When Jesus rebukes

Ever notice how there are few times in the Bible Jesus rebukes people? Ever notice how almost everything out of His mouth is encouragement?

But He did rebuke. He rebuked Peter for wrong motives. He also rebuked the Canaanite woman who wanted her daughter healed from demon-possession. (This rebuke I personally believe was simply so she could show her faith).

But these rebukes were rare. Until it came to the pious leaders of the day. He often had a few choice words for these "blind guides". His anger was evident. Here were the "gatekeepers" to heaven: the ones who people looked to for spiritual leadership and the ones who made it unnecessarily hard to get close to God and, more importantly, were more concerned with themselves than with bringing people close to God.

Matthew 23:13-32 is one place where Jesus let them have it:

"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. [Some manuscripts: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Therefore you will be punished more severely.]

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

"Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!

They had all the power to lead, yet they chose to just look to the rules day by day until the rules became more important the the law and the reason for the law. To really know Jesus means to know that His rebuke was few and far between. To garner this much rebuke, and to be almost the only group that received this rebuke, showed how out of touch the religious leaders were from God.

Always remember: make sure the rules of man you follow are accomplishing the wishes of God. Don't fall into the trap of routine until the routine becomes your salvation. Jesus is the only way.