When Jesus
entered Jerusalem, accompanied by crowds who acclaimed him, those inquiring who
he was were told, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of
Galilee" (21:11). One of the things that Israelite prophets
regularly did in Old Testament times was to denounce rulers and leaders of the
people for their sins. Now we quite rightly like to think of Jesus as positive
and loving, not inclined to speak evil of others. Wasn't one of his core
teachings: "Do not judge others, lest God judge you?" (7:1)
And didn't he warn others about trying to remove even a small speck (i.e., a
minor sin) out of the eye of another (7:3)?
But Jesus was not here acting as an ordinary individual, criticizing another.
He was functioning as a prophet,
speaking for God. The very language he used is reminiscent of that used
by Old Testament prophets: "Woe to you …" (Numbers
21:29; Isaiah 3:11; 5:8, 11, 18; 10:1; Jeremiah 22:13). And those whom he
criticized were the leaders of God's own people, who bore great responsibility,
since their role was so vital. You and I are not called to do this. We are not
prophets, and those whom we are most tempted to criticize do not hold positions
or fill roles as vital as the scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem in Jesus'
time.
A second
aspect of this situation which we need to consider is: Was Jesus' intention
here only to condemn, or was it an appeal for change? That is, did Jesus hold
out any hope for those whom he was criticizing? If not, then his words were
only intended for ears that would hear: the people within earshot who either
were or would become his disciples. What lesson (or lessons) do you suppose
Jesus wanted these hearers to draw from his words? Were they simply to cheer,
hearing these proud opponents of Jesus get what was coming to them? I rather
think not. Jesus had taught his own followers much in the earlier parts of the
gospel about the dangers of hypocrisy (6:2,
5, 16; 7:5). These disciples were still not immune from its infection, and
in the future (the time when Matthew was writing these chapters) the
temptations of high positions of leadership among God's people would beset
them. We would be wise, as we read Jesus' words in this chapter today, not
simply to shake our heads at the stubborn unbelief and hypocrisy of these
Jewish leaders, but to reflect on our own tendencies. One of the
characteristics of Matthew's gospel that sets it apart from the other three, is
the emphasis on discipleship—on learning to be better followers of Jesus day by
day.
Warnings to his disciples, 23:1-12
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3 therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6 They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7 and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. 9 And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. (Matthew 23:1–12 NRSV)
In keeping
with what I have just written about Jesus' intentions here, notice that he
doesn't actually address the scribes and Pharisees directly with the
"woe"s until verse 13, after he has spoken to "the crowds and
his disciples" (v 1) in the first 12 verses. In this section he prepares
them for the intensity of his criticism of the Jewish leaders by stressing
their importance. These men "sit on Moses' seat" (v 2), which implies
great authority (v 3) and responsibility. Insofar as they accurately conveyed
Moses' teaching, they must be respected and heeded (v 3). But they were to be
faulted for the inconsistency of their practice. Verse 3 does present us,
however, with some problems. For earlier in Jesus' Galilean ministry he
criticized not just the practice of the Pharisee critics, but the way they
interpreted Moses' words by means of their rabbinic traditions (15:2-6;
17:1-13), so as to leave loopholes, allowing them to avoid its demands. It
would appear, since Matthew surely intends us to remember these earlier sayings
of Jesus, that he also understands Jesus' criticisms of the leaders here in
chapter 23 to be broader than the literal wording might suggest. They were to be respected, when their
teachings accorded with Moses's
teachings in the Scripture (i.e., the written Torah), but not necessarily when
they interpreted the Torah by means of their own traditions.
Is this
something that Christian leaders today can do, perhaps even without thinking? I
believe so. Those in positions of leadership over others must be ever vigilant
that that they say about the meaning of God's Word is actually verifiable by
any honest reader, and not something that is based on minority opinions, and
due more to a sectarian tradition than to a clear biblical basis. And when it comes
to rules of conduct, they should also owe nothing to the trends of our own
times, or to fashionable thinking among Christian opinion makers, but only to
the Bible's own teachings. It is better to be thought "old fashioned"
and "parochial" than to be guilty of what these ancient Jewish
leaders were in our own day and context.
But even those
of us who are not in what could be considered "high" leadership in
our churches can learn much from these opening verses. Do we really practice,
when we are in circles other than Christian ones, what we profess to believe
and do when we are among fellow church members (v 3)? Do we in any way
"put on an act" when we are with our church friends (v 5)? Does the
admiration of fellow Christians mean more to us than it should (vv 6-10)?
Until we truly
judge ourselves, we are in no position to "listen in" on Jesus' words
of judgment on unbelievers (vv 13-31).
"Woes" on the
Antagonistic Jewish Leaders, 23:13-31
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ 19 How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21 and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; 22 and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it. 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. 28 So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. (Matthew 23:13–31 NRSV)
As in the Old
Testament, so here too, the "woes" against the unbelieving and
disobedient—whether Gentile or Jew—result in God's judgment. And, just as in
Old Testament prophetic denunciations of their time, the "woe" not
only anticipated judgment, it specified the reasons for that judgment.
The section vv
13-31 contains seven woes (vv 13, 15,
16, 23, 25, 27, 29). The arrangement is not from less to more severe, but does
seem to climax (or "be summarized"?) in the seventh woe (vv 29-31),
where the leaders of Jesus' day refuse to admit that they are standing in a
direct line of descent from those who in the Old Testament murdered God's true
prophets. Thus, this appropriately closes the sequence of woes, for the
principal reason for God's judgment on the leaders of Jesus' day was not their
misinterpretations of scripture or their hypocritical lifestyles, but their
murderous jealousy of Jesus and determination to rid themselves of Him.
The Inevitable Judgment on
the Unbelieving Leadership of Jerusalem,
23:32-39
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ 19 How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21 and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; 22 and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it. 23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. 28 So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. (Matthew 23:13–31 NRSV)
The section of
Jesus' woe's directed against the religious leaders shows that what follows—the
prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple—was directed against
them, not against Israel as a whole. But, because the majority of Jews in that
age chose to follow the descendants of these leaders, there remained—as the
Apostle Paul put it—a "hardening in part" on all of Israel until the
"times of the Gentiles" will be complete. At that time, the hardening
(and the "veil" over their hearts and minds) will be lifted, and
"all Israel will be saved" (Romans
11:26).
The irony is
that, because the current religious leadership in Jerusalem refused to see that
they were following in the footsteps of the rebellious and disobedient
Israelite leadership in Jeremiah's day, the same fate was sure to fall upon
them: destruction of Jerusalem and its temple. This is why Jesus says in v 32
"Fill up, then, the measure [of punishment/judgment] of your
ancestors!"
In
verses 34-36 Jesus announces what will be this generation of Israel's last
chance—even after the death and resurrection of their Messiah: the sending out
to Israel of Christian "prophets, sages and scribes" (v 34). This is
Jesus' terminology—or perhaps Matthew's if he paraphrased Jesus here—for what
Paul terms "apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers". Jesus own (or Matthew's) terms are more
"Old Testament" than the ones Paul used. The term "sage"
(Greek σοφός, Hebrew וַחֲכָמִים), is rarely used in the New Testament in a
positive sense. Paul not only uses it consistently to represent people from
whom God's true wisdom is hidden, he even pairs the word with
"scribe" (Greek γραμματεύς) in 1 Cor 1:20 to denote those who do not have a clue as to who
God is or what his way of salvation might be. But in Matthew's gospel Jesus is
reported as teaching about "scribes" in the community of true
believers (13:52).
So at least in Matthew's gospel there is nothing necessarily demeaning or
pejorative about a "sage" or a "scribe." In fact, since the
Jewish religious establishment in the days of the earliest Church (leading up
to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple) would seek to rebut the gospel
message of the apostles with their own experts: "sages" and
"scribes," Jesus may have deliberately chosen these terms here to
contrast his own true spiritual leaders—true "wise men" and
"Torah scholars"—with those of the unbelieving establishment. The
judgment threatened here will come upon "this generation," literally!
That is, although tragically many Jews of subsequent generations would continue
to inherit the spiritual blindness to the gospel of their forebears, the real
guilt was on the leaders in Jesus' own day. And it would be they who would
witness the destruction of the temple and capital city, which was the source of
their power and prestige.
In verses 37-39 is displayed the tender heart of Jesus toward
Jerusalem, the city which ever since David captured it had represented the
physical home of God, the place where he was worshiped and from where his
teachings would emanate. Here is no angry Judge: here is a spurned Lover. And
yet, in the midst of this lament over the soon destruction of the city and
temple is a veiled promise: "You will not see me again until your say: 'Blessed is he who comes
in the name of the LORD." This was what the crowds shouted when Jesus
entered the city. But it was not found on the lips of the leaders, or the
majority of the city's inhabitants. With these words Israel of the Last Days
will express her repentance and faith in Jesus the Messiah, according to Psalm
118. It is a ray of hope in the midst of a sad prediction of judgment.
There would be no second chance for any individual—Jew or Gentile—who heard
Jesus or the apostles and decided not to believe. But for the nation—for God's
covenant people Israel—the prophets had long predicted her future failure to
recognize and accept her messiah (Isaiah
53), and yet held out hope of future repentance and national renewal.
According to Paul (Romans
11:25-36) this remains the case today. But in the meantime the
"Christian" messianic community must trumpet abroad the message of
his salvation to the whole world and await at his coming the
"fullness" of blessing that will only come about when both the
Gentile world responds, but also the old covenant people.
