Introduction
Jesus confronts the religious leaders.
Verses
1Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples,
2saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sat on Moses’ seat.
3All things therefore whatever they tell you to observe, observe and do, but don’t do their works; for they say, and don’t do.
4For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.
5But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
6and love the place of honour at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
7the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’ by men.
8But don’t you be called ‘Rabbi,’ for one is your teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers.
9Call no man on the earth your father, for one is your Father, he who is in heaven.
10Neither be called masters, for one is your master, the Christ.
11But he who is greatest amongst you will be your servant.
13“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretence you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
14“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter.
15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehenna as yourselves.
16“Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’
17You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
18‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’
19You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
20He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.
23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.
25“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness.
26You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.
27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
28Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous,
30and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’
31Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.
32Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
33You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgement of Gehenna?
34Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city;
35that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar.
37“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!
38Behold, your house is left to you desolate.
39For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Questions
1. What does Jesus say is wrong with the Pharisees and scribes?
v 4 to 6 For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them. But they do all their works to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments and love the place of honour at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues,
2. What does Jesus say will happen to those who exalt and those who humble themselves?
v 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
3. What are the weightier matters that the scribes and Pharisees have neglected?
v 23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you ... have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. ...
Summary Points
- v 1 to 36 Jesus criticises the scribes and Pharisees. He points out that they:
- say but don't do (v 1 to 4)
- behave so that people will think they are superior to others (v 5 to 12)
- make long prayers but exploit widows (v 13)
- make great efforts to convert someone but make him as bad or worse than themselves (v 14 and 15)
- regard monetary values and keeping laws as more important than respecting God's principles of justice, mercy and faith (v 16 to 24)
- put on a show of goodness which hides their inner badness (v 25 to 28)
- are continuing the behaviour of their forbears who persecuted and killed those whom God had sent (v 29 to 36)
v 37 to 39 Jesus says he would have liked to save the people of Jerusalem from the coming desolation
Audio