EXHORTATION TO HIS DISCIPLES AND THE CROWDS NOT TO BE LIKE THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, BUT TO BE DOERS AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, AND RATHER TO BE HUMBLE AND LOWLY, TREATING EACH OTHER AS BEING AS GOOD IF NOT BETTER THAN THEMSELVES (23:1-12). The chapter begins with an exhortation to His disciples, and to... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Then spoke Jesus to the crowds and to his disciples,' Sitting teaching in the crowded Temple courtyard, filled as it would be with pilgrims and worshippers, Jesus directs His first words at the eager crowds who, along with His own disciples, gathered round Him as potential disciples (compare Matthe... [ Continue Reading ]
WORDS IN THE TEMPLE (23:1-39). a Exhortation to His disciples and the crowds not to be like the Scribes and Pharisees, but to be doers and not hearers only. In contrast to the Scribes and Pharisees they are to be humble, treating each other as being as good as themselves, acting as servants and not... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS PASSES JUDGMENT ON THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES AND DESCRIBES THE DEVASTATIONS COMING ON THE WORLD PRIOR TO HIS COMING AGAIN AND THE JUDGMENT THAT WILL FOLLOW (23:1-25). Having made clear that He has come to establish a new ‘congregation' and a new ‘nation' Jesus will now reveal what is to happe... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Saying, “The Scribes and the Pharisees sat (aorist) on Moses seat,” ' This verse raises three questions. Who are indicated by ‘the Scribes and the Pharisees'? Why is the aorist of the verb used? And what is Moses' seat ‘The Scribes and _the_ Pharisees.' This phrase is unique in Matthew. Previou... [ Continue Reading ]
a “All things therefore whatever they bid you, b These do and observe, b But do not you after their works, a Because they say, and do not.” Note again the chiastic formation. In ‘a' and its parallel we have a reference to what they say, and in ‘b' and its parallel a reference to activity. ‘Theref... [ Continue Reading ]
a “And they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, b And lay them on the shoulders of men, a But they themselves will not move them with their finger.” For this is an expose of the Scribes and Pharisees. They are revealed as binding grievously heavy burdens on men, and making very little eff... [ Continue Reading ]
a “But all their works they do to be seen of men, b For they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders (or tassels) of their garments, b And love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, a And the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabb... [ Continue Reading ]
a “But as for you, do not you be called Rabbi, b For one is your teacher (didaskalos), and all you are brothers. c And call no man your father on the earth, d For one is your Father, even he who is in heaven.” c Nor be you called esteemed teachers (kathegetes), b For one is your Esteemed Teache... [ Continue Reading ]
“And whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled, And whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Jesus finishes these important words off with a saying which sums up the eternal consequences of our attitudes. Colloquially it declares that ‘the way to up is down' (compare here Matthew 18:3; Ma... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR FAILURE TO BRING MEN UNDER THE KINGLY RULE OF HEAVEN (23:13-15). The first two woes attack the Scribes and Pharisees for actually preventing people from coming under the Kingly Rule of Heaven. By their teaching and their influence they ‘lock them out' from it, and instead put great efforts in... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS FACES THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES UP TO THEIR HYPOCRISY (23:13-33). It will be quite clear that the words which Jesus has spoken to His disciples and the crowds could hardly have failed to rile the Scribes and Pharisees as they stood bristling among the crowds in the Temple. They were members o... [ Continue Reading ]
“But woe/alas to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingly rule of heaven against men, for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering in to enter.” In Matthew 12:28 Jesus had castigated them for not seeing that the Kingly Rule of God had ‘come... [ Continue Reading ]
“Woe/alas to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is become so, you make him twofold more a son of Gehenna than yourselves.” The idea of the prevention of others from entering the Kingly Rule of Heaven is taken a step further by cons... [ Continue Reading ]
“Woe/alas to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing, but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.' You fools and blind, for which is greater, the gold, or the temple which has sanctified the gold?” Jesus is so moved by the idea of how... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR FAILURE TO DISCERN WHAT IS TRULY HOLY (23:16-22). Their next condemnation lies in the fact that they lay greater emphasis on their own gifts and offerings than they do on the God-provided and thus ‘holy' means of approach to Himself. They emphasise their own works rather than God's provision.... [ Continue Reading ]
“And, ‘Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever shall swear by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor'.” Jesus gives a further example of their folly. They declare that to swear by the altar signified nothing, while to swear by the gifts on the altar was essentially binding, and... [ Continue Reading ]
“You blind ones, for which is greater, the gift, or the altar which sanctifies the gift?” Then He passes His verdict and confirms why He considers that they are spiritually blind. Jesus' point is that they lay too much stress on inessentials, and not sufficient on the reality of the living God. (Thi... [ Continue Reading ]
“He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all things that are on it. And he who swears by the temple, swears by it, and by him who dwells in it. And he who swears by the heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.” So now He tries to turn their thoughts Heavenwa... [ Continue Reading ]
“Woe/alas to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith, but these you ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone.” This then brings Him to the central point in t... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR FAILURE TO OBSERVE THE MORE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE LAW BECAUSE OF THEIR CONCENTRATION ON THE DETAIL (23:23-24). Analysis. a “Woe/alas to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and merc... [ Continue Reading ]
“You blind guides, who strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel!” He summarises their position by a huge contrast. The gnat (qamla) was one of the smallest of creatures, the camel (gamla) the largest in Palestine. Note the play on words in the Aramaic. They are so one-sided in vision spiritually t... [ Continue Reading ]
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the bowl, but within they are full from extortion and excess.” Note that this parallels those who lay great weight on their own gifts and offerings, which have a derived holiness, rather than on what is int... [ Continue Reading ]
TWO EXAMPLES OF THE WAY IN WHICH THEY PUT ON A SHOW BUT DO NOT DEAL WITH WHAT IS UNACCEPTABLE UNDERNEATH (23:25-28). Having demonstrated that justice, mercy and compassion, and faithfulness was to enjoy the major focus of their thinking Jesus now demonstrates by illustration where they are falling... [ Continue Reading ]
“You blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the bowl, that the outside of it may become clean also.” But what they should have done was first ensure that the inside was clean. Then there might be some point in cleansing the outside. For the outside cannot be truly clean until th... [ Continue Reading ]
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” It was... [ Continue Reading ]
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the monuments 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'.” The thought of whitewashed tombs l... [ Continue Reading ]
IN SPITE OF THEIR CLAIMS TO BE OTHERWISE THEY SHOULD RECOGNISE THAT THEY WERE SIMPLY AS BAD AS THEIR FATHERS (23:29-33). Along with their generation the Scribes and Pharisees made a great fuss about the godly of the past by erecting and decorating their tombs and monuments. It made them feel that t... [ Continue Reading ]
“Thus you witness to yourselves, that you are sons of those who slew the prophets. Fill you up then the measure of your fathers.” Jesus then points out to them that by all this they are simply drawing attention to the fact that they are the sons of those who slew the prophets. They are of the same... [ Continue Reading ]
“You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?” Jesus then depicts all their attempts to appear righteous as simply indicating that like snakes and vipers who are concerned to escape from danger, their concern is to escape the judgment of Gehenna. The picture is... [ Continue Reading ]
“Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,” Jesus is aware that He must shortly die and rise again, and that as a result He will send out His mes... [ Continue Reading ]
JESUS INFORMS THEM OF WHAT THEIR FUTURE WILL BE (23:34-36). Having warned the crowds and the disciples against being like the Scribes and Pharisees in their behaviour, ending with an exhortation to humble themselves and not to exalt themselves (Matthew 23:1), and having totally exposed the inadequac... [ Continue Reading ]
“That on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you slew between the sanctuary and the altar.” And as a result of this behaviour they would also take the guilt of all the prophets who had died pr... [ Continue Reading ]
“Truly I say to you, All these things will come on this generation.” Jesus then makes clear quite forcibly (truly I say to you) that what He has been speaking about (their blood coming on them) will come on the present generation. He knows, as He will shortly explain to His disciples, that after Hi... [ Continue Reading ]
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not!” In these moving words Jesus sums up the people of Jerusalem the very heart of the H... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGMENT IS TO COME ON THAT GENERATION WHO WILL SLAY JESUS AND HIS FOLLOWERS IN THE FORM OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM (23:37-39). Jesus finishes with a lament over Jerusalem. It is not just the Scribes and Pharisees who have rejected Him, it is Jerusalem. They had been singled out because of thei... [ Continue Reading ]
“Behold, your house is left to you desolate.” And because they had refused Him there was nowhere else to turn. They were so intense about their possession of God's house that they could not see beyond it, and the sad consequence would be its desolation. It would both lose its significance and be des... [ Continue Reading ]
“For I say to you, You shall not see me from now on, until you shall say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' ” And the people would never see Him again until their hearts were open to receive Him, until they were ready to welcome Him as the pilgrims had welcomed Him into Jerusalem ... [ Continue Reading ]