Matthew 23:13-14

"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. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation." After laying a firm foundation in Matthew 23:1-12 on the conduct of the Jewish leaders, Jesus now begins one of His most direct admonitions in all of Scripture. Now begins the "seven woes to the scribes and pharisees" that in contrast parallels the Beatitudes, commonly referred to as the most popular section of "The Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5:1-12). Matthew 23:13 begins a complete shift of focus in Christ's teaching. The audience has now changed and Jesus has transitioned from addressing His disciples and followers on the conduct of the scribes and pharisees and their subsequent response to submitting and obeying religious authority, to a piercing judgment specifically aimed at the ones who would inevitably crucify Him for his teachings rather than embrace Him as Messiah. In studying this particular passage, it is interesting that Jesus is not vindictive, spiteful nor angry, but rather judicial. He is exercising His authority as Messiah with compassionate condemnations for their conduct under the Law of Moses. Keep in mind He is not allowing His supreme knowledge of what the Jewish leaders will do to Him cloud His actions. His emotions are in check and He uses the law to convict them in their wicked ways, all the while knowing that this religious group will demand and execute His crucifixion in the days to come. For a moment, consider the context of Isaiah's prophesy with Christ's actions in this passage of Matthew's Gospel: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). Could you or I ever imagine to respond in truth and love to our executioners if we were unjustly condemned for a crime we never committed, knowing full well the hour and torturous method of our impending death and opening not our mouths in defense? I know that in my flesh I could not. But I am reassured because God's Word reminds me that He is in full control: "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). Jesus begins Matthew 23:13 by addressing the scribes and pharisees as "hypocrites." The 1599 Geneva Study Bible comments that "Christ, when he reproves any man sharply, uses this word to show us that there is nothing more detestable than hypocrisy and falsehood in religion." The scribes and pharisees used the law as a tool to shut others out in order to maintain religious control as "the" righteous authority and mask the covetousness within their hearts that Jesus exposes in verse 14. Note too the issue here is not that the law is flawed but that the Jewish leaders were using the law to drive people away from the kingdom of Heaven rather than toward it. Jesus stated very clearly, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:17). Therefore, His focus is completely on application of the law, for the truth is what sets us free (John 8:32) and will bridge the eternal gap between man and God. The 1599 Geneva Study Bible provides outstanding insight on verse 14 as well: "It is a common thing among hypocrites to abuse the pretence of zeal when in reality they are exercising covetousness and extortion. Literally, 'under a colour of long praying'; and the word 'and' signifies a double wickedness in them: the one, that they devoured widows goods: the other that they did it under a pretence of godliness." Therefore, when we step back and gain perspective on Matthew 23:14, it should not surprise us the incredible sins the Jewish leaders of His day were committing under the banner of religious authority and why Jesus judges their actions according to the very law they are presumed experts in. So how do we apply this warning that Jesus addressed to the scribes and pharisees and now sets before us? For me, the study note phrase "under a pretense of godliness" is a perfect starting point because it convicts so severely and addresses the sin Jesus is targeting. I know it is rather easy for me to preach the Word of God to others on how they should live and apply it to their lives, but incredibly difficult and humbling to live it out in my life under both public scrutiny with man and private judgment before God Almighty. I know I fall victim to this pattern daily and share in the apostle Paul's frustrations: "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (Romans 7:15). As with Paul though, I hold firm in faith and embrace the wisdom that the Holy Spirit spoke through him as he wrestled with this spiritual dilemma: "For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin" (Romans 7:22-25). May this absolute truth encourage you as well and bring us all to a greater understanding of God's amazing grace!