[The first two parts of this series discussed Why Jesus Appeared and the Sermon on the Mount. They may be read here and here. This third part discusses Matthew 23.]
Jesus’ appreciation of the Pharisees as given in the Sermon on the Mount is confirmed in Matthew 23. Matthew quotes Jesus as delivering a list of “woes to” directed at the Pharisees. Woe, the equivalent of a curse, means a condition of deep suffering. To wish woe on someone is extremely serious, especially in Jesus' time. This delineation of woes gives a still more precise understanding of the gravity of Jesus’ rejection of the Pharisees' ideas and leadership.
Jesus' discourse was given some time after the Sermon on the Mount. Pharisees were undoubtedly present. One can imagine their reaction as Jesus speaks to them point blank. First He gave some advice to the Israelites about the Pharisees’ hypocrisy.
“The scribes and Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men…” (Matthew 23: 1-5)
Then He addressed the Pharisees directly …
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Matthew 23:13-14)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15)
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?” (Matthew 23:16-17)
“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 faith…You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel.” (Matthew 23:23-24)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and rapacity.” (Matthew 23:25)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” (Matthew 23: 27-28)
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!...you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.” (Matthew 23:29-31)
“You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?” (Matthew 23:33)
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you!...Behold your house is forsaken and desolate.” (Matthew 23:37-38)
Jesus did not mince words. To review: He said of the Pharisees that they prevented people from going to heaven (!), that they turned recruits into children of hell (!), that they valued wealth over sincerity (!), that they neglected law, justice, mercy, and faith (!), that they were full of extortion and rapacity (!), that they were full of uncleanness, hypocrisy, and iniquity (!), and that they murdered the prophets (!). Finally He called them serpents, a brood of vipers.
It is important to remember that this is the Son of God who is speaking. He has characterized the leaders of those chosen to be priests to the world. For Jesus to declare such extreme curses, can only mean that God no longer has a use for this leadership. Jesus' exhortation constitutes an utter repudiation of the Pharisees, of their laws, actions, and behavior. Obviously He does not consider them qualified to be His priests.
The Pharisee's forsaken and desolate attitude toward their God-given mission became codified in the Talmud that was developed after Jesus' earthly lifetime. Indeed the basics of the Talmud already existed in the plethora of man-made Pharisee rules and 'laws', and Pharisees' interpretation of them.
Because Jesus’ message is love and compassion, it can be tempting to try to make excuses for the Pharisees, and to see them somewhat sympathetically as light-weights and of no consequence. Jesus did not look upon them in this manner at anytime during His ministry.
Jesus intransigence stems from His utter disappointment in these 'leaders' of God's chosen people. God gave them a commission that they altogether transformed into its very opposite and thereby denied. Thus when Jesus called them serpents, the reader should be fully cognizant of what Jesus means by serpents and by what they represent. His point of reference is the garden of eden and He meant that the Pharisees were of the devil. His judgement is final and complete.
[Part four of this series will discuss the tyranny of the Pharisees.]
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