201 Matthew 23 Lovingly Denouncing Hypocrites

In Matthew 23 Jesus exposes these church leaders for who they really are by using some very harsh words, calling them hypocrites, blind guides, whitewashed tombs, snakes, and sons of vipers. However, it is essential that we understand the tone of Jesus voice. As he concludes he reveals his heart. He is like a mother hen wanting to save her chicks from the coming destruction. He is calling out to the church leaders to change their ways so a great destruction can be avoided. But not they took no heed to His warning and history tells us that within 40 years Rome came and destroyed the city and the temple and many, many people

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Matthew 23 NLT Lovingly Denouncing Hypocrites

Jesus’ graphic denouncing of hypocritical leaders seems so out of place with the Sermon on the Mount such as “do not resist and evil person” (Matthew 5:39). While this injunction refers to the physical resistance of evil it does not exclude verbal resistance which Jesus offered from time to time. However, the tenor of this denunciation seems out of character for Jesus.

Bruce Marchiano, who played Jesus in the Matthew Movie, agonized over Jesus’ body language as he indicted the religious leaders in this chapter. He eventually concluded that Jesus had tears in his eyes and pathos in his voice as he played this scene. This movie used the Gospel of Matthew as the script. Here is part of Marchiano’s description of what happened when filming this confrontation.

“Jesus is again saying some very heavy stuff—probably the harshest things we have record of Him saying, calling these Pharisees everything from snakes to dead men’s bones. It kind of makes “Woe to Korazin” look like a tea party. How could I accurately speak, as the ever-compassionate Jesus, words that appeared so downright vicious and hate-filled? How does a guy lovingly call someone a snake? It was well beyond me, so again I did the only thing I could think to do: pray.

Boy, did I pray. I stood on the edge of the set, my back to the hundreds that were milling about, sweat dripping off my nose, gazing over the expanse of Cape Town below, begging the Lord to rescue the situation one more time. “I don’t know what to do, Lord! I can’t even remember the words! I need You to take over! Oh! Dear God. Make me a puppet on your strings!”

I have no idea how long I prayed—it felt like forever—and if I wasn’t exhausted going into that prayer, I was knocked out coming out of it. Eventually, though, Diana, the first assistant director, gingerly approached, “We’re ready to try one, Bruce.” I took a final swallow of water and ascended the granite steps to my first position.

We would back into the previous speech and overlap into the Woes. A blanket of silence dropped over the set, I mumbled one last desperate plea heavenward, and Regardt called, “Action!”

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” The Pharisees turned away and I followed, cutting through the multitudes and emerging at the top; of the steps, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!”

Somewhere shortly beyond those opening lines, something happened that I’m at a loss to adequately explain. I remember the Pharisees turning their backs on me, and the only way I can describe what happened next is to say it was like getting hit from behind by a huge wave.

You know how when you’re swimming at the ocean and that happens? You get hit by a wave you weren’t expecting or weren’t ready for, and suddenly you’re caught helplessly in the whitewater, tumbling and not knowing which end is up, reaching for the surface, clawing for air. Then finally you’re washed onto the shore and you can breathe, and you look around and realize where you are, and everything is finally okay.

That is the only way I can think to describe the experience, and it was to such an extent I hadn’t the slightest idea of anything I was doing or saying or even where I was. All I know is that suddenly I was onmy knees, alone, and crying my eyes out. I remember feeling so emotionally naked in front of all those people—I could barely move, and it was all so awful.

I looked up and there was Kevin, “John the Beloved,” standing a distance away, frozen and staring with the most strained expression. I remember feeling so broken and needing someone desperately, so I lifted a hand to him as if to say, Help me. It was a completely unscripted moment. He didn’t move for the longest time, then finally came and held me and took me away. Neither of us realized it. But the cameras were still rolling, capturing the entire exchange.

Kevin took me off the set and I just cried, heartbroken beyond heartbreak, and not knowing why. Regardt came and told me I’d done the entire scene—this scene whose words I couldn’t remember and couldn’t figure out how to act. It was all over—the “Woes” were in the can.

What happened that day on the set is so humbling, so remarkably tender. Watching it for the first time in the editing room with Regardt, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’d broken in so deep a place, it pained me to sit through it.

The Lord wasn’t spitting fire at these guys—He was loving them. His rage was not a self-righteous “Now you’ve had it!” It was the rage one experiences watching someone he loves walk out the door. It was a rage born of a broken heart. It was His last-ditch effort to gain them—desperately holding a mirror to their faces, passionately heart crying for them, having done everything He could to make them see and understand, “I am He! And I love you! Don’t do what you’re doing! Come to Me!”

Bruce Marchiano, In the Footsteps of Jesus, 161-163

We now look at the text.

Jesus Grieves over the Religious Leaders

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2 “The teachers of religious law and

the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. 3 So practice and obey

whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what

they teach. 4 They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a

finger to ease the burden.

While the body language of Jesus as he confronts the religious leaders is not recorded

Marchiano has given a suggestion of what it could have been. Body language makes all the difference to the communicator’s intent. There can be gravel in the voice or tears in the eyes of the communicator. The last few verses of this chapter confirm there were tears in Jesus’ eyes as he spoke these words

5 “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with

Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.

6 And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. 7 They love to receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi.’8 “Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.

9 And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father. 10 And don’t let anyone call you ‘Teacher,’ for you have only one teacher, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you must be a servant. 12 But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

The context of verse 9 is doing things and saying things as a pretence (vs 5). We often refer to people by their position. We address a judge with “My Lord.” We address pastors with “Dominee” or “Pastor” or “Reverend” and so on. We refer to physicians as Doctors. I called my male ancestor, “Father.” I called my teachers “Sir” or “Miss.” There are many other appellations we could cite.

The point Jesus was making was to recognize pretenders and not pander to their arrogance. At the same time, he wants us to recognize valuable people and learn from them. We generally do not learn from people we do not respect.

So the context here brings some balance. If I really respect a person I might say, you are my “father.” I have had younger people call me their father out of respect. A Catholic Priest who is a blessing in the community can be called father out of respect for his love and care for people. We know come to the reflection of the beatitudes. Instead of the 8 “blessed” or “happy” we have 8 “what sorrows” await these hypocrites.

13 “What sorrow (1) awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

Some manuscripts add verse 14,

What sorrow (2) awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! You

shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, you will be severely punished.

Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47 add this verse.

15 “What sorrow (3) awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are.

Hell is a place of suffering and frustration. There are organizations, even religious ones, which create hell for all associated with it. Often it is because the members are living a lie. Pretending to be something they know they are not.

16 “Blind guides! What sorrow (4) awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ 17 Blind fools! Which is more important, the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. 19 How blind! For which is more important, the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. 21 Andwhen you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.

23 “What sorrow (5) awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. 24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel![h]

25 “What sorrow (6) awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish,[i] and then the outside will become clean, too.

27 “What sorrow (7) awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.

29 “What sorrow (8) awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. 30 Then you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have joined them in killing the prophets.’

31 “But in saying that, you testify against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead and finish what your ancestors

started. 33 Snakes! Sons of vipers! How will you escape the judgment of hell?

Mark 12 adds.

40 Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be more severely punished.”

34 “Therefore, I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers of religious law. But you will kill some by crucifixion, and you will flog others with whips in your synagogues, chasing them from city to city. 35 As a result, you will be held responsible for the murder of all godly people of all time—from the murder of righteous Abel to the murder of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you killed in the Temple between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, this judgment will fall on this very generation.

The judgment that fell on the nation in this generation was the destruction of the temple and the city. This came upon them because they had adopted the modus operandi of the devil who was a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). If they had turned to Jesus their attitudes to the Romans would have changed and the city and temple would have been saved.

Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem

37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. 39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

This cry of anguish by the lover of every person on the planet reveals the heart of Jesus and thus the heart of God. Jesus had been warning the leaders of the certain consequences of their hypocrisy but they could not hear the warning for their hatred of the messenger who threatened their hypocrisy. It is the last 3 verses which reveal the heart of God for leaders in this chapter. This reminds one of Hosea 11:8-9.

“Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?

How can I let you go?

How can I destroy you like Admah

or demolish you like Zeboiim?

My heart is torn within me,

and my compassion overflows.

9 No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.

I will not completely destroy Israel,

for I am God and not a mere mortal.

I am the Holy One living among you,

and I will not come to destroy.

This is another revelation of the heart of God for his suffering children. There is no desire for destruction for them but the awful knowledge that if they do not repent terrible consequences will come upon them.

Ian Hartley, July 2022