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Answer
In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces seven “woes” on the religious leaders of His day. A “woe” is an exclamation of grief, similar to what is expressed by the word alas. By pronouncing woes, Jesus was prophesying judgment on the religious elite who were guilty of hypocrisy and various other sins.
The King James Version and some other translations list eight woes in Matthew 23, but older manuscripts leave out verse 14, in which the scribes and Pharisees are condemned for taking advantage of widows and making lengthy prayers for show. Elsewhere, Jesus speaks against those very sins «which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. », (Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47); most likely, however, Matthew did not include them among the other woes of chapter 23.
The seven woes are addressed to the teachers of the law and Pharisees; in one of the woes, He calls them “blind guides” «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! », (Matthew 23:16). At the end of His denunciations, He calls them “snakes” and “brood of vipers” (verse 33). Before Jesus’ condemnation of the religious hypocrites, they had been following Him to test Him and try to trick Him with questions about divorce «The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? », (Matthew 19:3), about His authority «And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, BBy what authority do you do these things? and who gave you this authority? », (Matthew 21:23), about paying taxes to Caesar «Tell us therefore, What do you think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? », (Matthew 22:17), about the resurrection (verse 23), and about the greatest commandment of the law (verse 36). Jesus prefaced His seven woes by explaining to the disciples that they should obey the teachings of the Jewish leaders—as they taught the law of God—but not to emulate their behavior because they did not practice what they preached «all therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do; but do not do according to their works: for they say, and do not. », (Matthew 23:3).
The first of Jesus’ seven woes condemned the scribes and Pharisees for keeping people out of the kingdom of heaven: “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” « But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, nor allow those who are entering to go in. », (Matthew 23:13). Jesus is the only Savior and the only way to heaven. In their rejection of Jesus Christ, the Pharisees were effectively refusing to enter the kingdom of heaven. They also hindered the common people from believing in Him, thereby blocking the way to heaven for others. Repentance and faith in Christ is the door of admission into this kingdom, and nothing could be more disagreeable to the Pharisees, who saw no need for repentance.
In their own lives, they attempted to justify themselves by strict adherence to the law.
In the second of the seven woes, Jesus condemned the leaders for teaching their converts the same hypocrisy that they themselves practiced. They led their converts into a religion of works, but not into true righteousness, making them “twice as much a child of hell” « For this people’s heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And should understand with their heart, And should be converted, and I should heal them. », (Matthew 13:15).
The third woe Jesus pronounced referred to the religious elite as “blind guides” and “blind fools” (Matthew 23:16-17). The hypocrites fancied themselves guides of the blind (see Romans 2:19), but they themselves were blind and therefore unfit to guide others. Their spiritual blindness caused them to be ignorant of many things, including the identity of the Messiah and the way of salvation. They were blind to the true meaning of Scripture and to their own sin. They purported to guide the people into the truth, but they were incapable of doing so because they had no personal knowledge of the truth. Instead of teaching spiritual truth, they preferred to quibble over irrelevant matters and find loopholes in the rules (Matthew 23:16-22).
The fourth of the seven woes called out the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy in the practice of tithing. They made a big deal of small things like tithing spices, while they ignored crucial matters. They diligently counted their mint leaves to give every tenth one to the temple, but they “neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness.” (Matthew 23:23).
ulness” « 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. », (Matthew 23:23). Turning to hyperbole, Jesus said, “You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” (verse 24). In other words, they were careful to avoid offense in minor things of little importance (straining gnats), while tolerating or committing great sins (swallowing camels).
In the fifth, sixth, and seventh woes, Jesus further illustrated the different aspects of hypocrisy that characterized the religious leaders. In the fifth woe, Jesus likened them to dishes that were scrupulously cleaned on the outside but left dirty inside. Their religious observances made them appear clean and virtuous, but inwardly their hearts were full of “greed and self-indulgence” «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. », (Matthew 23:25).
In the sixth woe, Jesus compared them to “whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean” «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. », (Matthew 23:27). The rotting corpse inside a tomb was like the hypocrisy and lawlessness in the hearts of the scribes and Pharisees. They appeared righteous on the outside, but they were just beautified tombs; inwardly, they were spiritually dead.
The hypocrisy Jesus addressedIn the seventh woe, Jesus addressed those who built monuments and adorned the tombs of the ancient prophets. He highlighted that these prophets were killed by the ancestors of the Pharisees themselves. The Pharisees believed they were superior to their forefathers, claiming, “If we had lived in our ancestors’ time, we would not have participated in killing the prophets” «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. », (Matthew 23:30). However, in making this statement, they admitted their lineage: Jesus affirmed they were truly their fathers’ children, inheriting their ancestors’ evil ways and continuing in their footsteps. Jesus discerned their malicious intentions, as they would soon conspire to kill Him «and consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. », (Matthew 26:4), just like their forefathers had murdered the righteous men of the past.
The seven woes in Matthew 23 served as severe admonitions to the religious leaders in Jesus’ time. They also stand as a cautionary message against religious hypocrisy in the present day. We are called to genuine piety, heartfelt love, and unwavering faith. Pretense, insincerity, and hypocrisy will inevitably lead to sorrow.
