Jesus Proclaims Eight Woes to the Pharisees and Laments Over Jerusalem

Continuing a Bible study of the gospel accounts:

(Matthew 23:1) Then Jesus spoke to the multitude and to His disciples.

At the end of the last chapter and post, Jesus had finished talking to the Pharisees, triumphant over all their tricks aimed at tripping Him up in His words.  He now turned His attention to the multitude around Him and His disciples.

(2) Saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses's seat."

Scary thought, from what we have read about them, but indeed they were supposed to study and teach the law of Moses to the people.

(3) "Therefore whatever they bid you to observe, observe and do, but do not do according to their works, for they say, and do not do."

Jesus told them that whatever the scribes and Pharisees read and taught out of the law of Moses, they should observe and do.  However, they should not do what they observed the scribes and Pharisees doing, for they did not act according to the words they taught.  It is interesting to note that Jesus did tell the people to do what these corrupt leaders taught.  Although they were wicked and corrupt in heart, yet the word of God does not return to Him void, but accomplishes what He wishes (Isaiah 55:11).  God will use corrupt leaders to get His word out, just as He used a donkey (Numbers 22:28).

(4) "For they bind heavy burdens, grievous to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they will not move them with one of their fingers."

Jesus's meaning here is that the scribes and Pharisees crushed the people with heavy burdens of religious laws, adding to them rites and ceremonies for show that were burdensome and oppressive to the people, but had no reason or spiritual revelation in them.  They would not lift a finger to ease the burdens they placed on the people.

(5) "But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments."

The scribes and Pharisees did everything for show to be seen by the people.  Phylacteries were a way to take the command of Moses literally, "And you shall bind them (the words of the law) for a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes" (Deuteronomy 6:8).  The Jews used to wear little scrolls of parchment with texts of scripture bound on their wrists and foreheads.  The scribes and Pharisees made their phylacteries huge probably filled with many texts of scripture to make them look so much more righteous and mindful of the law than ordinary folk.  The border of a Jew's garment was to be a ribbon of blue that when they saw it would remind them of the commandments of the Lord and they would remember to do them always and be holy before the Lord (Numbers 15:38-40).  However, the scribes and Pharisees made their blue ribbons much larger and wider than the ribbons of ordinary people.  These small things were originally meant to be personal reminders for the people wearing them, but the scribes and Pharisees wore them only as a big show of how righteous they were.

(6) "And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues."

Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees loved the places of highest honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, again all for show to demonstrate how important they were.

(7) "And greetings in the markets, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'"

Jesus said they also loved to be greeted in the marketplaces and to be called Rabbi, which was a term that was given to eminent teachers of the Jewish law.  The scribes and Pharisees loved hearing it because it implied their superiority over the person using it.

(8) "But you, do not be called Rabbi, for one is your Master, Christ, and you are all brethren."

Jesus told the people, including His disciples, not to allow themselves to be called Rabbi.  They should never seek titles of power or superiority.  They all had but one eminent teacher, and He was Christ; all others were brethren and had no superiority one over another.

(9) "And call no one your father on the earth, for one is your Father who is in heaven."

The Jewish rabbis were also often called Father, but Jesus tells them they have only one Father in heaven, and no man on earth deserved that title.  It's interesting to note that the Catholic religion still calls their pastors Father.  Why not brothers, as do most denominations?  Jesus said they should not have this title.

(10) "Neither be called master, for one is your Master, Christ."

Jesus instructed them not to call anyone Master, as they had only one Master and that was Jesus Christ, their Messiah.

(11) "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant."

The greatest among people would be the one who humbled himself, took a lowly position, and served others.  

(12) "And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he who shall humble himself shall be exalted."

Whoever exalted himself above others would be brought low by God Himself if not by man; and whoever humbled himself would be exalted and rewarded by God.

(13) "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."

Jesus then pronounced woe to the scribes and Pharisees, for they were hypocrites and guilty and punishment would come to them.  They shut people out of the kingdom of heaven by teaching false doctrines and binding them to an observance of the traditions of man.  They themselves would not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven, but they also prevented those who were ready to accept Jesus as the Messiah and enter into the kingdom of heaven from doing so by their constant false accusations against Him.

(14) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense, make long prayers. Therefore you shall receive the greater damnation."

Jesus pronounced another woe to the scribes and Pharisees.  They devoured widows' properties through a pretense of great sanctity, inducing them to give everything for religious purposes.  They made long prayers for show and for greedy purposes.  Therefore, Jesus said, they would receive the greater condemnation because they, in their higher capacities, not only led the people astray, but plundered and distressed them along the way.

(15) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."

Jesus continued to curse, if you will, the scribes and Pharisees.  They would travel land and sea, sparing no pains, to gain a convert, but once he was converted, they made him twice the child of hell, or twice as wicked as they were.

(16) "Woe to 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.'"

Jesus now called the scribes and Pharisees blind guides because they were blind to the truth but nevertheless, guided others.  He denounced their proclamation that if anyone swore an oath by the temple, it was neither binding nor a sin.  However, if anyone swore by the gold of the temple, that is, the money that was offered for the service of the temple, then that was binding and he must pay his debt.  This demonstrated no respect or reverence for the temple of God, but rather only for the money by which they enriched themselves.

(17) "You fools, and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?"

Indeed, Jesus pointed out their folly and hypocrisy, by asking what was more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold, making it holy, and not to be sworn by frivolously.  Of course, it was the temple!  An oath by the temple should be of much more importance than one by gold which had no holy value in it of itself.

(18) "And 'Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swore by the gift that is on it, he is guilty.'"

Likewise, Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees declared that anyone swearing by the altar would not be bound to their oath, but if they swore by the gift that was on the altar, then they were bound to keep the oath or be guilty of a debt.  Once again, they showed no reverence for the altar of God, but only for the material gifts by which they could enrich themselves.

(19) "You fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?"

Once again, Jesus pointed out their absurd hypocrisy, asking what was more important, the gift or the altar that made the gift considered something holy and not to be sworn by lightly.

(20) "Whoever therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it."

Jesus went on to add that anyone who swore by the altar of God obviously had to be swearing by it and anything on it; they could not be separated.

(21) "And whoever shall swear by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it."

Anyone who swore an oath by the temple also swore an oath by God who dwelled in the temple.  Likewise, all items in the temple were only of value and importance because of God, and should be respected for that fact alone, and not for any monetary gain for the scribes and Pharisees.

(22) "And he who shall swear by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."

Jesus went on to say that whoever swore an oath by heaven was swearing by the throne of God, which meant by God Himself.  Actually, one should not swear at all, for all is God's, as Jesus said back in Matthew 5:34.  He said not to swear by heaven, for it was God's throne; He said not to swear by earth, for it was God's footstool; He said not to swear by Jerusalem for it was the city of their great King; He said not to swear by one's own head, for one had no control to change it.  God is the One with all the control over all His creation, so it was profane to swear by anything that was God's own property.

(23) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; these you ought to have done and not to leave the other undone."

Jesus once again pronounced woe to the scribes and Pharisees and called them hypocrites.  They were apparently meticulous in tithing of the most trifling things on earth while they neglected the things that mattered most--justice, mercy, and fidelity, or faithfulness.  They should have made sure to do the more important things first, not that they shouldn't tithe; they could do that as meticulously as they desired, but they should have understood the most important moral obligations of the law and tended to them first, and let the smaller ritualistic and ceremonial matters come second.

(24) "You blind guides, who strain at a gnat and swallow a camel!"

Jesus analogized what He had just accused of the scribes and Pharisees.  They were meticulous to make sure they strained out a gnat, the smallest of creatures, from their drinks to be sure they didn't ingest an unclean insect.  However, they avoided the greatest matters like sins of hypocrisy, deceit, lust, and oppression, like a man who might swallow a camel, the largest of animals.

(25) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, but inside they are full of extortion and excess!"

Jesus accused the scribes and Pharisees of being meticulous to cleanse the outer things that showed, but inside where it wasn't visible to the people, they were full of wickedness, extortion, oppression, and lust.

(26) "You blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also."

Jesus told them to first cleanse what was within, invisible to the public, and then the outside would be truly clean.  As it relates to each of us personally, we must cleanse our hearts first so that our external actions will be clean, pure, and holy.

(27) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness."

Jesus compared the scribes and Pharisees to whitewashed tombs.  It is written that the Jews used to yearly whitewash their tombs to make them easily visible and thus easily avoidable, for their law considered anyone who touched anything belonging to the dead to be unclean.  What Jesus meant, therefore, was that while the scribes and Pharisees took great pains to appear clean and beautiful in their outward appearance, they were full of death and unclean on the inside.

(28) "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

Indeed, Jesus went on to detail their inward uncleanness; they worked to appear clean and righteous in view of men, but inside they were in fact full of hypocrisy and sin.

(29) "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you 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.'"

It seems the scribes and Pharisees built the tombs and repaired and beautified those already built out of respect for the memory of the righteous prophets; and this they did to outwardly show that they imagined themselves much better than their ancestors, and saying they would have never joined them in putting the prophets to death.

(31) "Whereby you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the children of those who killed the prophets."

I believe the sense of this rather difficult statement is that by saying they would have never joined in the slaying of the prophets, they acknowledged it was a great wickedness.  In acknowledging that fact, they were witnesses against themselves because they were just as their fathers before them were, and Christ knew they would also slay Him; in partaking of that same act, they condemned themselves as greatly wicked.

(32) "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers."

In essence, Jesus was telling them to go ahead in their fathers' wickedness.  He left them with the designs of their own wicked hearts to bring to fullness what their fathers had started by killing the prophets.  They would be every bit as wicked as their fathers, and more so.

(33) "Serpents, generation of vipers! How can you escape the damnation of hell?"

By calling them serpents and vipers, Jesus expressed their cunning craftiness, though sleek and fair on the outside, they were full of venom and death on the inside.  They were just like their father, that old serpent, the devil, and just like their forefathers who killed the prophets.  So how was it possible that they thought they could escape damnation to hell?

(34) "Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes; and some of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city."

Jesus told this generation of vipers that He was sending His prophets, wise men, and scribes, which would describe His disciples.  He foretold that they would kill some of them and persecute others.

(35) "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar."

Jesus went on to foretell that upon them would come the punishment of all the innocent blood which had been shed in the land from Abel to the prophet Zechariah, and which would come for the shedding of His innocent blood and that of His disciples after Him.  Indeed, they would achieve the fullness of what their fathers had started.  It's not that they would be unfairly punished for what their fathers had done before them, but it was because they had witnessed all that came before, and continued to do even more wickedness, that all the righteous blood shed up to the point they were punished would be avenged.

(36) "Verily, I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation."

Jesus told them that the time of the avenging of all the innocent blood would occur in that present generation.  Actually, the original word "genea" can also mean "nation."  Indeed, the destruction of Jerusalem took place about 40 years after Jesus spoke these words.

These statements pronouncing woes to the scribes and Pharisees have become known as the "eight woes."  It is very interesting to note that the blessings of the beatitudes also numbered eight.  Some scholars have made a direct correlation between each beatitude and each woe.  They do, indeed, come pretty close to being in direct opposition to each other:

1) Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, but woe to the scribes and Pharisees who shut up the kingdom of heaven.

2) Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted, but woe to those who devoured widows' houses and caused their sorrow.

3) Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth, but woe to the scribes and Pharisees who comb the earth to make just one proselyte and make him twice as bad as they were.

4) Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they will be filled, but woe to those who seek after only money and things of value.

5) Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy, but woe to those scribes and Pharisees who omitted the weightier matters like mercy.

6) Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God, but woe to those scribes and Pharisees who make themselves clean and pure on the outside, but whose hearts are wicked.

7) Blessed are the peacemakers who shall be called the children of God, but woe to the scribes and Pharisees who were filled with only death.

8) Blessed are those who are persecuted for Christ's sake, but woe to the scribes and Pharisees who persecuted them.

Back to Matthew 23:37:

(37) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you; how often would I have gathered your children together even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!"

Jesus then began to lament over Jerusalem.  It is evident He deeply grieved for her and earnestly wished for the salvation of her people.  The account in Luke says that He wept over the city.  Countless prophets were sent to save her, but she rejected and killed them.  Jesus sought to gather her people under His protection, but they would not hearken to Him.

(38) "Behold, your house is left to you desolate."

Whether Jesus meant the city or the temple, as either could be called the house where God had dwelt, once called His house, it was now their house for God had abandoned it.  For those who say that a loving God would never so wickedly punish His people, I don't see God as actively punishing, but He just turns away because they have rejected Him, and leaves them to defend for themselves.  Without His love, mercy, protection, and salvation, we will all perish!

(39) "For I say to you, you shall see me no more till you shall say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Taken in context with verse 38, it seems as if Jesus was saying the Jews' temple or city or both were desolate because HE was leaving it.  Their fate was sealed; the Lord's glory departed from them.  They would not see Him again offering His salvation until they received Him with joy and open hearts, recognizing Him as their Messiah.  The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 11:25-26 that this would be after the fullness of the Gentiles is brought in and then all Israel will be saved.  This is why we should only look with love to our Jewish brothers and sisters.  Imagine if Jesus had come to His people and they accepted Him and He took them away with Him, leaving all us Gentiles to perish.  Of course, it has been God's plan all along to save us all, knowing the depravity of the human heart; He knew He would be rejected, but His people had to see it for themselves.  Paul also said in those verses that we Christians must not become conceited because it is not owing to our own righteousness that we have been saved, but because Israel had been spiritually blinded for a time, Gentiles were given the opportunity to be saved.  Blessed are those who bless Israel, and cursed are those who curse her (Genesis 12:3, Numbers 24:9).  We should pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and they who love her will prosper (Psalm 122:6).  I truly believe that the reason God has continued to bless America even after all her wickedness in aborting babies, taking Him out of schools and the public square, celebrating homosexual unions that He called abomination, is because of our support for Israel.  However, one can see the tide turning, and once we reject Israel, we will be totally doomed as a country.