Frameworks:
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 23
(The
objective of these ‘Frameworks' is to provide an easy-to-read
layout of the text in order then to use these individual verses
for verse-by-verse study or meditation. To focus each
verse we have also added in italic a description of what is happening)
FRAMEWORKS:
Matthew, chapter 23
v.1-12
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
v.13-35
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
v.35-39
The Judgment that will come
v.1-12
A Warning Against Hypocrisy
v.1
(Jesus addresses
all in the vicinity) Then Jesus
said to the crowds and to his disciples:
v.2
(these religious
leaders purport to represent Moses) “The
teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.
v.3
(so do what
they say, not what they do) So
you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not
do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
v.4
(they dump loads
on people and don't help them) They
tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's
shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger
to move them.
v.5-7
(everything
they do is for show) “Everything
they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries
wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place
of honour at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues;
they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to
be called ‘Rabbi' by others.
v.8
(they like being
called teacher but you have only one teacher [God – implied])
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,'
for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers.
v.9
(similarly father)
And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,'
for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
v.10
(similarly instructor)
Nor are you to be called instructors,
for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.
v.11
(the greatest
here will be your servant The
greatest among you will be your servant.
v.12
(those who exalt
themselves will be brought down, and those who humble themselves
lifted up) For those who exalt
themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will
be exalted.
v.13-35
Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees
[Woe
1]
v.13
(Oh misery on
you religious leaders, you stop people entering the kingdom and
won't go in yourselves) “Woe
to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. You
yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are
trying to.
[Woe
2]
v.15
(similarly,
you go to great efforts to make a convert and then make life a
misery for them) “Woe to you,
teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel
over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded,
you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
[Woe
3]
v.16-22
(similarly,
you split hairs about oaths making them meaningless) “Woe
to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple,
it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple
is bound by that oath.' You blind fools! Which is greater: the
gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say,
‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who
swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.' You blind
men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift
sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it
and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears
by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by
heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.
[Woe
4]
v.23,24
(similarly you
worry about religious minutiae but miss the main points)
“ 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. You blind guides! You
strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
[Woe
5]
v.25
(similarly,
you worry about outer cleanliness but inside are filthy)
“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.
v.26
(worry about
the inside and then the outside won't matter) Blind
Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then
the outside also will be clean.
[Woe
6]
v.27
(similarly,
you look great on the outside but are putrid on the inside)
“ Woe to you, teachers of the law
and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,
which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full
of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
v.28
(outwardly you
look righteous but on the inside, yuck!) In
the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous
but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
[Woe
7]
v.29
(likewise you
build monuments to the prophets) “Woe
to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You
build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
v.30
(and declaim
ever harming them) 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.'
v.31
(but your hypocrisy
shows that's untrue) So you
testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those
who murdered the prophets.
v.32
(go on then,
keep doing what they did) Go
ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!
v.33 (you
will be condemned to destruction) “You
snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned
to hell?
v.34
(but as I send
more, you'll keep doing the same thing) Therefore
I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them
you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues
and pursue from town to town.
v.35-39
The Judgment that will come
v.35
(the blood is
on your head for all those righteous ones killed from beginning
to end of the Old Testament)
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.
v.36
(this will fall
on your generation) Truly I
tell you, all this will come on this generation.
v.37
(oh Jerusalem,
how I have often wanted to draw you to myself) “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, and you were not willing.
v.38
(but you are
left desolate [in the hands of these people]) Look,
your house is left to you desolate.
v.39
(you won't see
me until I come a second time) For
I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord.' [Psa 118:26]”