Jesus' charges against the scribes and the Pharisees

They lay oppressive burdens on others

1) Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2) "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3) So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4) They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

Jesus says respect is due to the scribes and Pharisees, not because of their conduct; but because they sit in Moses' seat - they hold an office of authority, ordained by God.

The first accusation against these religious leaders is that they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; this has not changed in our day, still many make Christianity a set of burdensome rules to follow. The early church rejected this legalism when it insisted that obedience to the Mosaic Law is not a foundation for the Christian life; Peter told the legalists in Acts 15:10 why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

The burden of the religious leaders contrasts sharply to Jesus' burden: It is light, and His yoke is easy (Matthew 11:30).

They do their works to be seen of others, and live for the praise of men

5) "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6) they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7) they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'
8) "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9) And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10) Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.

The religious leaders were guilty of advertising their righteousness; both the phylacteries (small leather boxes with tiny scrolls with scriptures on them, tied to the arm and head with leather straps) and the borders of their garments were worn in supposed conformity to the Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy 11:18, Numbers 15:38-40).

Naturally, like every man in the flesh, the religious leaders figured that bigger phylacteries and longer borders on their garments showed them to be more spiritual; there is virtually no end to the way that man's depravity cannot pervert God's commandments.

Not content to display their "spirituality," the religious leaders loved it when people admired their "spirituality"; they coveted the seats of honor at banquets and at the synagogue, and they loved the honoring titles such as Rabbi and father.

The way of Jesus: service and humility

11) The greatest among you will be your servant. 12) For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

In the flesh, we determine greatness by how many people are serving and honoring us; in Jesus, we determine greatness by how we serve and honor others.

The promise of whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted is absolutely true, but sometimes needs the measure of eternity to make itself known.

Unfortunately, for the most part, the church has imitated the style of the scribes and Pharisees more than the style of Jesus.

The eight woes

These woes stand in contrast to the eight beatitudes of Matthew 5:3-11

Jesus speaks harshly here, but this is not the language of personal irritation, but of divine warning and condemnation.

They shut up the kingdom against those who would enter

13) "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Literally, the word hypocrite refers to an actor, someone playing a part; Jesus will expose the corruption covered by the pretty religious exterior.

 The religious leaders kept people from the kingdom by obscuring God's word with human traditions, and by denying Jesus; "religiosity" and "churchianity" do the same thing today.

It is bad enough for someone to not enter into heaven themselves; but it is far worse to prevent another from going in (Matthew 18:6).

The religious leaders would steal from others, especially the vulnerable, but they would do it under a "spiritual" veneer

They would devour widows' houses in the name of good business and "stewardship", and make long prayers for the sake of big donations.

Jesus reminds us of the concept of greater condemnation; no one will have it good in Hell, but we can trust that some will have it worse than others.

The religious leaders were guilty of perverting their converts

15) "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

Zeal in evangelism does not prove that a person is right before or with God; these religious leaders would go to great lengths in their evangelism, but they would bring people to darkness, not light.  Paul spoke of the same idea in Romans 10:2, where he observes that the Jews of his day had zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

In this respect, the religious leaders were similar to Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses today; courageous and energetic messengers, but with a false message.

The religious leaders were guilty of hypocrisy in their false and deceptive oaths

16) "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17) You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18) You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19) You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20) Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21) And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22) And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.

Out of obedience to God's word, they would not swear by the name of God (Exodus 20:7), but they constructed an elaborate system of oaths, some of which were binding and some were not - a way of making a promise while keeping your fingers crossed.

Jesus reminds us that every oath is binding, and God holds them to account, even if they excuse themselves.

Jesus rebukes their obsession with trivialities, while ignoring the real matters

23) "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24) You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Their tithing was great, but not if it only soothed the guilt of their neglect of the greater matters of the law.

Jesus illustrates their folly with a humorous picture of a gnat which could not be swallowed because it was not bled properly in accord with kosher regulations, and swallowing a whole camel instead.

Tragically, the church is often guilty of being distracted with trivialities while the world goes to hell.

Jesus rebukes the religious leaders for their failure to be cleansed inside and out

25) "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26) Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Many are satisfied with a superficial cleansing, and the appearance of righteousness before others; God demands a true cleansing; we must be clean before God and man.

Jesus rebukes the religious leaders because it is not enough to have a life that appears good, there must be spiritual life also

27) "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which looks beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28) In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Before Passover, it was the custom of the Jews to whitewash the tombs in the city of Jerusalem so that no one would touch one accidentally, thus making themselves unclean; Jesus says these religious leaders are like these whitewashed tombs.

During the feasts in Jerusalem, they would whitewash the sepulchers so that they were marked, so that a stranger would not inadvertently stumble upon a grave which would ceremonially make you unclean, and thus, not be able to celebrate Passover.

God is never fooled by our inward state; He sees what we actually are, not what we appear to be to other men.

Woe to those who honor dead prophets, but murder the living prophets

29) "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30) And you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our forefathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' 31) So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32) Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers!
33) "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34) Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35) And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36) I tell you the truth; all this will come upon this generation.

They professed to venerate the dead, but they rejected the living; in doing so, they show that they really are the children of those who murdered the prophets in the days of old.  We express the same thought when we think "I wouldn't have denied Jesus like the other disciples did . . ."

Brood of vipers has the idea of "family of the devil"; these religious leaders took an unmerited pride in their heritage, which was really of the devil, not of Abraham.

Jesus prophesies about how these leaders will fill up . . . the measure of their fathers' guilt: by persecuting His disciples, whom He will send to them.

Why did Jesus utter such scathing rebukes? Because of love; these men were the farthest from God and they needed to be warned.

Jesus' desire is their repentance, not their judgment.

Jesus laments for Jerusalem

Jesus doesn't hate these men - His heart breaks for them

37) "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 38) Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39) For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Luke 19:41 tells us that He wept here; Jesus wishes to protect them from the terrible judgment that will follow their rejection of Him.

It is written that Jesus wept two times: here, at the pain of knowing what would befall those who reject Him, and at Lazurus' tomb, at the power and pain of death. When we sin, God does not hate us, He genuinely weeps for us, knowing that in every way, our sin and rebellion only destroys our life.  May we share God's broken heart for a lost humanity!

Jesus also reveals something of the conditions surrounding His second coming; when He comes again, they will welcome Him as the Messiah; saying blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord

It will take a great deal to bring Israel to that point, but God will do it, and Israel will welcome Jesus back - even as Paul said in Romans 11:26: And so all Israel will be saved.

Chapter 24

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