Tuesday - Clear Creek Resources

SCRIPTURE TO READ

Matthew 23:23-28

²³“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

²⁵“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

²⁷“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

DEVOTIONAL: MATTERS OF THE HEART

On Tuesday of Passion Week, as Jesus walks the streets of Jerusalem, he’s continually challenged by the religious leaders—the scribes and the Pharisees.

We see them coming up with question after question, prodding to dig deeper into Jesus’ teaching. But their questions give away their true motives, as they try to get him to say something they could use to turn public opinion against him.

Jesus, recognizing their true intent, doesn’t shy away from them. In fact, he says things on this day that will eventually get him killed.

One of those things is, he calls the Pharisees “whitewashed tombs,” saying they outwardly appear righteous to others but are full of hypocrisy within. Although they appear to have it all together, their hearts are full of sin.

As much as we don’t want to admit it, we’re just like the Pharisees. We might think we can do things to appear good and righteous, but you and I know that there is a deeper problem – that just like these Pharisees, our hearts are full of sin.

But that’s why Jesus came.

APPLICATION: REPENT AND BELIEVE

Paul reminds us in Romans that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). No matter who we are or where we come from, we have rightly earned the harsh consequences of our sin. But, no matter who we are or where we come from, we have also been given the extraordinary gift of grace.

Despite your failings, your shortcomings, your stubbornness, or even your hypocrisy, Christ died to save you knowing full well the extent of your sin.

“For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Today consider your own brokenness deep in your heart and how that highlights, all the more, your need for a Savior.

And then repent and believe the gospel which is the only thing that can “clean the inside.”

PRAYER

Lord, thank you for loving us so much that you would send your Son to save us. Thank you for your extravagant gift of grace. Remind us again throughout this week that you have truly rescued us from death. It’s easy to forget how high the stakes are when we are distracted by the busyness of life, and so we repent of the times we’ve taken for granted what you’ve done for us, and we repent of the many ways we’ve fallen short and sinned against you. Today, we declare again, that we really do believe Jesus Christ died on the cross to save us from our sin and rescue us from death. We are immeasurably grateful to you Lord. Amen.

OPTIONAL FAMILY DISCUSSION GUIDE

Why were the Pharisees questioning Jesus? (They didn’t believe that he was the Son of God. The Pharisees thought that their questioning would cause doubt about who Jesus was.)
We are all sinners. Sin is anything we think, say, or do that doesn’t please God. As a family, talk about how you can sometimes act like the Pharisees.

SCRIPTURE MEMORY

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

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