Consider the heart of Jesus. Usually Jesus' "woe to you's" are what's focused on in these verses and very well should be. But consider the heart of Jesus to say this and even the Holy Spirit to have Matthew record this moment. Some of the Jesus' strongest language, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?" Matt 23:29, 33
You might ask, "how does this show the heart of Jesus?" Consider this is nearing the end of Jesus' earthly ministry. He knows these very men will be the one to instigate His crucifixion yet Jesus still speaks this into their lives. Don't get it twisted. This is their warning. But He cares enough to tell them the truth.
Could it be ours too? David Platt writes, "It is possible for you and me to believe genuinely that we are doing God's work, obeying God's Word, and accomplishing God's will yet to be deceived, and to experience eternal damnation."
May the Lord show us anything in our hearts stifling His Holy Spirit in us. Read through Matthew 23 and ask the Lord to minister!
- To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission.