13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.1 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell2 as yourselves.
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah,3 whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, 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.’”
Section Overview
A refrain dominates Matthew 23:13–39. Seven times Jesus cries, “Woe to you . . .” Six times the woe is identical: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Another set of “woes” with similar content and phrasing is found in Luke 11:37–54. The phrase “Woe to you” comes first from an ancient song from the conquest (Num. 21:29), then from the prophets (Jer. 13:27; 48:46; Ezek. 16:23; Amos 5:18; Zeph. 2:5). Scholars debate whether the woes of Luke are original, with Matthew adapting and relocating them for thematic reasons, or if the reverse is true. But the woes fit perfectly in both settings. They are different enough to suggest that they are independent versions of a theme that Jesus, as peripatetic preacher, sensibly addresses more than once.
Matthew 23 poses significant challenges for interpreters. First, they must define the essential terms woe and hypocrite. Second, they must assess the connection between the audiences of Jesus, Matthew, and contemporary readers.
First, a woe is a warning and a rebuke. It both condemns evil and laments it. It expresses righteous anger toward sin and grief or sorrow over its consequences, including impending judgment. The woe says God will judge, and yet there is time to avert judgment. God will relent if the hypocrite repents.384 Concerning hypocrite, it is imperative to distinguish Jesus’ usage from English usage. In casual English, a hypocrite can be someone who says one thing but does another. All hypocrites are inconsistent, but not all inconsistent people are hypocrites. Humans are inconsistent due to weakness, fear, or forgetfulness. In careful English usage, a hypocrite deliberately deceives, especially on moral or religious matters. The hypocrite tries to deceive or mislead while pursuing nefarious goals. Hypocrite has a somewhat different sense in the Gospels. While scribes and Pharisees385 may occasionally be guilty of deliberate deceit, they seem rather to fool themselves first and others as a result. They are, if one may say it this way, sincere hypocrites. Their religious activity is too rigorous to charge them with playacting. Jesus says they travel sea and land to make one proselyte (v. 15) and tithe marginally useful weeds (v. 23). They even fast twice a week (Luke 18:12). Unfortunately, their converts are children of hell (Matt. 23:15).
Interpreters must navigate the passage’s five audiences. Jesus has a triple audience as he speaks: scribes and Pharisees, crowds, and disciples. That trio is distinct from Matthew’s original audience, and contemporary readers are different still. It seems that the redemptive-historical and cultural gaps between the original audiences and later readers of the canon are wider than usual in chapter 23.
In reference to the three original audiences, we can observe that verse 1 says that Jesus speaks “to the crowds and to his disciples” (v. 1), yet later verses say he addresses scribes and Pharisees: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (vv. 13, 15, 23). This is no contradiction. He speaks to crowds, to disciples, and to any scribes or Pharisees who happen to be present. The scribes and Pharisees need Jesus’ stiff warnings. His scorching language could possibly disrupt their self-righteous complacency. Indeed, some scribes and Pharisees do listen and repent (John 3:1; 19:39; Acts 15:5). The crowds need Jesus’ warnings because they revere scribes for their knowledge of the law and Pharisees for their practices of supposed obedience. Adoration of the wrong hero can be deadly, and Jesus tries to crush his generation’s reverence for false leaders. The warnings related to the superficial obedience of scribes and Pharisees continue Jesus’ insistence that a disciple’s service flows from the heart (Matt. 5:8, 28; 6:21; 12:34; 13:15; 15:8, 18–19; 18:35; 22:37).
If, as the introduction argues, Matthew’s first readers were primary Jewish Christians, they needed chapter 23 too. They still knew and perhaps reflexively admired rabbis who largely construed faithfulness in legal terms. Generations of training are not easily erased.
But the hermeneutical challenge is greatest for contemporary teachers and readers. Neither have much connection with the Pharisees. One could argue that there is hardly anyone alive with much in common with them. The resulting danger is twofold. Casual readers dismiss texts that seem far from them, while teachers may see links that do not exist and so falsely condemn the wrong group.
A true disciple of Jesus cannot, by definition, be fully guilty of Pharisaic hypocrisy. No one living today holds precisely the same views as the Pharisees did. No one has witnessed the life of Jesus and rejected it, as they did. Genuine believers, further, do not make their proselytes into children of hell. The Pharisees were proud and legalistic at the core (Luke 18:9–14); Jesus’ followers trust him (Matt. 9:28; 18:3–4; 21:22). Still, the woes have a secondary application to disciples who play the hypocrite, even if it is against their nature. As Paul says in Galatians 2:11–14, Peter fell into hypocrisy for a while. Because everyone is inconsistent, everyone needs Matthew 23. And yet, since no disciple is a full-blown hypocrite, today’s expositor must beware of scorching the faithful unjustly.
Returning to that moment, however, we see that Jesus fulfilling the role of prophet and judge (Ezek. 3:16–21). The seven woes warn the scribes and Pharisees of their impending judgment and invite them to repent.386
Section Outline
VII.D. Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees (23:1–39) . . .
2. Seven Woes on the Scribes and Pharisees (23:13–36)
3. Mourning Israel’s Rebellion (23:37–39)
There is no consensus on the outline of the seven woes, but Donald Hagner’s analysis plausibly notices that the sevenfold woe points to “fullness of corruption.” He sees three pairs of woes followed by a seventh climactic word. The first and second describe how scribes and Pharisees harm their own devotees, shutting them out of the kingdom (23:13) and “bringing condemnation” to them (cf. v. 15). The third and fourth condemn their teaching for missing the point of oaths (vv. 16–22) and for “letting minutiae eclipse” what matters most (cf. vv. 23–24). The fifth and sixth describe Pharisaic externalism. Scribes let their quest for external cleanness obscure the need for inner cleanness (cf. vv. 25–26) and let “outer piety hide inner uncleanness” (cf. vv. 27–28). The scribes’ seventh and crowning sin is their “rejection of God’s messengers” (cf. vv. 29–36).387 The passage concludes with an invitation to repentance (vv. 37–39).
Response
Readers may wonder why “this generation” should be responsible for “all the righteous blood” (23:35–36), since the martyrs’ blood flowed in many cities over many centuries. A hint appears in Revelation, which often develops themes from Matthew. In Revelation 17:1–6, John sees the harlot of Babylon “drunk with the blood” of saints and martyrs (Rev. 17:6). Later, after Babylon falls, John sees in her the “blood of prophets and of saints” (Rev. 18:24). Thus both Jerusalem and Babylon are accountable for all martyrs’ blood. This is valid since there is a hidden solidarity among all God’s foes. Similarly, Revelation 11 is a vision of the bodies of God’s witnesses lying in “the great city, which is [figuratively] called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified” (Rev. 11:8 AT).
Thus Babylon, Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem are all guilty of the death of Jesus and his witnesses. We can see why. Jerusalem, at its worst, signifies false religion. Egypt, at worst, embodies brutal and oppressive government. Babylon and Sodom, at worst, represent the idols of wealth and sensuality. Jerusalem, Egypt, and Babylon all oppose true religion. False religion, brutal government, and materialism stand united against Jesus and his agents. Because they would slay God himself if they could, and do slay God’s spokesmen when they can, they deserve judgment. The church must respect its leaders, but it cannot forget the Bible’s almost innumerable warnings about false religious leaders. They cannot “escape being sentenced to hell” (Matt. 23:33). In Scripture, individuals are responsible for their decisions, and there is a corporate solidarity that leads groups to face judgment together (Joshua 7).
The scribes and Pharisees, like all rebels, must repent and bless Jesus or else face God’s judgment. All flesh will see Jesus when he comes “in his kingdom” “with his angels [and] in the glory of the Father” (Matt. 16:27–28). On that day, all will call him “Lord” (Phil. 2:9–11), some trembling before their Judge and others greeting their beloved Savior (Matt. 24:50–51; 25:21–30, 46). Jesus speaks roughly to Pharisees, calling them snakes, sons of hell, hypocrites, and more in order to shake them from their compound blindness. They are blind and do not know it (John 9:40–41). Sometimes one must state hard truths in hard terms. This is an act of love if the goal is to rouse spiritual sleepers from impending doom.
We noted that no genuine disciple can be a full-blown hypocrite. Yet Matthew 23 does address disciples (23:1), so we evidently need to hear about hypocrisy. Hypocrites act to be seen (6:5, 16) or honored (6:2, 5, 16; 23:6–7; Luke 11:43). They go to great lengths to follow certain commands, possibly trivial and possibly to bad effect (Matt. 23:23; Luke 13:10–17). By contrast, the disciple does not care if anyone watches or not. His public and private practices are one, for he lives for an audience of One. He treats children, peers, and superiors the same way. Hypocrites pray at set times, to be seen. Disciples pray through the day, privately, for one ear, not many. May all who teach the Word act in the same spirit.