Eight times in Matthew 23, Jesus is
quoted as saying, "Woe to you," to the Pharisees.In this passage, the Lord strongly condemned
the Pharisees for their hypocrisy, which He described in specific detail.These words were spoken as a testimony
against the Pharisees and as a warning to others at the time, and they are
preserved for our admonition today.If
any of us imitates the deeds of the Pharisees, then surely the Lord will also pronounce
woe upon us at the Judgment.Therefore,
let us heed the Lord's words lest we also fall into condemnation.
In Matthew 23:1-12, Jesus exposed the
Pharisees for practicing their religion to be noticed by men.He did not declare woe against them in these
verses, but rather He warned His hearers not to imitate their deeds.The Lord's warning here is similar to the one
He gave in Matthew 6:1-18, when He showed that those who practice religion to
be seen by men will have no reward from God.
The first woes given by Jesus against
the Pharisees addressed their corrupt religion.He said, "You shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not
enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in" (Matt.
23:13), and, "You travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when
he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves" (Matt.
23:15).The religion of the Pharisees
was especially detestable because it pulled others into their
condemnation.Indeed, any religion that
makes men worse for having it is detestable.Furthermore, the Pharisees made a pretense of righteousness while at the
same time they oppressed defenseless persons, such as widows, for their own
gain (Matt. 23:14).Their religion was
the opposite of that described by James, who wrote, "Pure and undefiled
religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and
widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (Jas.
2:17).
The next woe given by Jesus was for the
Pharisees' contrived system of swearing (Matt. 23:16-22).By their system, they only had to keep their
word if they swore on certain things.Any promises they made otherwise could be broken, and they did not
consider themselves to be obligated.Jesus rebuked them for this system of dishonesty and deceit and showed
that regardless of how they swore they were obligated by their word.Of course, the same standard applies to us,
for we also are obligated to keep our word.In fact, James wrote, "But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either
by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and
your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment" (Jas. 5:12).
Jesus also condemned the Pharisees for
their backwards priorities and neglect of God's law (Matt. 23:23-24).To demonstrate, He said that they were
careful to give tithes on even the least of things, but they "neglected the
weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness."In contrast, Jesus said that they should have
kept all of God's law without exception.This is an important lesson for us, for we also can overemphasize
certain issues while neglecting the weightier matters of the gospel, such as
love, purity, and compassion.Therefore,
let us keep all of the word of Christ with equal diligence for all matters.
The next two woes given by Jesus
concerned the Pharisees' superficial form of righteousness (Matt. 23:25-28).He compared them to cups and dishes that are
clean on the outside but are inwardly filthy.He also compared them to whitewashed tombs that appear beautiful
outwardly but are full of uncleanness inwardly.These comparisons applied to the Pharisees because they gave the
appearance of righteousness by their words, attire, and ceremonies, but their
hearts were filled with robbery, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, and
lawlessness.This invalid standard of
righteousness is insufficient for entrance into the kingdom of heaven (Matt.
5:20).If we follow their footsteps by
making a mere pretense of righteousness with nothing but eye-service, then we
will likewise be excluded from God's kingdom.
Lastly, the Lord declared woe upon the
Pharisees because they rejected and persecuted the messengers of God (Matt.
23:29-36).They claimed that they would
have accepted the Old Testament prophets rather than murdering them as their
fathers had done.In reality, they
shared their fathers' guilt, for they also mercilessly persecuted the
messengers of God, and they would even exceed their fathers by crucifying the
Son of God.Like the Pharisees, we also
want to identify with the righteous persons of the past, but the truth is
determined by our deeds.Do we accept
the word of God and those who preach it even when the message exposes our sins
and calls on us to repent?
To avoid the fate of those Pharisees who
did not repent, we need to heed the words of our Lord so that we may stand
justified before Him in the Judgment.It
would be a dreadful and terrifying experience to stand face to face with the
Lord and to hear Him say, "Woe to you!"Therefore, let us be certain that we have a genuine faith in Christ
Jesus and the righteousness that comes through His gospel (Rom. 1:16).Only then will be given entrance into the
kingdom of heaven.
