Sunday Scripture

  

Graphic from Scripture Images

It's time for another Sunday Scripture!  This is part of an ongoing series on my simple study of Rachel Wojo's Everything Beautiful.  You can read about the plan here if you are interested in it for yourself: Everything Beautiful Bible reading plan. My answers and input on this series are a combination of what I learned back in 2018, and what I found in looking over the Scriptures now, six years later.  I'm attempting to SOAP the passages too, though some of them are longer. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.]  Today's study is from Matthew 23:27-39.  

S= "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  for ye are like whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. 
"Even so ye outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous,
"And say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
"Wherefore, ye are witnesses against yourselves, that ye are the sons of them who killed the prophets.
"Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
"Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and some of them ye shall crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city,
"That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth; from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zechariah, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
"Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them who are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
"Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
"For I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord."  (Matthew 23:27-39)

O= In the Scofield Study Bible, C.I. Scofield has titled Matthew chapter 23:1-12 "The marks of a Pharisee."   These verses note that here in chapter 23 Jesus was speaking to the multitude, and also to His disciples (v. 1)

Scofield titles verses 13-36 "Jesus announces seven woes upon the Pharisees."  (I counted eight woes,  and two of them are in the passage we're looking at (verse 27 and verse 29).

Cross-references for "whited sepulchers" (v. 27) -- "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them."  (Luke 11:44)

"Then said Paul unto [the high priest], God shall smite thee, thou whited wall; for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest thou me to be smitten contrary to the law?"  (Acts 23:3)

"Iniquity" (v.28) literally means "lawlessness".

Cross-references for "build the tombs of the prophets" (v.29) -- "Woe unto you!  For ye build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.  Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchers."  (Luke 11:47-48)

Cross-reference for "fathers" (v.32) -- "Who (the Jews) both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men, forbidding to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved, to fill up their sins always; fot the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost."  (1Thessalonians 2:15-16)

"Generation of vipers" (v.33)-- means "offspring of vipers".

"Damnation" (v.33) means "condemnation".

A note for the word "hell" in v. 33 explains that it's the Greek word "geenna" which is referring to "Gehenna, the place in the Valley of Hinnom where, anciently, human sacrifices were offered, and where the continuous burning of rubbish illustrated for the Jewish people unending judgment upon the wicked.  Every place in the Gospels where Jesus used this word, He was solemnly warning of the consequences of sin.  He described it as the place where "their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched."

Cross-references for "kill and crucify" (v.34) -- "Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute." (Luke 11:49)

"They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."  (John 16:2)

Another cross-reference is Acts 7:54-60, which describes the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr.

Cross-references for "scourge" (v.34) -- "When they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go."  (Acts 5:40)

Paul said, "Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.  Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned."  (2 Corinthians 11:24-25)

Cross-reference for "all the righteous blood" (v.35) --  Revelation 15:24 makes reference to "the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."  

Note for "Abel" (v.35) -- "Our Lord here confirms the record of Genesis 4:8-10."  (Below.)

"And Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel ... and slew him.  And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel, thy brother?  And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?  And He said, What has thou done?  The voice of thy brother's blood calleth unto me from the ground."  (Genesis 4:8-10)

Cross-references for "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem" (v.37) -- "And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace!  But now they are hidden from thine eyes."  (Luke 19:41-42)

Cross-references for "stonest them" (v. 37) -- "Nevertheless, they were disobedient, and rebelled against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their backs, and slew Thy prophets who testified against them to turn them to Thee, and they wrought great provocation."  (Nehemiah 9:26)

"And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoida, the priest, who stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God: Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper?  Because ye have forsaken the LORD, He also hath forsaken you.  And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD."  (2 Chronicles 24:20-21)

"And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending, because He had compassion on His people, and on His dwelling place, But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His Words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of God the LORD arose against the people, till there was no remedy."  (2 Chronicles 36:15-16)

Cross-reference for "gathered thy children" (v. 37) -- "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."  (Matthew 11:28-30)

Cross-references for "wings" (v.37) -- "Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me under the shadow of Thy wings."  (Psalm 17:8)

"He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust."  (Psalm 91:4a)

Cross-references for "Blessed is He" (v.39) -- "That the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations where the LORD thy God hath scattered thee."  (Deuteronomy 30:3)

"This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven."  (Acts 1:11b)

A= For this Scripture, there were also a number of ways to apply it as prompted in the journal.  

"May I reflect His beauty through a humble spirit." -- Rachel Wojo

My thoughts about this: True beauty begins in the heart, with a heart change only Jesus could provide.  We don't want to be like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and uncleanness.  We don't want to be hypocrites.  Hypocrisy is decidedly not beautiful. 

 
Rachel also shares a "focus word" in each of the devotional pages.  For this lesson the focus word is "humility". 

 

Humility is beautiful.  Pride is ugly, and is one of the things that God hates (Proverbs 6:16-18).   God's Word also tells us that He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). 

The question was asked: What one thought can I surrender to create room for seeing moments of grace?

My response in 2018: Maybe the thought that my life is spinning out of control: physical issues, heavy responsibilities, disrupted plans, many unknowns.  I need to remind myself that none of this has ever been out of God's control and that He IS working.

Answering this same question in 2024:  Any thought that our life situations somehow escape God's notice,  He is in full control of our circumstances, has a good purpose and a planned outcome for each situation,  and is our circumstances with us.

This prompt was given, along with a list: Today I will keep my eyes open for God's beauty in one or more of these places.

These are the places I circled: The words I read; the music I hear; the people I encounter; the food I eat;  the air I breathe; the weather I experience; the rest I receive.

In 2024 I can note that for the music I hear,  we went to a wedding recently and were blessed by a beautiful strings and piano prelude.

For the food I eat, I recalled the gorgeous carrot wedding cake so artfully presented on a slice of wood on a picnic table.

For the people I encounter, I noted the lovely wedding we attended and all of the friends whom we saw there.

For the weather I experience, I mentioned an entire day of gentle rain.

A journaling prompt was this:  Everything God made is beautiful.  Where have I noticed God's beauty in the last 24 hours?

My response in 2018: In hearing the songs of the first robins I've noticed this year.  In a day warm enough (though cloudy) to open a window and let in fresh air.  In a riot of colorful spring plants and flowers at the grocery store.  In a beautiful, colorful meal we enjoyed for supper last night.

For my response in 2024, I added: In the marriage vows of a dear Christian couple.  In the summer rain that has made everything so green.  In the blessing of believers praying for one another at a cottage prayer meeting.

P= "Lord,  I pray that you will help me to be reminded every day that You are in control of all things, even when they seem to be out of control -- disjointed, interrupted, unplanned, scattered, painful, uncertain, unknown, frightening ... They have never been and never will be out of Your control.  Help me to rest in that every day, no matter how the circumstances may look.  I love You, Lord.  In Jesus' name, Amen."

 And there is this week's Sunday Scripture!  I pray it's a blessing to someone.