The Seven Woes - Part 1

The Seven Woes - Part 1

Matthew 23:13-24

Introduction

Jesus continues His discourse to His disciples and the crowds, moving on now to specifically address the Pharisees and Scribes via the pronouncement of these seven woes. 

The idea of pronouncing a woe stands in contrast to that of a blessing.

Blessings are pronounced in Scripture to indicate approval. 

Woes are pronounced indicating disapproval, which provides a warning. 

Yet, just as a blessing is more than simply an approval, so is a woe more than disapproval and warning.

Dan Doriani writes, “” Like a piano chord played by one hand, a woe has three notes: grief, anger, and sorrow. When something evil happens, the woe both condemns and laments that evil. The woes call for judgment, yet they say there is time to repent. The judgment is almost, but not quite, here. Jesus’ woes call for judgment and repentance, even at the last moment. The woes are the last attempt to rouse sleepers to flee as a forest fire races toward a wooden house. It mingles doom and pity with one last call to repent.

As we will see following the woes, Jesus goes on to lament the peoples’ rejection of the prophets and ultimately Himself as The Prophet.

He expresses His heart’s desire to gather His people.

If they will listen and repent, He will receive them to Himself.

If they will not, judgment will come.

As strong as these words are against the religious leaders, Jesus speaks from a motivation of love, that they would repent.

Harsh words are sometimes necessary to awake those who are hardened in their hearts.

Just as a blunt diagnosis from a doctor can seem cold, such honest words are necessary for the patient to hear the weight of the condition.

Not only did the Scribes and Pharisees need to be awakened from their indifference and hardness of heart, even so the disciples of Jesus including us today need to hear these warnings ourselves.

We too, must be on guard against creating roadblocks to the Kingdom by having a zeal without knowledge. 

We must take care not to major on the minors so that we miss the weightier matters of the law, becoming blind guides who may lead others astray.

We must guard against hypocrisy in our own lives, that our actions don’t lead others into sin or bring dishonor to the name of our Savior.

II.First Woe (13)

Looking now at verse 13, we read, “” 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.

As we have noted already, each of these woes are against the scribes and Pharisees, whom Jesus calls “hypocrites” six times in this discourse.

We typically think of a hypocrite as one who plays a part - they preach but do not practice - to use the words of Jesus from verse 3.

This is an expression of someone who knowingly fakes their way through disingenuous living. 

Yet there is another type of hypocrisy - one who unknowingly does the same because they are convinced themselves that what they are doing is right (self-righteousness). 

That may seem like a fine line to draw, but Jesus addresses this in verse 15 when He says of their students, “”you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

They may have knowingly been hypocrites, but they were teaching others to unknowingly be the same.

You see, the Pharisees were creating roadblocks to the Kingdom of heaven.

The first way they do this is by shutting the door to the Kingdom in people’s faces.

Over time, these religious leaders took for granted the covenant nature of God’s relationship with them.

(1)Instead of seeing it all of grace, they began to think and teach that the relationship was synergistic.  

(2)God gave them His law whereby their attempting to keep it earned His favor.

(3)As long as they avoided the worst sins, they thought of themselves as righteous.  

Instead, Scripture teaches that the covenant relationship between God and His people is monergistic - it is all of grace.

(1)God not only gives His law in grace, He forgives our sins in grace and provides the means of grace whereby we may keep it.

(2)Through the sacrificial system He provided, He pointed to the atoning work that Christ would accomplish that their sins might be forgiven.

(3)Self-righteousness is ruled out completely!

Jesus goes on to say, “” For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 

The religious leaders were hypocrites in that they feigned a works righteousness, but also in that they would not admit or confess their sinfulness. 

They would not enter into repentance and by faith put their whole trust in God.

Even more specifically, they opposed the door to the Kingdom, for Jesus said, “” (Jn 10:9) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

It is by faith in Jesus that one may enter into the Kingdom of heaven.

But these Pharisees and scribes opposed Him at every turn.

(1)They thought they were right.

(2)But they were ignorant of the truth and opposed to it - they had zeal without knowledge.

Ultimately, they sought to destroy Jesus - a plan that is already being put into practice as He preaches these words just days before His death.

Jesus came preaching, “”Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.

The religious leaders refused to enter through repentance and faith and taught others the same fatal practice.

This was the first roadblock that Jesus calls out.

Before moving to the second “woe,” you may notice in your Bible (depending on the translation) that there is no verse 14.

The earliest manuscripts that we have do not have the words listed in verse 14 in some later manuscripts (e.g. KJV).

The words in question are: “…” who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.

These words are listed in another account from Mark 12:40 and do not present any question as to whether Jesus did say these.

It is just likely that Matthew did not record them here, so translators have omitted verse 14.

III.Second Woe (15)

In verse 15, we read the second woe, “” 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.

Again, Jesus calls them hypocrites for how they train their followers.

He says they will travel great distances to make even one proselyte - that is, they work hard at finding and training new students.

They are full of zeal or enthusiasm to do these things.

However, because their zeal is without knowledge of the truth, their students become twice as much as child of hell as these leaders.

The prophet Hosea spoke the word of the Lord, saying, “” (Hos 4:6) My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

He then goes on to say that they have forgotten His Law.

It wasn’t that they’d forgotten the entirety of the Law, for they sat on the seat of Moses.

Yet as we have seen, the omitted parts, added their own interpretations, and created loopholes through which they forsook the very Law they claimed to teach.

The result was that their students then were taught a perversion of the Law.

They then became even more zealous with an even greater lack of knowledge. 

Thinking they were right before God, and therefore safe, they deceived themselves and others.

And the result was that their students became taught hypocrites.

They learned the ways of hypocrisy and practiced them as righteousness in their own sight.

The leaders were doomed to judgment and their students became twice as doomed.

This isn’t to say it was hopeless for either. 

The call to faith and repentance remained. 

But this call to turn meant that each one had to set aside his own man-made religion for true faith in Christ alone.

In our own day, we witness those, even so-called Christians, who twist and misuse the Scriptures to call good evil and evil good.

They call true believers “fake Christians,” claiming that if we don’t accept their ways we are hateful and intolerant. 

They use the example of Jesus turning over tables in the temple courts as justification for their protests.

But like the pharisees of Jesus’ day, they deny the door Himself and deceive others from entering in.

They take Scripture out of context and use it to teach against the very truths of God’s Word concerning the sanctity of life, sexual perversions, unjust weights, a false understanding of love - to name only a few - all while being devoid of any Gospel truth of sin and the atonement Jesus has made that we may be forgiven.

We must be on guard in our own day against such false teachers, but also against falling prey to their manipulations.

Mark and avoid those who deny the deity of Christ, His substitutionary atonement, His virgin birth, and His call to holy living. 

And guard your own hearts from giving in to sinful sympathizing whereby you might call good evil, and evil good.

Additionally, mark and avoid those who add to the all-sufficient work of Christ, claiming that you must do certain things to earn your salvation, be it baptism, evangelism, church attendance, or giving money.

And guard your own hearts from giving into the self-righteous warmth of feelings that lead you to believe God is your debtor for the right things you do.

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone.

IV.Third Woe (16-22)

In the third woe that Jesus pronounces, He shows how the scribes and Pharisees misuse the Word of God to omit the heart of the Law - to love God and neighbor. Jesus says in verse 16, “” (16-22) 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.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 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.’ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Here, Jesus addresses the making of oaths by calling the religious leaders “blind guides” for how they twist Scripture.

The whole point of having a guide is to show you the way in which to go.

By calling them “blind guides,” Jesus is saying in essence, “You don’t know the way. How are you able to show others where to go?”

The practice in question is that of how the leaders taught that depending upon the object you swore by, you may or may not be bound to keep your word.

One could swear by the temple or by the alter, and the Pharisees claimed it was nothing.

But, they said, if one swore by the gold in the temple or the gift on the alter, then they were bound to keep their word.

Jesus undoes this foolish thinking by pointing out that all swearing is ultimately before God.

It is His temple, not the gold that makes it sacred. 

It is an offering unto Him, not the gift that makes it worthy. 

In other words, all our speech is before God, so we should always tell the truth.

As the psalmist says, “” (Ps 139:4) Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.

This is why Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “” (Mt 5:34–37) But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Very simply, we could look at the moral law of God in the ninth commandment, where we read, “” (Ex 20:16) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

We should not need to worry about the objects we swear by, but simply tell the truth.

We should not speak falsely about our neighbor, thus causing them harm.

Proverbs 12:22. Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight 

Ephesians 4:25. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another

This is how the heart of the law, which is love, is demonstrated in our speech - understanding that we are members one of another.

When we lie, we dishonor God and break His law to love Him with all our selves.

When we lie, we harm our neighbor and break God’s law to love others as we love ourselves. 

The law of love demands we speak the truth and use our speech to build up one another for the good of all and the glory of God.

The Pharisees had created these loopholes - claiming to be the teachers of Moses, while denying the very heart of the Law itself. 

Fourth Woe (23-24)

The seven woes are presented in formula that may not be obvious for us when we read them.

This poetic formula is known as a chiasm - a Hebrew literary device in which items are listed and then repeated in reverse order.

In using this, there is then a central line that is the theme or main point of he chiasm.

This structure can be seen as follows, borrowing from Doriani:

They fail to recognize God’s anointed, Jesus as the Messiah (the Door)

While zealous, they do more harm than good

They misuse Scripture, missing the heart of the issues

While focusing on trivia, they miss the weightier matters of the law

They improve their appearance but ignore the heart issues

While zealous, they do more harm than good

They are the heirs of those who failed to recognize God’s anointed (the prophets)

Taking this structure, we now come to the fourth woe in verses 23-24 that become the central theme of these warnings: “” 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. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! 

Again, Jesus calls them hypocrites for taking the law of the tithe and adding to it, thus missing the weightier matters of the law.

The command to give a tenth back to God is found in several passages in the OT.

The principle that comes from this is not giving a tenth of everything one owns, but giving a tenth from one’s income (grain, oil, livestock).

The religious leaders took this command and added to it, thus scraping a tenth of their herbs: mint, dill, and cumin.

The point of his using the herbs as the illustration is that they took the Law of God and then extrapolated it beyond its intended meaning. 

The giving of the tithe was not because God needed anything, as He said in Psalm 50, “” (Ps 50:10–12) For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.

Giving the tithe was a command to teach His people that He is their provider, that they might honor Him with grateful hearts and give cheerfully. 

Practically, these gifts went to the Levites and priests to provide for their needs, as their work was in the service of the Lord.

But the Pharisees scraped together a tenth of anything and everything they came across, so as to make God their debtor and to try to prove their righteousness to others.

Remember the words of Jesus from verse 5, “” They do all their deeds to be seen by others.

Their motivation was not the glory of God, but their own glory.

Yet in doing this, Jesus says they forgot all about the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. 

Leon Morris writes, “” It is fatally easy to be preoccupied with minutiae and to overlook what is important. That was the error of the Pharisees. Jesus does not find fault with them for what they did, but for what they left undone.

It is like those in our day who read their Bibles every day, attend church regularly, and may even evangelize - but they are unkind to their spouses and children, neglectful employees in the workplace, cheaters on their taxes, vile in their words, racist in their actions, or continual gossips among their friends. 

The Law of God is not simply in the dos: read your Bible, pray, attend church, give an offering, evangelize, etc…

All of these are good things which we ought to practice. 

But not to the neglect of the heart of His Law - to love Him with everything we are, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

It is summarized succinctly in Micah 6:8, He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? 

The pharisees neglected these things, and in doing so, they were like blind guides who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.

VI.Conclusion

This picture that Jesus uses is humorous.

The religious leaders sought to purify their wine so as not to become ceremonially unclean.

Gnats were considered unclean, and so straining out gnats in wine was another of their meticulous practices. 

But Jesus says that in doing their tedious acts, they missed the big things - the weightier matters - so it was as if they were straining out a tiny insect, only to drink down a huge camel.

The humorous picture is not to leave us laughing, but to sober us.

What are the tiny things that we are focused on to the detriment of missing the major things?

What practices do we engage in that make us feel righteous, while we omit loving God with all our hearts or loving others?

The hope of the Gospel for us as recovering Pharisees is that Jesus came not only to uphold the Law of God, but also to fulfill it.

He does this through His perfect life that He lived - the sinless Son of God.

And He satisfies our breaking of the Law - our overt sins and our neglect of the weightier matters - by dying in our place as the sinless Son of God.

We, by faith in Him, are washed clean and forgiven and made children of God - holy unto the Lord.

And by His Spirit that He has poured out upon us, we are now empowered to take to heart the weightier matters of Law that we might do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God!