Matthew 23:14-39

16 The Pharisees had practically annulled the Scriptures by false interpretations and especially by human additions. Their commentaries were full of distinctions which destroyed the spiritual force of the law. Externals alone were important. The glitter of the gold on the temple blinded their eyes to the preciousness of the place hallowed by the presence of God. The offering on the altar was, to them, much more sacred than the altar that hallowed it. All the vital values created by contact with God had no appeal to their blind hearts.

19 See Exo_29:37.

21 See 1Ki_8:13; Psa_26:8.

23-24 See Mat_5:34; Psa_11:4.

23-24 Compare Luk_11:42.

23 It is probable that these were grown in small quantities for home use and so hardly of as much value as the work involved in tithing them, yet it is well to be punctilious in what pertains to God. But to do this and evade the great moral obligations of the law came near the limits of hypocrisy.

25.26 Compare Luk_11:39-41.

27-28 Compare Luk_11:44. See Act_23:3.

27 It is difficult to imagine a more scathing comparison than the clean, whitewashed tombs and the corrupting corpses within. Yet such is all religion that is outward and ostentatious, that knows nothing of humility of heart and self-abasement.

29-33 Compare Luk_11:47-51.

31 See Act_7:51; 1Th_2:15-16.

32 Instead of refraining from the evil deeds of their fathers and thus reducing the measure of the nation's guilt, these religious Pharisees were about to go to the very limits of iniquity in the murder of Messiah. All evil is measured by God. When it attains dimensions beyond which it no longer contributes to His purpose, it is restrained.

34 See Act_5:40; Act_7:58-59; 2Co_11:24-25.

34 The record in Acts fulfills this promise. James was killed by the sword (Act_12:2). Peter was probably crucified (Joh_21:18).

35 See Gen_4:8.

35 Judgment will be based on light and privilege. He who commits a crime which he has deliberately condemned is far more guilty than one who has little knowledge of its moral measure. These men who condemned and crucified Christ were not only killing Him but all who came before Him, for they make it abundantly evident that nothing would have restrained them from the actual act except their absence.

35 There was a Zechariah slain in the court of the house of the Lord in the days of King Joash (2Ch_24:20-22). But he was the son of Jehoiada, while we are expressly told by our Lord that He has reference to another Zechariah, whose father was named Berechiah. He was one of the minor prophets (Zec_1:1), and must have been murdered hundreds of years after the days of Joash. The Pharisees did not actually have a hand in His murder, nor, indeed, did they drive the nails that fastened Him to the cross, but they had the spirit of Cain and all who truly served God were their legitimate prey. The horrors which came upon that generation, up to the destruction of Jerusalem, have hardly had their parallel in the annals of history.

37-39 Compare Luk_13:34-35.

37 This affecting farewell closes His mission to the holy city. If they will not have Him, He must leave them exposed to the powers of darkness. With Him the Presence leaves the temple tenantless. Its empty grandeur continues for forty years and is then laid level with the dust.