ST MATTHEW
CHAPTER 23
Jesus pronounces woes upon the scribes and Pharisees—The blood of the prophets shall be required at their hands—They shall not escape the damnation of hell.
2 Saying, The scribes [ A scribes responsibility was to write down or copy word for word what was said. It was not their duty or responsibility to change, altar or modify in any way what was written. However; it was the scribes who were the ones who modified the text of the old testament books to remove or alter what the Messiah would do and be. They changed him to become a political figure such that the people would not recognize the Savior when he did come. They removed the ordinances and covenants to their ways, ways in which they could control the people through "the Law". for this reason Jesus holds some of his strongest rebukes for the scribes because these were the very ones who were manipulating the text to have it read the way that they wanted - they were perverting that ways of God. ] and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: [ Or they are the one's that are arbitertrating the law(or rewriting the law in the case of the scribes). Remember that originally Moses would sit all day and answer for each and every person what they should do on any given matter. Then under the direction of his father in law he divided them into groups of hundres, and fifties...with leaders over each group. Moses sat there by divine appointment They sit there now by divine permission. So in other words it is a reference to the authority which they hold. Moses was given the authority by God to teach the law but where do they get their from? ]
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: [ Don't follow what these Pharisees tell you to do. ] for they say, and do not. [ They do not bother to follow their own advice. The reasons are given in the next verses. IV reading suggests it is the Pharisees who want to tell the
Jews what to do because they make themselves judges over the Jews.]
Jews what to do because they make themselves judges over the Jews.]
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, [ They overload you with large burdens. These laws are now so corrupt that they have added to the ceremonies of the law others of their own invention, which are not only burdensome and oppressive, but have neither reason, expediency, revelation nor spiritual purpose. ] and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. [ When they themselves will not do the smallest amount of work themselves. ]
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: [ The very reason why they do anything is for recognition. In pointing out the corruptions of these men, Jesus gives us the distinguishing characteristics of all false teachers, whether Jewish or Christian.
1) They live not according to the truths they preach. They say, and do not, ver. 3.
2) They are severe to others, point out the narrowest road to heaven, and walk in the broad road themselves. They bind on burdens, &c., ver. 4.
3) They affect to appear righteous, and are strict observers of certain rites, &c., while destitute of the power of godliness. They make broad their phylacteries, &c., ver. 5.
4) They love worldly entertainments, go to feast wherever they are asked, and seek Church preferments. They love the chief places at feasts, and chief seats in the synagogues, ver. 6.
5) They love and seek public respect and high titles, salutations in the market-place, (for they are seldom in their studies,) and to be called of men rabbi-eminent teacher, though they have no title to it, either from the excellence or fruit of their teaching. When these marks are found in a man who professes to be a minister of Christ, charity itself will assert he is a thief and a robber-he has climbed over the wall of the sheepfold, or broken it down in order to get in. ] they make broad their phylacteries, [ "fulakthria", from fulassw, to keep or preserve. These were small slips of parchment or vellum, on which certain portions of the law were written. The Jews tied these about their foreheads and arms, for three different purposes.
1. To put them in mind of those precepts which they should constantly observe.
2. To procure them reverence and respect in the sight of the heathen. And 3. To act as amulets or charms to drive away evil spirits. ] and enlarge the borders of their garments,
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: [Do not look to those teachers who are appoionted by men. ] for one is your Master, even Christ; [ Rather look for a teacher who is appointed by our Father in heaven. ] and all ye are brethren. [ No one among you is higher than another, or can possibly have from me any jurisdiction over the rest. Ye are, in this respect, perfectly equal. ]
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself [ The way to arrive at the highest degree of dignity, in the sight of God, is by being willing to become the servant of all vs 11. So then the oppisite is true, God does not like those who build themself up in a prideful manner. ] shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
13 ¶ But woe unto you, scribes [ A scribes responsibility was to write down or copy word for word what was said. It was not their duty or responsibility to change, altar or modify in any way what was written. However; it was the scribes who were the ones who modified the text of the old testament books to remove or alter what the Messiah would do and be. They changed him to become a political figure such that the people would not recognize the Savior when he did come. They removed the ordinances and covenants to their ways, ways in which they could control the people through "the Law". for this reason Jesus holds some of his strongest rebukes for the scribes because these were the very ones who were manipulating the text to have it read the way that they wanted - they were perverting that ways of God. ] and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: [ You deliberatly try to undermine the spirituality of others, you stand in the way of them being taught by the spirit. ] for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, [ You leave no stone unturned; intimating that they did all in their power to gain converts, not to God, but to their sect. Grief placed upon them for exploiting and misleading those who wanted to learn the ways of God. Contextly this curse is that the Pharisees would
commonly charge proselytes for their educations, so the
proselytes became a source of income to them. Hence the
Pharisaic willingness to “compass sea and land to make one
proselyte”. Their desire to have a student to exploit was great. ] and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell [ A Hebraism for an excessively wicked person, such as might claim hell for his mother, and the devil for his father. ] than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold [ The covetous man, says one, still gives preference to the object of his lust; gold has still the first place in his heart. A man is to be suspected when he recommends those good works most from which he receives most advantage. ] of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? [ Suggesting that they loved only the physical
aspects of the Temple (the gold) and not spiritual aspects.]
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, [ You pay tithing on the smallest increase - even from your herbs and spices. They were remarkably scrupulous in the performance of all the rites and ceremonies of religion, but totally neglected the soul, spirit, and practice of godliness. ] and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: [ Because you do not exercise charity, or show mercy, or have faith. ] these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, [ Spiritual blindiness ] which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. [ Both gnats and camels are unclean. The Pharisees would go
to great lengths to filter out gnats so as to avoid accidentally
being unclean by ingesting a gnat, and yet they wilfully violate
the whole purpose of the Law.
The IV adds to the text of this verse to make explicit what
would otherwise be implicit. ]
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, [ or their outward appearance appears to be clean] but within they are full of extortion and excess. [ But your heart is full of evil desires. ]
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, [ In order to be clean you must start with your heart, your insides and clean it up first. In other words it is not enough to just look good - you must be good too. ] that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, [ White-washed tombs. As the law considered those unclean who had touched any thing belonging to the dead, the Jews took care to have their tombs white-washed each year, that, being easily discovered, they might be consequently avoided. ] which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. [ Even greater accusation here that they know what they are doing and it is wrong, they are lying to themselves and deceiving the people, as they want to been seen as religious elite and yet the profane and desecrate that which is pure and true in order to build themselves up.]
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 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.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, [ Acknowledge that ye are the children of those murderers, and ye are about to give full proof that ye are by your up coming actions. ] that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. [ You are children with the same spirit as those who killed the prophets of old. You lie to yourselves, as you would have killed the prophets of old. The proof being that you fully know you are making plans at this moment to take away my life. All of the Jews already know they are guilty of planning this attempt to kill Jesus, cf.
John 7:25-26, John 8:33-59, John 10:31-39, John 11:47-53. They
have been conspiring to kill him for years, and they are about to
have their way and do it. Why is he allowing it? “That upon you
may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth....” ]
34 ¶ Wherefore, [ To show how my prediction ] behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, [ Abel being the first murder and Zacharias being the last documented murder, see. 2 Chron. 24:19-21. Although, it is possible the Zacharias Jesus is referring to is some undocumented and more recent murder. ] whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things [ The destruction of Jerusalem. ] shall come upon this generation. [ You are only a short period (a couple of decades away) of time before this will all happen. ] [ IV: "34 Ye bear testimony against your fathers, when ye, yourselves, are partakers of the same wickedness. 35 Behold your fathers did it through ignorance, but ye do not; wherefore, their sins shall be upon your heads." Or you condemn in others what you are guilty of yourselves. You know better, I am right here in front of you. They rejected the servants of God, while you have rejected God himself. ]
[ Preceding the text of verse 37 the IV inserts: "Then Jesus began to weep over Jerusalem, saying,"
This addition reveals the depth of Jesus’ remorse over the rejection he faces by his people. He is not angered, he is moved to tears. ]
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [ The entire city, the house of Israel. Jerusalem got its name when Abraham came to the city that was then called Shalem to pay tithes and get his priesthood ordinances. This encounter between Melchizedek and Abraham was commemorated by renaming the city in their honor: the name Yeru (derived from Yireh, the name Abraham gave to the Temple Mount) was combined with Shalem, producing Yeru-Shalem, meaning the "city of Shalem," or "founded by Shalem." If shalem means "complete," or "without defect, " Yerushalayim would mean the "perfect city," or "the city of he who is perfect". see Heb 7:1. ] thou that killest the prophets, [ We need to remember that this is Jesus talking here. Where are these records found? They are found in the Apocryphal texts. (See also Luke 6:24) ] and stonest them which are sent unto thee, [ The Lord would have gathered Israel but the spiritual leaders he sends are murdered and the spiritual leaders they choose refuse Him. ] how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens [ It is the mother not the father, the mother's love is usually the greatest, suggesting how the Savior views his children. She see's danger, when they do not recognize it, and she covers them in order to protect them at the cost of her life if needed. ] under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house [ A place that you could have called home and made it your sanctuary, but no you turned it into a den of theives. "o oikov", the temple:-this is certainly what is meant. It was once the Lord's temple, God's OWN house; but now he says, YOUR temple or house-to intimate that God had abandoned it. This prediction of the demolition of the Temple is what prompts the question and answer in 24:1-2. ] is left unto you desolate. [ The IV changes the text significantly and indicates that the disciples understood that Jesus was speaking here of his return in glory. ]