Matthew 23:13-38

Matthew 23:13-38

 

 LANTC¹ starts with a great comment that helps understand

Matthew included seven denunciations against the Jewish leaders whom Jesus unhesitatingly called “hypocrites.” Being a religious leader in Jerusalem was very different from being a pastor in a secular society today. Israel’s history, culture, and daily life revolved around its relationship with God. The religious leaders were the best known, most powerful, and most respected of all leaders. Jesus made these stinging accusations because the leaders’ hunger for more power, money, and status had made them lose sight of God, and their blindness was spreading to the whole nation.

This sounds a lot like some of the tele-evangelists of modern times.

JESUS CONDEMNS THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS Matthew 23:13-36

Mat 23:13 "But ¹woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Mat 23:14 ["²Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.] Verse Matthew 23:14 Is not in all bibles if is possibly an interpolation meaning it was added for clarification or a different interpretation. Whichever it is it is not found in the earliest texts.

7 times Jesus calls the religious leaders hypocrites or worse. In that day these were the top 1% and they ruled. The Roman rule had not been around that long and that law was not a religious law in the same sense as the Jewish leaders. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes made rules. If you broke one of these rules you were punished. It is not much different than what Isis is doing to modern day. You had to be the kind of Jew they wanted or they would punish from lashings up to death.

Mat 23:15 "³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Because the Pharisees and scribes were proselytizing their own brand of religion their converts would make more rules. None of this had anything to do with Jesus or God. Hence the “twice as much a son of hell”

Mat 23:16 "⁴Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.' Mat 23:17 "You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? Mat 23:18 "And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.' Mat 23:19 "You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

From the New Living Testament: ¹⁶ “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ ¹⁷ Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. ¹⁹ How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred?

I quoted the same verses from the NLT version which in this case is more readable. Swearing by the Gold that you give to the temple versus the temple which is the house of God means you worship gold not God.

Mat 23:20 "Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. Mat 23:21 "And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. Mat 23:22 "And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. Mat 23:23 "⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. Mat 23:24 "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! Mat 23:25 "⁶Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. Mat 23:26 "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Mat 23:27 "⁷Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Mat 23:28 "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Mat 23:29 "⁸Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, Mat 23:30 and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Mat 23:31 "So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Mat 23:32 "Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. Mat 23:33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell? Mat 23:34  "Therefore, behold, I am sending 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, Mat 23:35  so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel (Genius 4:10) to the blood of Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:20-21), the son of Berechiah (2 Chronicles 24:22), whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Mat 23:36 "Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

There are a lot of woes eight to be exact:

¹woe - Shutting people out of Heaven

² woe – Stole widow’s homes on a pretense of a law then justifying themselves with long prayers

³ woe – Preaching their version of scripture corrupting others, causing them to be condemned to hell

⁴ woe – Swearing by things that are put in God’s temple versus the temple that houses God

⁵ woe- - Not preaching  justice and mercy and faithfulness, but tithe spices instead

⁶ woe – For cleaning everything they used and then blessed it and not cleaning their own souls

⁷ woe – You dress pretty but are only dirty inside

⁸ woe – They honor dead prophets, but murder the living prophets Jesus, along with others

JESUS GRIEVES OVER JERUSALEM AGAIN / Matthew 23:37-39

 Mat 23:37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Mat 23:38 "Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! Mat 23:39 "For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!'"

Jesus grieves the state of religion in Israel which is what he is trying to save. How sad was he must have been.

Agape

Dave

www.hiddenv.com

¹Life Application New Testament Commentary

ALL CAPS in the New Testament are used in the text to indicate Old Testament quotations or obvious references to Old Testament texts.  Variations of Old Testament wording are found in New Testament citations depending on whether the New Testament writer translated from a Hebrew text, used existing Greek or Aramaic translations, or paraphrased the material. It should be noted that modern rules for the indication of direct quotation were not used in biblical times; thus, the ancient writer would use exact quotations or references to quotation without specific indication of such.