A Whole Lotta Woes - A Reflection on Matthew 23:23-26

 



"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

If you ever wanted to see Jesus in Rocky mode, you just have to read the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. He just rips into the Pharisees, repeatedly calling them hypocrites and blind, and warning them — that’s the “woe to you” he keeps saying — that they would be in trouble if they didn’t change their ways. And the figures of speech he uses are jewels. “You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!!!” I really wish I had been there to hear him. I’d have enjoyed it.

Unless, of course, I was on the receiving end of the stick. But because I don’t want to be — and I am sure you don’t want to be either — it might help us to understand what really ticked him off about the Pharisees. Based on these seven “woes” there are seven things that upset Jesus about what they did. One, they were religious fakes. Jesus said they didn’t enter heaven, and they didn’t let others enter either. How did they do this? By claiming that the hundreds of laws they followed were gonna give them entrance into heaven. 

Two, they had selfish agendas. Jesus said they went through a lot of effort to convert people, but once they had become part of their flock, they corrupted them with false teachings. Three, they made bogus promises. Any vow made in the name of God is binding, but they made vows as per their convenience. This led Jesus to say: let your yes be yes and your no be no (see Matthew 5:37). Four, they were legalists. Instead of teaching people how to establish a relationship with God and walk with him, they led their followers into being self-righteous people.

Five, they wore masks. They focussed on external displays of piety, while inwardly they were very corrupt, full of greed and self-indulgence as we heard Jesus saying today. Six, they were spiritually contaminating. Through their outwardly appearance of holiness, they would attract weak willed people, and then take advantage of their vulnerability. Seven, they were hypocritical in what they did. They built monuments for the prophets of God but at the same time were the ones responsible for murdering them. They would eventually murder Jesus.

Now, just a little note before I conclude. Jesus wasn’t so harsh because he wanted to hurt the Pharisees. Rather, he wanted to shock them to their senses. This becomes clear when, at the end of his diatribe, he says almost sadly: “Oh, my dear people, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (see Matthew 23:37). They didn’t change. But if we ticked yes to any of these things Jesus accused the Pharisees of, I hope we change.

Otherwise, woe to us. 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here:  https://youtu.be/Zb6WCB3oMts


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