The King Pronounces Judgment on the Hypocrites
A verse-by-verse explanation of the chapter.
An overview of the principles and applications from the chapter.
Melding the chapter to life.
Tying the chapter to life with God.
Historical, geographical, and grammatical enrichment of the commentary.
Suggested step-by-step group study of the chapter.
Zeroing the chapter in on daily life.
“It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime.”
Thomas Paine
Having silenced his critics, Jesus warns the hypocritical leaders by pronouncing the most severe judgment in the Scriptures. The seven “woes” (or accusations) are a collection of criticisms of the hypocrisy of Israel's Jewish leaders. These woes reach a climax as Jesus shows a solidarity between the current Jewish leaders and their predecessors who murdered the prophets of God.
It happened during my high school days at a state leadership camp. It was unforgettable. For the first time in my memory, I had stood up—in public—to confront hypocrisy.
Several hundred high school student-body officers were being trained for their senior tenure. About a dozen of us were housed in one cabin just about right for a couple of guys to doze off, a couple to read, and the rest of us to engage in developing a healthy “group dynamic.” In other words, we told stories and hooted at their craziness into the wee hours.
One stretch involved an hour or more of “can-you-top-this” jokes and stories. I found myself unable to participate so I lay quiet in the darkness, hoping the others would think I had fallen asleep. One voice in particular, from the top bunk on the west wall, seemed to dominate the off-color conversation.
When the conversation shifted to things that mattered, the guys began to discuss “religion,” real spiritual issues, and eventually their own hearts. It was amazing. Christ and the Christian faith became the center of discussion.
But the majesty of that healthy dialogue was broken when the same voice from the top bunk on the west wall chimed in. Unable to remain silent and wanting to be included with the “in” crowd, he declared: “Oh, yeah, I am a Christian too!”
His loud “about face” disturbed me. To go from off-color jokes to spiritual bliss in one easy breath was more than I could handle. Suddenly I heard my own voice breaking the silence: “Well, if I claimed to be a Christian and had just finished spouting off a bunch of off-color stories, I sure would not be advertising my faith.”
My heart was pounding! I had done it! What was going to happen now? As it turned out, not much. The cabin went dead silent. I was sure the other guys could hear my heart pounding. But I do not recall anyone saying another word that night. Nor the next day. My impetuous, angry comment had just ended it all. Camp broke up. We returned to our homes. And that was the end of that; or so I thought. Years went by—through college, then the military and Vietnam, followed by seminary. I never thought another thing about the incident.
Fifteen years later I was walking on the sidewalk of a seminary campus when a voice from across the lawn called a loud hello. The guy asked if I had been at a particular high school leadership camp and involved in a certain conversation. I realized that was the person from that top bunk on the west wall. He proceeded to rehearse the exchange that night and described the discomfort of the silence that followed. “Yes, that was me,” I admitted.
Then, in a wonderful moment of confession and a genuine statement of gratitude, he thanked me for my comments in that cabin on that night long ago. He told me that the shock of having his hypocrisy pointed out had begun his turnaround. Those uncomfortable moments in that cabin fifteen years ago had played a significant role in his commitment to Christ. He was now on a seminary campus, studying for vocational Christian ministry. It was a wonderful conclusion to a long-forgotten story.
There comes a time when we need to confront hypocrisy. In the flow of Matthew's Gospel, that time had arrived. Jesus was going to confront the hypocrisy of Israel's religious leaders. In a loud voice, blunt and truthful, the Lord of heaven confronted the hypocritical religious leaders.
Confronting hypocrisy may turn the hypocrite around. But even when it does not, it serves to protect others who might become victims of the hypocrisy.
The King Pronounces Judgment on the Hypocrites
MAIN IDEA: Beware of hypocrisy. It will receive God's severe judgment.
Jesus had arrived on the stage of history (Matt. 1-4); demonstrated his authority as Messiah-King (Matt. 5-10); met with rejection (Matt. 11-12); continued to walk the difficult path of truth in the face of opposition while preparing the disciples to carry on after him (Matt. 13-20); and moved into the spotlight with royal dignity, proving victorious in verbal and spiritual combat with his opponents (Matt. 21-22). Having silenced his critics (22:46), Jesus warned the crowd and his disciples of the poison of their hypocritical leaders, bringing the battle of words to its conclusion. This is the most biting, pointed, and severe pronouncement of judgment in the Bible. It came directly from the Savior's lips and was directed at self-centered spiritual hypocrisy.
After the introductory warning to the listening audience (23:1-12), Jesus pronounced the “seven woes” that form the heart of this chapter. The first six fall into natural pairs. The seventh woe brings a dramatic conclusion to the list, foreshadowing Jesus' own death sentence at the hands of the leaders he was warning others about.
Throughout this angry castigation, Jesus repeatedly addressed his opponents as “teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites” (23:13,15,23,25,27,29; see also 23:2). Most of the scribes, or teachers of the law (experts in the Old Testament law), belonged to the sect of the Pharisees, probably because of their pharisaical obsession with minute details of the law. But Jesus used these comments against hypocrisy to represent any corrupt members of the Jewish leadership, regardless of their theology or position.
Up through 23:31, almost every verb describing the Jewish leaders' hypocritical actions is in the Greek present tense or is part of a construction carrying a present, continuous force. The behavior Jesus described was habitual, repetitive, and continually characteristic of these Jewish leaders.
Underlying all of Jesus' accusations was the question of what a person does with the Messiah. Jesus could easily have given positive examples with each of the woes, contrasting his positive model with the negative model of the hypocrites. Each departure from true righteousness was a way of rejecting the Christ, God's promised king. This rejection was the hypocrites' greatest sin. They would prove this soon in their persecution of Jesus, in a fashion similar to that described in the seventh woe.
It is important to keep this scathing chapter in its context. Matthew 23 is more than a climax of arguments with religious hypocrites. It follows on the heels of the major moment of truth of 22:41-46. Jesus' identity was not a matter for endless dialogue. It was the center of everything that mattered. To be wrong about Jesus is to be wrong about everything. So Jesus took apart these religious leaders who tried to deny or confuse his identity. The tone of Matthew 23 is judicial. These false religious leaders and those who followed them, corporate Israel, would be condemned and destroyed.
The King Warns Israel of the Self-Absorption of Its Leaders (23:1-12)SUPPORTING IDEA: Hypocrisy is primarily interested in elevating self.
This introductory section to the “seven woes” was Jesus' warning to the crowd and to his disciples not to follow the hypocrites' example. He urged the common people to follow God's instruction as it was written and accurately taught, not as it was warped by the Jewish leaders. Jesus was challenging the people to pursue a righteousness greater than that of their leaders (cf. 5:20; 6:1-18).
23:1-3. The religious leaders from 21:23-22:46 were still part of Jesus' audience, but he turned to address his disciples and the sizable crowd. The temple courts, where he was speaking, were a popular place during Passover week. He had spent most of the day in debate with the leaders, publicly demonstrating their lack of qualification for their role and responsibilities. He then turned to the onlookers to help them understand how to live under such poor leadership.
Moses' seat referred to Moses' role as teacher and leader-judge of Israel (e.g., Exod. 18:13). The current leaders were the successors to Moses, as Israel's leaders. God's people needed leaders to teach God's Word, to help the people interpret it accurately, and to challenge them to apply it in their daily living. There is a place for bowing to authoritative teaching. Certainly much of what the first-century leaders taught was accurate and helpful. Jesus commanded the people to do everything they tell you. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees in particular were generally more conservative in their respect for the Word of God, taking it at face value. But people often learn from example more than by word. This aspect of the hypocrites' leadership was abysmal.
23:4. Through the man-made laws of the Pharisees (Matt. 15:1-9), they introduced burdens of obedience that were impossible for people to carry. Yet, they mercilessly held the people to these burdens.
The shoulders were the place for carrying weighty burdens, putting the entire strength of the body under the burden. In contrast, the finger represented the weakest part of the body. The hypocrites put forth no effort to aid their followers in pleasing God, which was the fundamental purpose of God's Word. This was no mere mistake or oversight on their part; they were not willing to move the burdens. Theirs was a prideful, status-seeking ministry. Jesus' attitude was just the opposite.
23:5-7. Not only were the hypocrites unsympathetic, but they were also insecure. They constantly advertised their “spirituality” and status in an effort to feed their weak egos through the attention of others. Their insecurity masqueraded as arrogance. They did everything in their power to cause others to think they were superior to the average Jewish citizen. They did their “good” deeds purely for applause. They even fooled themselves into believing they were righteous.
Phylacteries were small boxes attached to the left arm or the forehead and worn during prayer. They contained small portions of Scripture that the Pharisees wore, in a legalistic interpretation of the Shema, particularly Deuteronomy 6:8: “Tie them [these commandments] as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads” (see also Exod. 13:9; Deut. 11:18). They literally wore phylacteries on their heads and wrists. God, through Moses' use of a figure of speech, was instructing the people to become servants of the Word of God. But these status seekers made a physical uniform out of it. The hypocrites would broaden their phylacteries, because the more noticeable the box, the more spiritual they seemed to be.
The tassels were blue-and-white cords that Jewish men wore on their outer garments (Num. 15:38-41; Deut. 22:12), and later on the prayer shawl. God had commanded the wearing of the tassels so the Jews would be reminded that God had redeemed them and thus remember to obey his commandments. The hypocrites would lengthen their tassels, because the more noticeable the tassels, the more spiritual they seemed to be.
Banquets and synagogues were only two examples from daily life where many people gathered. These places were prime opportunities for advertising false spirituality. Virtually any event was an opportunity for public honor and recognition. The place of honor and important seats were reserved for the most spiritual—those with highest authority and greatest wisdom. These people loved to be seen and to parade their spiritual accomplishments in public ways.
Jesus said that the hypocrites love (phileo) these attention-gathering methods. They would do anything to get attention. Recognition was their god, replacing the God they should have been loving with all their heart, soul, and mind (Matt 22:37-38).
23:8-10. These three verses about the use of respectful titles sprung out of the preceding comment about the hypocrites' love of respectful greetings, particularly the title Rabbi. Jesus' teaching was not a prohibition of the use of titles but an exhortation to humility. Titles have a necessary place, when used appropriately. But the wise and righteous person should be so humble as to feel embarrassed when addressed with a title of honor, knowing that his wisdom and righteousness are gracious gifts from God. You is emphatic, drawing a contrast between the behavior of the righteous and the hypocrite.
As the opposite of the hypocrites' love for the title Rabbi, Jesus exhorted the person of integrity not to seek such a title, repeating “Rabbi” again as a specific example. Only One has the right to be called our teacher—the Messiah himself. All the rest of us—leaders and followers alike—are the Messiah's students, and therefore brothers, learners among learners. When compared with Jesus, the rest of us find ourselves on a level playing field. Realizing this will keep us humble.
Teachers were often referred to as father, out of affection and respect. Jesus restated the same message as in the previous verse, using a parallel title. This time the reason to avoid such a title was that ultimately only One has the right to be called our Father—God in heaven. Anyone who claims the title “father” out of pride and for self-elevation finds himself in competition with the Almighty.
In 23:10, Jesus used a third Greek synonym, teacher, to repeat the same warning, this time stating clearly there was only one such Teacher, the Christ (Messiah). Was this prideful for Jesus to claim such an exclusive status for himself? Of course not. It would be prideful only for someone who was not the Christ, but for Jesus it was his perfect right, even his responsibility.
23:11-12. Compare the text of Matthew 23:11 with the almost identical wording in 20:26-28. The greatest was the person who stooped to serve others. This humble servant was the one with true self-respect, having nothing to prove. But the hypocrites displayed their lack of self-respect by demanding respect from others, seeking to be served and noticed. Compare this passage with James 4:6,10—where the humble are promised they will be lifted up, and Proverbs 25:6-7—which teaches about choosing seating at a banquet (also Prov. 15:33; 22:4; 1 Pet. 5:5-6). All leadership, even at the highest levels, is to be servant-hearted.
The person who exalts himself will be humbled in judgment when his true low status in the kingdom is revealed. By contrast, the person who voluntarily humbles himself, through service and avoidance of undue notice, will be exalted (cf. 18:3-4; 19:14).
Notice that everyone will either experience voluntary humility now or involuntary humiliation in eternity. There is no third alternative. Jesus was instructing the laypeople and his disciples in positive righteousness. But he was also condemning the hypocritical leaders.
First and Second Woes: Leading People Astray (23:13-15)SUPPORTING IDEA: Hypocrisy affects us as well as the well-being of others.
The “seven woes” (23:13-36) form the heart of this chapter, illustrating the Jewish leaders' hypocrisy by means of detailed examples, which Jesus raised to public awareness in 23:1-12.
The first two woes are sobering because of the leaders' God-given stewardship of the people's spiritual well-being. Rather than handling their trust with integrity, they had neglected and abused God's people, as had hypocritical leaders of the past (Ezek. 34). The leaders had been given a weighty responsibility. Their violation of this trust incurred a weighty judgment.
23:13. The first woe. The word woe (ouai) is used in Scripture as either an expression of grief or judgment. Here “woe” is an expression of righteous anger and a pronunciation of impending judgment. Jesus himself is the judge who will judge every person. We see here a dose of his indignation at sins that are among the worst possible—willful rebellion and dragging others down as well. (See Jesus' other uses of “woe” in 11:21; 18:7; 24:19; 26:24. Isaiah 5:8-22 and Hab. 2:6-20 also presented a series of “woes,” as Jesus did here.)
A paraphrase of Jesus' accusation might be, “Because of your hypocrisy (and therefore failure to experience the truth), you are slamming the door of the kingdom in the faces of seeking people.”
The verb form here is in the present tense, implying that the Jewish leaders used every opportunity to keep people out of the kingdom and to keep the door permanently closed. They used their position as teachers to lock the door. In particular, they were closing it to those who are trying to enter. People who sought to please God and to enter his kingdom were being misguided.
The primary tool by which the hypocrites kept people out of the kingdom was their own example: You yourselves do not enter. They led evil lives, and the people followed them. Here we see again the zealous protectiveness of the Good Shepherd for his sheep (18:10-14).
23:14-15. The second woe. This pronouncement of judgment highlighted the zealous evangelistic activity of the hypocrites. They would travel the world (over land and sea) for only one convert. A convert was a Gentile who was won to faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel.
But the new convert would have been better off if he had not been found by the Jewish evangelist. By following the evangelist's hypocritical example, the convert surpassed his teacher in hypocrisy and evil. As a result, he incurred an even harsher judgment. The new convert may have even convinced himself that he was following God, but he was actually following Satan. God intended Israel to be his ambassadors to the world to bring people to him, but these representatives of Israel were leading people into rebellion.
Third and Fourth Woes: Perverting God's Law (23:16-24)SUPPORTING IDEA: Hypocrisy is self-deceptive, leading to rationalization of sin.
Jesus had already confronted Israel's leaders with their avoidance of God's law by adherence to their counterfeit replacements—laws made by men (15:1-9). These evil men were the authority to whom the laypeople looked for spiritual guidance. The people trusted their leaders to speak for God.
Outwardly, the leaders put on a great show of strong commitment, making their vows and paying their tithes. And they taught these things fervently to the people. But as quietly as possible, they slipped through their own hypocritical loopholes. In the guise of obedience, they were actually committed to the quest to disobey.
23:16-19. The third woe. This is the only one of the seven woes that does not begin with the formula address, “teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites.” Instead, Jesus addressed them as blind guides. This accusation emerged from their ability to mislead the people. But it was also related to their perversion of the law because they taught this man-made perversion to the people, who believed it to be from God. The leaders had blinded themselves by their hardened hearts, and they were guiding others into the same danger.
Jesus provided two prime examples of ways the hypocrites used oaths to get away with lying. (For the significance of oaths and swearing, see comment on 5:33-37.) Swearing by the temple called upon the God who dwelt there to curse the promise maker if he should fail to keep the promise. But when the time came to fulfill the promise, the hypocrite would claim that the oath was not binding, since it did not specify the gold in the temple treasury. For these hypocrites, it was the “wealth” of the temple that gave the temple its significance. Their original oath misled the other party into believing they were sincere, when they never intended to keep the promise. God was especially indignant about such misuse of oaths, because his name was brought in as a “seal of approval” on the hypocrite's lie. This was an example of using God's name in vain (the third commandment, Exod. 20:7).
Jesus interrupted his own flow of thought to proclaim such hypocrites as blind fools. This designation was justified because they had missed the purpose of the temple. It was not the gold that gave the temple its significance. Rather, God's presence gave the gold its special significance, setting it apart from all other gold in the world.
This was a clear example of the result of legalism. When we are reduced to legalistically “parsing” our verbs in order to twist their intention and protect ourselves, we are lost. The legal/justice system of the United States has become so pharisaical in methodology that the real victim is justice itself. We have forced ourselves to define truth in levels. Somehow truth “under oath” is more truthful than truth that is not sworn. We have truth, semi-truth, and true truth. We have become “legally accurate” but morally bankrupt. We have come a long way from letting our “yes” be yes and our “no” be no. And our culture is dying because of it. It is the inevitable end of pharisaism. We have made a mockery of truth and character.
As another example, Jesus accused the hypocrites of claiming an oath by the altar to be invalid (at the time the promise was supposed to be kept) because their oath did not specify the gift on the altar (23:18).
The altar was a structure in the temple that contained a fire on which the animal sacrifices were burned as acts of worship by God's people. The hypocrites in their arrogance believed their gifts could give significance to God's altar.
For the third time in this “woe,” Jesus called the hypocrites blind (23:19). They failed to realize that no offering from a sinful person could give significance to God's altar. Rather, the sacred altar in God's temple made the offering sacred and therefore acceptable to God. The acceptability of our gifts and our worship is made possible by a gracious concession from God. We are guilty of great arrogance if we think that we, on our own, are the source of anything acceptable to God. Anything we give him is only giving back what he has already provided (1 Chron. 29:14).
23:20-22. Jesus corrected the mistaken thinking behind wrongful oaths by providing three examples of the right understanding. First, an oath by the altar need not be any more elaborate than that, for it calls upon the holiness of God's altar and the sanctified sacrifice upon it. This is a different way of saying, “Let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ ‘no’” (cf. 5:36). Jesus was not telling us to stop making oaths but to keep our word by saying what we mean and meaning what we say.
Some people would swear falsely by heaven, but fail to keep their vow as they would with the vows by the altar and the temple. Jesus clarified that swearing by heaven calls upon the holiness and authority of God's throne and God himself who sits on it. In fact, as we have seen often in Matthew, “heaven” is often a euphemism referring to God himself. Many people who swore by heaven were swearing by God, calling on him to be a party to their oaths.
Not only were the Jewish leaders guilty of lying and breaking promises, but they also perverted God's law according to their desires. They passed off their man-made version as though it were God's Word to cover up their own dishonesty and greed. In so doing, they committed a third sin—leading the people to believe their falsehood instead of God's truth. The responsibility of leadership carried with it a greater judgment.
23:23-24. The fourth woe. The same could be said about Jesus' fourth accusation, which, like the third, showed how the Jewish leaders had perverted God's law to allow them to disobey its true intent.
The hypocrites tithed (gave ten percent) of everything, right down to the herbs in their pantry—mint, dill and cummin (see Old Testament laws on tithing in Lev. 27:30; Deut. 14:22-29). As with their vows and zealous evangelism (23:15), this looked quite righteous to the undiscerning observer, so the leaders received much respect.
But their tithing served only as a smoke screen, distracting people from noticing that they had neglected the more important matters of the law— justice, mercy and faithfulness (cf. Deut. 10:12-13; Mic. 6:8). They made it appear that they were paying “full rent,” when in reality they were only keeping up the “newspaper subscription.” The implication is that they were guilty of committing injustice and acting unmercifully at the expense of others and for their own profit.
Jesus did not say the hypocrites were wrong in their tithing. Rather, he said they should have given greater attention to these more important matters of the law while also giving attention to their tithing and other requirements. Compare this with “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” (Hos. 6:6, quoted by Jesus in Matt. 9:13; 12:7).
As in the third woe, Jesus again called the Jewish leaders blind guides. Their self-deception about the various Old Testament laws also deceived the people who followed them, so no one knew how to go about pleasing God.
Jesus' hyperbole in verse 24 was humorous. His hearers would have chuckled at the picture of the Pharisees straining out a small insect (gnat) while swallowing a huge camel.
In their self-serving greed, the leaders of Israel had perverted the law into a man-made version that allowed them to get away with a show of obedience while avoiding true obedience. And they led others into similar disobedience.
Fifth and Sixth Woes: Hiding Evil with Hypocrisy (23:25-28)SUPPORTING IDEA: Hypocrisy emphasizes the external show but minimizes the internal corruption.
The fifth and sixth woes revisited the debate of 15:1-20 over cleanness and uncleanness. In fact, the picture of a cup or dish (fifth woe) was the same as that used in the earlier passage. The sixth woe took the same principle to a more graphic extreme, using the image of dead bodies in a tomb.
The leaders looked holy on the outside, luring people into their confidence. But they were actually a deadly trap, because their true status (“inside”) was that of unrighteousness and uncleanness. And anyone who followed them would be defiled by the association, just as a person is made unclean by a cup with a filthy interior or by contact with a dead body (Num. 19:11).
23:25-26. The fifth woe. As in 15:1-20, Jesus argued that it was the inside of the cup or dish that should be clean. This is the part that comes into contact with the drink or food that goes into a person's mouth. The outside should also be clean, but its condition is not so critical. So also a person who looks righteous to an observer but who is truly unrighteous inwardly is thoroughly unclean and a danger to those around him. These sins in particular drew attention to the self-centered attitude of the leaders and their pattern of preying on their followers for their own advancement. The inside of the cup was intended to represent the individual's character.
Jesus' challenge (23:26) to the hypocritical leaders was to begin housecleaning on the inside, confronting the sinful attitudes of their hearts. If the inner person is righteous, righteousness will flow out, resulting in outward righteousness as well.
23:27-28. The sixth woe. According to Old Testament law (Num. 19:11), anyone who came in contact with a dead body was ritually unclean for a week. That person had to perform the appropriate sacrifices to complete restoration. Contact with a dead body was among the most abhorrent of experiences to the religious Jew. Jesus expressed this by adding that the tombs were full of dead men's bones as well as everything unclean.
Just as a beautifully decorated tomb housed an unclean dead body, the outwardly righteous hypocrite housed a filthy, sinful soul, capable of defiling others around him by his example and his teaching. Jesus selected hypocrisy and wickedness as terms to describe all the sin inside the Jewish leaders. These were broad terms, covering virtually all sins these people might commit. Any sin would be covered up by false righteousness (“hypocrisy”), and all sin was violation of the law (“wickedness”).
Seventh Woe: Murdering God's Prophets (23:29-36)SUPPORTING IDEA: Hypocrisy lashes out defensively at the truth and any messenger who bears the truth.
Jesus' seventh woe stood by itself, whereas the first six were paired. It is climactic, presenting the worst of the hypocrites' sins—the persecution and murder of God's prophets (cf. 21:34-39; 22:6). It is also the most lengthy of the seven. The theme of persecution of the prophets is in the emphatic final position and therefore receives much attention.
The present tense predominated in the first six woes. But the seventh woe spoke not only of the Jewish leaders' present disobedience (23:31), but also looked back to their past and ahead to their future. Jesus linked the current leaders with those in the past who also persecuted and murdered God's prophets (23:29-32,35; cf. 2 Chron. 36:15-16; Jer. 26:20-23). He also predicted their continued persecution of God's spokesmen (23:32,34), further justifying their future judgment (23:33-36).
23:29-33. The seventh woe. As with most of the first six woes, Jesus began by describing the external behavior of the hypocrites, which appeared to others to be righteous. The prophets and righteous (cf. Matt. 10:41; 13:17) referred to God's martyrs of the past, murdered by the forefathers of Israel, during the days when Israel was in rebellion against God. It was no problem for the first-century leaders to build tombs and decorate the graves of dead prophets. Those prophets could no longer prophesy about the sin of the first-century leaders.
In direct contrast with the reality of their inner resistance to God's truth, they put on a show of denying such resistance, claiming they would never have participated in the persecution of the prophets of the past (the days of our forefathers). But Jesus said: you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets (23:31). Jesus was purposefully ambiguous on the meaning of the term descendant. He used it in the sense that the current leaders were literal descendants. But he also used it in the sense that a descendant was a follower or disciple of the forefather, implying a consistency of heart belief and outward behavior—“like father, like son.”
In 23:32, Jesus shifted the view toward the future, challenging the leaders to go all the way and prove their identity with their forefathers by their behavior. Fill up … the measure means “to keep on sinning, and so prove yourselves to be just as evil as they are.” This was not only a prophecy, but a pronouncement of judgment. Sometimes the way God judged the evil was by allowing them to continue on deeper into their sin, thus condemning themselves (cf. Rom. 1:18-32; also Isa. 6:9; Jer. 44:25; Amos 4:4-5). Then shows that this pronouncement of condemnation was a result of the guilt they already had, by their own admission (23:29-31).
John the Baptizer had called the Pharisees and Sadducees a “brood [offspring] of vipers” in 3:7. Jesus reinforced the charge, calling them snakes. They were sly and clever, fooling the crowds as the serpent fooled Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:1-6). And they were deadly. Because of their deceptive and malicious corruption of God's people, they were subject to harsh judgment. Jesus' question, How will you escape being condemned to hell? is rhetorical. The understood answer is, “There is no escape for you.”
23:34-36. The word therefore carries the meaning, “Since you are already guilty of following in your forefathers' bloody footsteps.” Jesus warned that they would be provided with further opportunities to kill God's messengers, that there would be no doubt about their guilt.
Jesus claimed that he was the One who was sending the messengers. Implied here was Jesus' claim to deity. The prophets were from God, so Jesus was claiming to do what only God does. And he was already beginning to do it. The Twelve and their spiritual offspring would be the first fulfillment of Jesus' promise (5:10-12; 9:37-38; 28:18-20).
Jesus had already predicted his own death by crucifixion (20:19). Some of the messengers to come would suffer as he was about to suffer. Others would be killed by other means. Jesus predicted flogging and persecution from city to city (10:17,23) in his warning to his disciples. The Twelve were certainly among those whom Jesus predicted he would send.
These messengers would be sent, and they would be persecuted. Their persecutors would be counted among the murderers of all history, the segment of humanity who is guilty of all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth. Expanding on this last phrase, Jesus provided the names of the first righteous martyr and one of the latest in Jewish history. Abel was the first recorded murder (possibly the first human death), and his death at his brother Cain's hand was because of Abel's righteousness (Heb. 11:4; 1 John 3:12), which sparked Cain's jealousy (Gen. 4:1-15).
Jesus finished the seventh and most sobering woe with his pronouncement of judgment. I tell you the truth assured the listeners of the validity of his prediction. All this included the persecutions and the judgment for them. This generation (cf. Matt. 11:16; 13:39,45; 16:4) should be taken quite literally in this case, since judgment on Israel did come in the form of the A.D. 70 devastation. Israel had broken covenant with Yahweh as completely in the first century as in any previous century, by murdering the greatest prophet, the Messiah, God's Son. As in centuries before, punishment would certainly come. This generation of false religionists living in the time of Christ would inherit all the guilt of their forefathers (cf. Jer. 16:10-13).
Jesus had just pronounced a finality to his dealing with Israel. He had determined that judgment for all the unfaithfulness of the nation through the centuries (Abel to Zechariah) would fall upon “this generation.” He was about to announce that your house is left to you desolate—a statement that shocked the disciples. Jesus would deal with their questions and this impending future judgment in Matthew 24-25.
The King Laments Israel's Desolation (23:37-39)SUPPORTING IDEA: Hypocrisy leads to emptiness and destruction.
In these final words, Jesus still addressed Israel, the murderers of the prophets. But now the tone of wrathful condemnation gave way to grief and even some degree of compassion. These words are both a lament and an appeal for repentance.
23:37. We might imagine Jerusalem, Jerusalem coming from Jesus' lips accompanied by a strong display of emotion. The prophets and other messengers had been sent out of love for the good of Israel. But the recipients of God's grace had despised his love, killing and stoning those sent to win the prodigal people back (see Stephen, Acts 7:59).
Jerusalem was portrayed here as the “mother” of the people of Israel, your children. Jesus, God incarnate who had supervised all of history, including the many preceding centuries of Israel's rebellion, expressed his persistent compassion for his people. How often implied Yahweh's repeated attempts to reason with his people and rescue them from their own self-destructive rebellion.
Even in the first century, the image of the mother hen protecting her chicks carried the same connotation as it does today. This was the kind of affection Jesus has always had for his wayward people, always wishing to gather them together in unified obedience, in covenant relationship with him, and in forgiving grace. No matter how deeply his people had sinned, the Lord wanted them back.
But they were not willing. Even Jesus does not force compliance. What grief this must have caused him. What a demonstration of love, that he would subject his emotions to our wills, allowing himself to experience pain and suffering at our rebellious whim. That is authentic love.
23:38-39. The word Look means “watch, see for yourselves.” And he continued into another prophecy of judgment that was not entirely distant future. Even now, the house (possibly the temple itself, but also implying the “family”) of Jerusalem (the capital representing all Israel) is left to you desolate. Israel was on the verge of losing something important to its survival. Within a few years (A.D. 70) Jerusalem would be in ruins.
Jesus explained the nature of this desolation in 23:39 (“for” leads us to expect an explanation). For I tell you arrested the audience's attention one more time for a final critical announcement: you will not see me again. That was to say, “Your chances to accept me, the Messiah, while I am physically present, have ended.” But the Messiah's absence was not permanent. They would again see him, when they (Israel) would say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord (quoted from Ps. 118:26, also quoted by the welcoming crowd in 21:9).
Some commentators make reference here to Zechariah 12:10-13:1, where it was foretold that Israel would mourn for the one they pierced, and that “on that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (Zech. 13:1). This is a reference to Israel's future role near the close of history.
Jesus turned and walked away from the temple, but his shocking words rang in the ears of the disciples. They were moved to ask, “When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming?” (24:3). Jesus answered their questions in the fifth and final discourse (Matt. 24-25), the Olivet Discourse, from the Mount of Olives just outside Jerusalem. This great discourse prophesied the coming kingdom and the time of reward for Christ's followers.
MAIN IDEA REVIEW: Beware of hypocrisy. It will receive God's severe judgment.
We must respect and obey the accurate teaching of God's Word, even when we cannot fully respect the teacher. We must also distinguish between a teacher's words and his example. We must see that our own words and actions convey the same message of truth.
APPLICATIONS
Salt Lake Olympic Committee officials were forced to acknowledge that they had funneled almost $400,000 in tuition assistance, books, and living expenses to thirteen unnamed individuals, six of whom were relatives of members of the International Olympic Committee, which chose the site to host the 2002 Games.
As the story began to unfold, the officials characterized the payments as humanitarian aid to deserving residents of impoverished third world nations, and said they represented only an insignificant portion of the almost $15 million in private money the committee spent on Salt Lake City's Olympic bid.
But that fiction was blown apart by a longtime IOC-member who described a systematic pattern of vote-buying in the Olympic site-selection process in which agents deliver blocks of votes and charge winning cities $3 million to $5 million. A special committee has been appointed by the IOC to study the Salt Lake City payments. The suggestion of bribery, said a former Salt Lake City Mayor “strikes at the credibility of the whole operation … It just besmirches the whole process.”
What had appeared to have been a fair vote for Salt Lake City was now tainted with the prospects of illegalities.
British novelist W. Somerset Maughham once wrote, “Hypocrisy is the most difficult and nerve-racking vice that any man can pursue; it needs an unceasing vigilance and a rare detachment of spirit. It cannot, like adultery or gluttony, be practiced at spare moments; it is a whole-time job.”
That describes the Jewish leaders who were opposing Jesus. By Matthew 23, the opposition to Jesus was in full swing. His enemies were out in the open and actively confronting him. They would not quit.
The severity of Jesus' judgment upon the Jewish hypocrites underscores the severity of their sin. The seven woes illustrate the details of their hypocritical ways. Their sin was a choice, and it was multifaceted and extensive.
As citizens of the kingdom of God, we must not only beware of the hypocrites in our midst, we must also guard against hypocrisy in our own lives. Righteousness begins in the inner person. Feed your mind, heart, and will with the truth of God's Word. It is the best deterrent to the sin of hypocrisy.
Sovereign Lord, make me aware of my hypocrisy and pride, convict me of these sins, and lead me to repentance and authentic faith and discipleship. Amen.
A. The Last Old Testament Martyr
The books of the Hebrew Old Testament are arranged in a different order than our English Bibles. Thus, Zechariah is the last martyr listed there (2 Chron. 24:20-22). Though the Zechariah murdered in the temple (Jehoiada's son) was a different Zechariah than the son of Berekiah (see Zech. 1:1), Matthew used a common Jewish method of combining multiple references with certain similarities as descriptive of the entire matter. Another possible explanation of the apparent confusion is to assume that Berekiah was the grandfather of Zechariah son of Jehoiada, and that Jesus referred to the grandson as the son, using the word “son” to mean “descendant,” as was commonly done in that day.
This chapter was the climax and culmination of the series of confrontations that appeared throughout Matthew and began in earnest in 21:23. Jesus' audience and Matthew's readers needed to understand the seriousness of the Jewish leaders' sin. Matthew was accounting for Israel's rejection of the Messiah, his judgment of the nation, and the disappearance of Israel from the prophetic map in the age to come.
Jesus indicated that Israel was to be judged to the point of desolation. The king was finished with the nation until they acknowledged him who “comes in the name of the Lord.” Israel would no longer carry the torch of his eternal truth to this world. That privilege was being passed to the church.
The final theme of judgment on Israel set the stage for the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24-25).
A. INTRODUCTION
B. COMMENTARY
C. CONCLUSION
