NOTES for Mat 23:13-39
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. |
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. |
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. |
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! |
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? |
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. |
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? |
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. |
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. |
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. |
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. |
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. |
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. |
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. |
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. |
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. |
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye 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. |
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. |
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. |
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? |
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: |
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. |
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. |
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! |
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. |
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. |
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The most terrible thing is that the higher a person's calling, the more tragic and painful his falling away, his unbelief, becomes. The Pharisees were religious teachers of God's people, guardians of tradition, law, and Scripture. Jerusalem is "the city of the great King," but it is precisely there that Christ dies. The Jews are the chosen people, "God's own," yet "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him."
We Christians are also a people chosen by God, children of Abraham by faith, guardians of the Gospel Tradition. Therefore we too walk along the edge of the abyss; we too are in the risk group. At any moment our piety can turn into hypocrisy, conviction in faith into a sense of our own rightness, respect for traditions into legalism. How can we avoid "the leaven of the Pharisees" and still remain God's people? How can we preserve faithfulness to the Gospel without losing Christ?
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Readings for 2 October 2025
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