Seven Woes, a Conclusion, and a Lament

In one paragraph

The pastor opened with one of the most demanding chapters in Matthew, the seven woes Jesus delivers against the scribes and Pharisees, and traced how that kind of language runs all the way through the Bible before landing back on each person in the room. Before getting to Matthew 23, the pastor walked the congregation through woe passages in Luke, Isaiah, and Habakkuk to show that this way of...

Read together

1. Hebrews 4:16 used to open worship, come boldly before the throne to receive mercy and grace
2. Isaiah 40:31 those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength, mount up with wings like eagles
3. Psalm 34:3 oh magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together, used to introduce the offering song
4. Luke 11:37-52 six woes to Pharisees and lawyers covering hypocrisy, imbalance, ostentation, impossible demands, intolerance and exclusiveness
5. Isaiah 5:8-23 six woes covering greed, drunkenness, deceit, blasphemy, self-righteousness and drunken injustice
6. Habakkuk 2:6-19 five woes covering usury, evil profit, self-serving violence, drunkenness and idolatry
7. Habakkuk 2:18-19 woe to him who says to a piece of wood awake, idols with no breath inside them
8. Isaiah 46:6-7 overlaid with gold and silver but no breath inside, contrasted with the Lord in his holy temple
9. Job 27:4 woe be on me if I am wicked, cited as part of the list of isolated woes
10. Isaiah 6:5 woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips
11. Matthew 11:21 woe to you Chorazin and Bethsaida, cited as cities among God's people rejecting him
12. Ezekiel 34 woe upon bad shepherds who eat the sheep and do not care for them
13. Isaiah 30:15 in repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength but you were not willing
14. Matthew 23:13 first woe, scribes and Pharisees shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people
15. Matthew 23:15 second woe, traveling to make one proselyte and making him twice a son of hell
16. Matthew 23:16-22 third woe, blind guides making distinctions about which oaths are binding
17. Matthew 23:23-24 fourth woe, tithing mint dill and cumin but neglecting justice mercy and faithfulness, straining a gnat and swallowing a camel
18. Hosea 6:6 I desire mercy not sacrifice, cited as quoted twice already in Matthew to the Pharisees
19. Matthew 23:25-26 fifth woe, cleaning the outside of the cup while inside is full of robbery and self-indulgence
20. Matthew 23:27-28 sixth woe, whitewashed tombs beautiful outside but full of dead men's bones and hypocrisy inside
21. Matthew 23:29-32 seventh woe, building tombs of prophets while being sons of those who murdered the prophets
22. Matthew 23:34-36 conclusion, Jesus sends prophets wise men and scribes who will be killed flogged and persecuted, guilt from Abel to Zechariah
23. Matthew 23:37-39 lament over Jerusalem, how often Jesus wanted to gather her children as a hen gathers chicks but she was unwilling
24. 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Paul's testimony thanking Christ who considered him faithful despite being a blasphemer persecutor and violent aggressor, Christ came to save sinners of whom he is foremost
25. 1 Corinthians 9:16 woe is me if I do not preach the gospel, used as the preacher's personal closing charge
26. 1 Peter 4:10 benediction, each should use whatever gift received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace

Talk about it

1. Pastor Jonathan read through a long list of woes from across Scripture, from Isaiah and Habakkuk through to Matthew, and said 'if we were honest, just the ones I've listed so far would probably hit most everybody in the room on some level in your flesh.' Which of those woes landed closest to home for you, and why?
2. Pastor Jonathan described the second woe as being 'superficially zealous, but doing more harm than good,' pointing to the Pharisees who made proselytes twice as much sons of hell as themselves. He also said 'if we're swaying people to our opinion, that's not good.' Where do you think the line is between sharing the truth of the gospel and swaying people to your own opinions about it?
3. The center woe, which Pastor Jonathan called 'a fundamental failure to discern the thrust of scripture,' was about straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel, tithing on spices while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Where do you see that same imbalance showing up in your own reading of Scripture or in church life today?
4. Pastor Jonathan drew a contrast between looking clean on the outside and being transformed on the inside, and he said 'if people knew that we were struggling and were also able because of Christ to walk in victory, that would be much better than just looking like we have it all together.' How honest are you willing to be with people around you about your own struggles, and what makes that hard?
5. Pastor Jonathan closed with Paul's testimony from 1 Timothy, where Paul calls himself the foremost sinner yet says he was shown mercy so that Christ could make an example of him for others. He then asked the congregation directly, 'What will you do with Jesus?' How would you answer that question right now, and has your answer changed at any point in your life?