Matthew 23:1-39--The Seven Woes and Jesus' Lament for the City of Jerusalem

​Matthew 23 English Standard Version (ESV)
LISTEN:  https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/esv/Matt.23

The Indictment Is Read
23:1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. 4 They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. 5 They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 6 and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. 8 But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

The Evidence Is Presented (The Seven Woes)
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. 

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 hell 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? 

The Verdict Is Read
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, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem
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.’”

---

First, let me say that this passage is going to be much longer than those we've looked at recently simply because almost the entire chapter is given to one one theme--presenting God's case against the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.  I took some liberties and added my own headings and split each "Woe" up so you could clearly see all seven of them.  I wanted you to be able to see that Jesus is the charging officer, the prosecutor and the judge here.  One other note is that I'm probably not going to break down all the "big words" this time, however I will provide you with links to www.biblegateway.com and www.blueletterbible.org which both have excellent FREE Bible dictionaries and study tools.  I feel better putting the resources in your hands to be independent learners than to make you dependent on me to tell you what something means (and these are usually the same resources I use as well).

Okay, with all that said, let's take a look at that charges.  It basically comes down to this.  The Pharisees have not learned the principle of servant leadership and lord their authority over the people and put heavy burdens on them all while not taking those same burdens on themselves and finding ways to exempt themselves all while wearing flashy clothes and making sure everyone knows how great and important they are and forgetting to live their lives in a way that brings glory and honor and praise to God.

Jesus summarizes this by going back to that same teaching He's trying to get into His disciples' heads before He goes to the cross--"The last will be first and the first will be last" and "The one who wants to be the greatest among you must be a servant to all" and "Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted."  All different ways of saying the same thing that God's kingdom does not work like the world's kingdom--in fact, it's very much the opposite.  You want to become important in God's kingdom?  Humble yourself and make His name great.  Want to become rich in the kingdom and have lots of treasure in heaven?  Sell everything you have and give it to the poor.  Want to experience blessings?  Suffer persecution and take up your cross daily.  This is not just a hard pill to swallow, but many people (including Jesus' own family) thought He was crazy for saying these things.

Jesus then lays out seven ways in which the Pharisees had been hypocrites.  Read them for yourselves and see if they don't describe some of the people that you know.  Do they describe you?  If so, this is God's warning to you that you need to turn away from these things quickly before judgement comes upon you for it will come.  Again, I'll let you read the evidence Jesus brought against them as I don't think it needs much explanation.

Even after all this and Jesus giving them the chance to repent, Jesus sees their hard hearts and pronounces judgement on them to say that they will not escape condemnation not only for their actions, but for the actions of all Israel past because they would have done exactly the same things if they were there.  Of course they would have tortured and persecuted and killed the prophets of God, because that's exactly what they are about to do to the Son of God Himself.

Finally, Jesus weeps as he pronounces judgement over all of Jerusalem--the capital city of the Jewish people and in a way representing all of the Jews.  Jesus weeps over the fact that they have killed the messengers of God over and over again and that He has tried time and time again to bring them to repentance and draw them close to Him like a mother hen that wants to keep her chicks safe and warm under her wings, but they were not willing.  Their kingdom they had built for themselves would be destroyed by the Romans and the temple itself would be destroyed in the process. Then Jesus says that His plan for Jerusalem is done until the time of His second coming when the people will once again shout "Hosanna!  Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord."  At that time, it will be too late and Jesus will be coming to set up the kingdom of our God here on this earth and will reign from the throne of David in Jerusalem.  If only they would repent and believe before that day of judgment comes, and it saddens Him that He knows so many will not.