Twice The Child of Hell
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’
“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be a servant. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!”
(Matthew 23:1-15 NLT-SE)
I find this instructive.
“Everything they do is for show”…
My mind immediately went to the group of (allegedly) Christian leaders who both surround and prop up Donald Trump without a word of rebuke.
Jesus says some interesting things about groups like this.
First, He says that some of them may be able to give true instruction…”practice and obey what they tell you”…then He drops the hammer.
According to Jesus these folks are outside the kingdom of God…”you won’t go in yourselves”…and their actions prevent others from entering themselves.
They won’t go in because they would lose wealth and influence…a price too large to pay for some.
They make great efforts to convert people…but what are they converting them to?
They are not ushering folks into the kingdom of God…but into a socio-political scheme that benefits them and assures their continued comfort and access to power.
They offer faux virtue as long as you hate the same people they do.
What they ignore is that what they offer leaves one apart from the true and living God.
In truth, it leaves them even in more dire of a spiritual condition than those who taught them.
Those who will not comply with this are excluded and claimed to be enemies of God…they “shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in peoples faces’…
There is no Gospel here…even though the claim is that they are Gospel centered.
Choices have to be made…which kingdom will you abide in?
As for me and my house…
Make your own application…
Amen!!
I was gonna claim “first,” but would that be desiring to be at the head of the table?
Head of the table has to bless the food, CK. 🙂
Michael, suitable warning for sure, one that requires choice as you’ve pointed out. I want to simply add that the warning fits both sides of the aisle politically since “christians” are an identified voting block, any candidate will covet their votes.
fil,
They are a voting block that identifies strongly with only one side of the aisle…it could change when the pendulum ultimately swings the other way.
Good stuff.
In a similar vein, I found this piece in the National Catholic Reporter to be
quite instructive. A couple of pull quotes:
The divinization of Trump is precisely why the Church Fathers wrote the creeds
“…But however understandable those reactions, the real issue with comparing Trump to Jesus is not idolatry, but Christology.
“The church’s very existence depends not only on the word of God as contained in holy Scripture, but on the creeds, which are statements of belief about who God is and what God’s relationship is to his son Jesus.
“Pete Hegseth proved that these early Christian concerns were on point when he recently compared a downed airman’s rescue from Iran to Jesus’ resurrection: “Shot down on a Friday, Good Friday. Hidden in a cave, a crevice, all of Saturday, and rescued on Sunday. Flown out of Iran as the sun was rising on Easter Sunday, a pilot reborn.”
“Again, this is not idolatry, or the worship of another god. This is instead a distortion of Christology — a confusion about who Jesus is and what, in the theological tradition, makes him unique.
“The early creeds of First Council of Nicaea (325) and Council of Chalcedon (451) were written to clarify that Christ is not merely godlike, heroic, morally exemplary, or especially aligned with divine purpose. He is one with God — true God from true God — and fully human as well, the singular mediator through whom salvation comes.”
https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/guest-voices/divinization-trump-precisely-why-church-fathers-wrote-creeds?utm_source=NCR+List&utm_campaign=3710617d53-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_05_05_01_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6981ecb02e-3710617d53-230650674
Brief article summary:
Once any embattled leader can be cast as savior, any comeback as resurrection, any survival as divine election, Christianity’s central claim — that Christ is the unique mediator — loses its meaning.
Good stuff, bob1!
Great analysis, Michael. What I keep finding is that there are the Christians with hardened hearts who continue to insist that what is obviously wrong is right. Then, there are the confused. They thought Trump was right, and now they are unhappy, but they are afraid to do the right thing. Michael, I hope your post tempts some voters to do the right thing at the ballot box in June!
Thank you, Linn.
I hope it prompts some folks to discover the Jesus that said these things…
There are numerous critics of so-called Christian nationalists and its propaganda from the Democratic side of the aisle and are utilizing a more traditional or moderate interpretation of the Bible and theology to critique the right, but still lack the footing of Church leaders and pastors to speak to these things without conflict of interest (policy). The silent ones continue to be pastors who passionately and rightly ‘divide’ the word of God.
I agree that one party is largely to blame here, but as they fade, Christians need to rebuild their credibility without making the same errors with the other party.
It appears most of haven’t lost our marbles…
“Americans are deeply uncomfortable with recent religion-related statements by President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — a striking rebuke in a closely divided country,” according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.
“The poll finds positive ratings for Pope Leo XIV, who has criticized U.S. actions on immigration and in Iran, clashing with Trump.”
“87 percent of Americans have a negative view of Trump’s social media post appearing to depict himself as Jesus.”
More proof:
Trump Spirals as Surprise Poll Shows Attacks on Pope Backfiring Badly
https://newrepublic.com/article/210049/trump-rage-pope-backfires-poll-reveals-he-losing-fight-badly?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tnr_daily
bob1,
I really hope the Pope puts an Inderdict on JD couch-sodomizer Vance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interdict