November 26, 2014 Woe

Woe

Matthew 23:13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

THIS begins a series of what is referred to by some as “The Eight Woes”. These teachings are a severe judgment Jesus preached to the Pharisees to call them out of their sin. As all of Jesus’ truths, some of these teachings will be hard to receive because Jesus clearly draws the judgment line between right and wrong. And the Pharisees are on the wrong side. Our learning from this scripture will only come as we ask God to show us if we are as the Pharisees were. We must honestly listen to our Lord because we do not want to be on the wrong side of Jesus’ answer.

     To begin, we should know the impact of the word “woe”. This small word has great meaning in the judgment of God. To express woe is to exclaim great grief. Jesus exclaims in grief over the Pharisees lives as he knows judgment is coming upon their great sins.

     If a word is used three times in the Hebrew language, its meaning takes on great emphasis. “Holy” and “woe” are the only two words used this way in the Bible: And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." (Isaiah 6:3) and “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!” (Revelation 8:13)

     God’s holiness is sure. God’s judgment is sure. We’ll talk more tomorrow about Jesus’ woe upon the Pharisees “who shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.”

LIFE Link: Woe to pretenders.