Reading Assignment: Matthew 23:1-12
Main Idea: Who is a true spiritual leader?
Key Verse: Matthew 23:11
Overview of the marks of a false spiritual leader:
1. Hypocrisy
2. Ruthlessness
3. Self-exaltation
Prayer Suggestions:
1. Thank Jesus for being our true spiritual leader.
2. Depend on Jesus as our only spiritual leader.
3. Commit to never being a false spiritual leader.
Transcript
Let's pray and we'll begin our time.
God, You are holy and righteous. And we thank You that in the name of Your Son, we have the right to connect with You and to speak with You. Thank You that You love us and that You see us totally cleansed of all of our iniquities and You see us even as You saw Your dear Son while He was on earth. You receive us and You welcome us, because we approach You dependent on Christ. We thank You for the Savior and we pray that His words now would speak to our hearts, that You would build us up through Your holy word. We pray in His name. Amen.
The next passage to be read is Matthew 23:1-12, and the main idea here has to do with spiritual leaders. I will pose it as a question: Who is a true spiritual leader? I believe Jesus answers this question through this passage by way of showing us the marks of a false spiritual leader. The key verse for today is verse 11: “but the greatest among you shall be your servant.” Now, that captures just one of the aspects of true spiritual leadership. But it is an important one. There are three marks of a false spiritual leader that we find this passage. The first of those is hypocrisy. Second is ruthlessness or mercilessness. And thirdly, self-exaltation.
First, hypocrisy. Matthew tells us that Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples about the scribes and the Pharisees. These describe the well-known group of spiritual leaders among the Jews. The Pharisees, of course, ran the synagogues and the scribes were known for their expertise in the study of the Bible. Jesus begins by saying that the scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. What He means is that these men have positioned themselves as spiritual leaders and that they have taken the seat of Moses. This is to say, they have taken the position of authority. Then Jesus says this, “Therefore, all that they tell you do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they say things and do not do them.” Jesus’ first statement needs a little explaining. Given what He says about these two groups elsewhere, the best way to understand it is that to the extent they really are speaking from the law of Moses, they should do and observe. Another way to put it, if what they teach you is truly from the Bible, then listen to them and do what they tell you. But Jesus says do not follow their example. Don't do as they do. Why not? Because they don't practice the truth that they teach. The central issue here has to do with hypocrisy. They did not practice what they preached. This is a very obvious sign of a false teacher. They talk about a godly life and a righteous life, but they do not live that life. This is what made the Pharisees and the scribes false teachers. When so-called spiritual leaders deny the truth of God with their lives, they are false teachers. For example, the Pharisees said that they believed in the resurrection of the dead. But they never really live like they're going to be held accountable to God. They don't show true fear of the Lord and they don't pursue obedience to Him with true repentance. Instead, they were looking for loopholes in the laws of God, and they played fast and loose with the Bible. These were false teachers. Jesus talked about false teachers back in Chapter 7. He said, “beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” Jesus concludes, “So then you will know them by their fruits.” Jesus shows us that false teachers will bear false fruit. They will live a life that is inconsistent and contrary to the word of God. We are to check their fruits, check their actions, see if they really live by the word of God that they teach. All true spiritual leaders will practice what they preach. This is the first mark of a false teacher: hypocrisy.
Second, ruthlessness. In verse 4, Jesus says this about the Pharisees and the scribes: “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.” This idea of tying up heavy burdens is the common picture in the ancient times, where people loaded up all sorts of things upon their donkeys, camels, or another beast of burden. They did this because they didn't want to carry any of it themselves. Thus they loaded up all of their burdens on the animal, treating it harshly, expecting it to bear up under all of that weight, without ever lifting a finger to carry any of the load themselves. This is what the so-called leaders were doing. They were merciless with the people. They showed zero compassion on the people. They themselves had no interest in actually carrying out what they were teaching. But they were experts at burdening the people with demands that they themselves refused to practice. And they gave no help to the people. They taught that the people were to do many good deeds and attain to righteousness by their own efforts; but, of course, they themselves didn't live up to this. They were strangers to the standards of God, and they could not and would not by live them. And as a result, they were totally unable to lead people to true faith and repentance and reconciliation with God. True spiritual leaders, on the other hand, they shepherd and nurture the people. Moreover, they show mercy to those under their care, because they themselves are recipients of God’s mercy. But false teachers showed no mercy and compassion on the people, because they had never tasted any mercy from God. They were too proud to ever humble themselves in the sight of God to confess sin and repent and receive God's grace toward true spiritual health.
This attitude of pride brings us to the third mark of false teachers, self-exaltation. Jesus points out many examples of self-exaltation. I’ll summarize them in four parts.
First is vanity. Jesus says in verse five that “they do all their deeds to be noticed by men, for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.” Jesus exposes their pretense. The false teachers always sought people's attention. They always wanted to appear more spiritual than they really were. They were fakes. They were full of vanity.
Second is respect. Jesus says, “they love the place of honor at banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces and being called Rabbi by men.” Here is what they were doing. They sought people's recognition, respect, and honor, and they did not seek the recognition that comes from God. We see this in Jesus's teaching back in Chapter 6 about prayer, almsgiving and fasting. They engage in religious exercises only to garner people’s attention, to be honored by them.
Third is title. He says, “do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for one is your Leader, that is, Christ.” Jesus here points out these titles that the Pharisees made for themselves. The problem with all of these titles was their motive. The Pharisees wanted to exalt themselves and wanted everybody to address them by titles that they assigned to themselves. Pharisees, rabbis, scribes, etc. these were not offices that God established. These were all honorific titles that these men made for themselves. They were doing this to honor themselves. This was self-exaltation. They were shamelessly promoting themselves with titles that they made up for themselves. Jesus shows us that there is no room for this sort of thing. We’re all human beings, we’re all fellows with one another. There is no room for this kind of self-promotion and self-exaltation.
Fourth is attitude. This is where we find the key verse, “but the greatest among you shall be your servant.” But of course, the scribes and the Pharisees, they were very keen on maintaining their own elevated status and dignity. They had no desire to be a servant among the people. Their attitude was to avoid servanthood, to never do the menial thing, to never lower themselves to help someone else. What this showed was that they really didn’t care about the people. They weren't interested in sacrificing anything to benefit someone else.
These are the four areas of self-exaltation. Jesus shows us that anyone who is in leadership for what they can get out of it is no spiritual leader at all. In sum, Jesus says in verse 12, “whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” This means that God will debase everyone who exalts himself. God only lifts up those who humble themselves. This means that among true spiritual leaders whom God places, there are no narcissists or egomaniacs who only serve themselves. This is not the way of God's leaders. Those who lead among God's people are to serve the needs of God’s people. They build up others and bless them.
And so we see here three marks of false spiritual leadership, hypocrisy, ruthlessness, and self-exaltation. So, if these are the false spiritual leaders, let me ask us, “Who is a true spiritual leader?” What's the answer? It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the epitome of spiritual leadership. Why? Because unlike the scribes and the Pharisees, Jesus always practiced what He preached. Just look at how He prays. He taught his disciples to pray “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” And how does He pray in the garden of Gethsemane? He prays, “yet not My will, but Yours be done.” He taught His disciples, “love your enemies.” What does he pray for His crucifiers as He is nailed to the cross? “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus always practiced what He preached. There is no better spiritual leader than the Lord Jesus Christ.
What else? He was never ruthless, but He showed mercy to His sheep. If you would recall back in Chapter 12, Matthew quotes out of Isaiah Chapter 42 and depicts the Messiah as a leader who is unwilling to break the bruised reed and who’s unwilling to put out the smoldering wick. There is a gentleness about how Jesus deals with His people. In fact, back in Chapter 11, Jesus Himself said it, “I am gentle and humble in heart.” And that those who come to Him will find rest for their souls.
Lastly, Jesus never exalted Himself, but proved to be a servant to all. He puts it this way: “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” What's more? Jesus says that He's the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. The only glory Jesus sought was the recognition of His heavenly Father. The only accolade or “well done” He wanted was that which came from God the Father. He was never in it to garner for Himself respect, honor, or any kind of recognition from men. He always lived this life to be pleasing to the Father. What all of this shows us is that Jesus is the greatest spiritual leader there ever was. Any leader in God's church today who is worth anything, they follow the Lord Jesus Christ. They imitate Him, because He is the greatest spiritual leader ever. They strive to walk in Jesus’ footsteps; and even as Jesus laid down His life for the good of God's people, so they do also. So Jesus shows us by way of negative examples what true spiritual leadership is. And though Jesus would never promote Himself, there is no question He is the greatest spiritual leader that we could ever want.
So, what can we pray about in light of these things? We can thank Jesus for His shepherding care for us. We can also depend on Jesus for His guidance and for His provision and for His help. We can also be firmly committed in our own hearts to never become a false leader, to never become a hypocrite who is ruthless with others, who seeks to promote himself in self-exaltation. But instead that we should keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone is the true spiritual leader to ever exist. Let's pray and close.
God, thank You for Jesus, Your Son. There was never a man on earth who is worth following like Him. He always practiced what He preached. He was a man of integrity. He loved You, kept Your word, and thus He showed us, by His own example, how to be a man of God. His heart was always filled with Your mercy and compassion. When we look to Him and seek His help, He is there to not only lift His finger to aid us, but He has even put upon Himself the burden of our sin, so that we can experience Your mercy and grace. Jesus was never One to promote Himself. But His interest was always Your glory and our good. Thank You for sending us Jesus. There is truly no one like Him. Help us this day to trust in Him, to call upon Him, to fix our eyes on Him, and find in Him the true shepherd, a true guide, and a true guardian of our souls. In His name we pray. Amen.
All right. Thanks everybody and see you on Wednesday. Lord bless you all. Bye.