would draw many after them; therefore he bids them take heed and beware.
 
Where observe, That Christ doth not gratify his disciples' curiosity, but acquaints them with their present duty, to watch against deceivers and seducers, who should have the impudence to affirm themselves to be Christ. Some, Christ personal, or the Messiah; others Christ doctrinal, affirming their erroneous opinions to be Christ's mind and doctrine.
 
From the whole, note, 1. That there will be many seducers, many erroneous persons, and false opinions, before the end of the world; for Jerusalem's destruction was a type and emblem of the world's destruction.
 
2. That such seducers will come in Christ's name, and their errors and false opinions shall be given out to be the mind of Christ.
 
3. That many will be seduced and carried away with their fair pretences and plausible deceits.
 
4. That Christ's own disciples had need to take heed, lest they themselves, being led away by the error of the wicked, do fall from their own steadfastness. Take heed that no man deceive you; for many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.

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Mt 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

Mt 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

Mt 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.


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The next sign which our Saviour gives his disciples of Jerusalem's destruction, is the many broils and commotions, civil discords and dissensions, that should be found amongst the Jews:  famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, fearful sights and signs in the air.
 
And Josephus declares, that there appeared in the air chariots and horses, men skirmishing in the clouds, and encompassing the city; and that a blazing star, in fashion of a sword, hung over the city for a year together.
 
Learn, 1. That war, pestilence, and famine, are judgments and calamities inflicted by God upon a sinful people for their contempt of Christ and gospel-grace. Ye shall hear of wars, famine, and pestilence.
 
2. That although these be mighty and terrible judgments, yet are they the forerunners of worse judgments. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

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Mt 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

Mt 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

Mt 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

Mt 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

Mt 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.


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Our Saviour here goes on in giving farther signs of the destruction of Jerusalem.
 
1. He declares the sharp persecutions which should fall upon the apostles themselves;  They shall kill you.
 
Thence learn, That the keenest and sharpest edge of persecution is usually turned against the ambassadors of Christ, and falls heaviest on the ministers of God. You shall be hated and killed.
 
The next sign is the apostasy of professors upon the account of those persecutions: Then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and hate one another.
 
Learn hence, that times of persecution for Christianity are constantly times of apostasy from the Christian profession.
 
2. That apostates are usually the bitterest persecutors: Omnis apostata est osor sui ordinis. They shall betray one another, and hate one another.
 
A third sign is the abounding of false teachers: Many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many.
 
Where note, That the fair pretences and subtle practices of heretical teachers have drawn off many from the truth, whom open persecution could not drive from it.
 
A fourth sign is the decay and abatement of zeal for God, and love one to another: The love of many shall wax cold, that is, both towards God and towards man. When iniquity abounds, trouble waxes hot; false love waxes cold, and true love waxes warmer than it was before; the cold blasts of persecution blow up the love of a few, but blow out the love of many more.
 
These are the signs laid down by our Saviour foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem: and forasmuch as Jerusalem's destruction was not only a forerunner, but a figure of Christ's coming to judgment, these are also the signs foretelling the approach of that dreadful day. Verse 13. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
 
Our Saviour closes his discourse with an exhortation to constancy and perseverance: teaching us, That there is no such way to overcome temptation and persecution, as by keeping our integrity, and persevering in our fidelity to Christ.
 
2. That constancy and perseverance in our integrity and fidelity towards Christ, is sometimes attended with temporal salvation and deliverance in this life, but shall certainly be rewarded with eternal salvation in the next: He that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved.

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Mt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

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Here our blessed Saviour comforts his disciples with a threefold consideration.
 
1. That his gospel, how hated and persecuted soever, should be plainly and persuasively preached:  The gospel of the kingdom shall be preached. Therefore called the gospel of the kingdom, because it discovers the way to the kingdom of heaven.
 
Observe, 2. The extent of the gospel's publication, It shall be preached unto all nations, that is, to the Gentile world; not only among the Jews, but among the chief and principal nations of the Gentiles.
 
Observe, 3. The design and end of the gospel's publication, and that is, for a witness or testimony; namely, for a witness of God's grace and mercy offered to sinners, and of their obstinacy who reject it.
 
Learn thence, That the preaching of the gospel, wherever it comes, proves a testimony to them to whom it comes. To the humble and teachable, it is a testimony for, to the scorners and despisers, it is a testimony against; or in the words of the apostle, To some it is the savour of death unto death; to others, the savour of life unto life. 2Co 2:16

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Mt 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

Mt 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

Mt 24:18  Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

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The meaning is, "As soon as you shall see the Roman army appear before the city of Jerusalem, let every one that values his own safety, fly as far and as fast as he can, even as Lot fled out of Sodom; and let such as fly be glad if by flight they can save their lives, though they lose their goods, thir clothes, and all things beside."
 
From hence learn, 1. That when Almighty God is pouring forth his fury upon a sinful people, it is lawful, yea a necessary duty, by flight to endeavour the hiding and sheltering themselves from the approaching calamity and desolation:  When ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then flee to the mountains.
 
2. That in the case of flight before a bloody enemy and army, if we lose all that we have, and our lives be given us, we fare well, and the Lord deals very mercifully with us.

[airIam2worship]

Mt 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

Mt 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

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Here our Saviour declares the doleful distress of those that could not flee from the siege of Jerusalem; as women big with child, and such as give suck, who by that means are like to lose their lives.
 
And he farther adds, that it should increase the calamity, if their flight should happen to be  in the winter, when none can fly either fast or far; or if they should be forced to flee on the sabbath-day when the Jews scrupled travelling farther than a sabbath-day's journey, which was about two miles.
 
From thence learn, That it is a great addition to the trouble and disquiet of a good man's spirit, when the day of his spiritual rest is interrupted, and instead of enjoying communion with God in his house, he is driven from house and home, and flees before the face of an enraged enemy. Pray ye, says our Saviour, that your flight be not on the sabbath-day; that being a day of holy rest.

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Mt 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Mt 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

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The doleful miseries and dreadful calamities which were coming upon the Jews in general, and upon Jerusalem in particular, are here foretold by our Saviour, partly from the Roman army without, and partly from the seditions and factions of the zealots within, who committed such outrages and slaughters, that there were no less than an hundred thousand slain, and ninety-seven thousand carried away captive, and made prisoners. They that bought our Saviour for thirty pence, were now themselves sold thirty for a penny. Now did the temple itself become a sacrifice,  a whole burnt-offering, and was consumed to ashes.
 
Yet observe, Christ promises that these calamitous days shall be shortened for the elect's sake. God had a remnant, which he determined should survive this destruction, to be an holy seed; and accordingly the providence of God so ordered, that the city was taken in six months, and the whole country depopulated in eighteen.
 
Whence observe, How the Lord intermixes some mercy with the extremest misery that doth befall a people for their sin. On this side hell, no sinners can say that they feel the strokes of justice to the utmost, or that they have judgment without mercy.

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Mt 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.

Mt 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Mt 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.

Mt 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

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The Jews had all along cherished in themselves a vain expectation, that the promised Messiah should be a temporal deliverer, that should set them at liberty from the power and slavery of the Romans; and accordingly Christ declares to his disciples here, that immediately before Jerusalem's destruction, several persons, taking the advantage of this expectation, would make themselves heads of parties, and pretend tha they were the true Messiah, who would save and deliver them from their enemies, if they would repair to them, and follow after them.
 
Hereupon our Lord cautions his disciples against such false Christs and false prophets, and bids them  believe them not, though they did never so many great signs and wonders, and promised them never such glorious deliverances.
 
Learn hence, That the church's great danger is from seducers that come in Christ's name, and pretend to work signs and wonders by his authority.
 
2. That such is the power of seduction and delusion, that many are carried away with seducers and false teachers.
 
3. That the elect themselves, if left unto themselves, might be seduced; but divine power guards them against seduction and delusion: They shall deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. Which phrase imports not what the event would be upon the elect, but the vehemency of the endeavours of seducers; namely, that they would do the utmost that they could, to shock the Christian, and cause him to fall upon his steadfastness.