Matthew · chapter 23 of 28
Updated on
Matthew 23 records Jesus' sternest speech against religious hypocrisy. Addressing the crowd and his disciples, he warns against scribes and Pharisees who say and do not do, teaches that the greatest is the one who serves, pronounces a series of woes on them and ends with a lament over Jerusalem, which was unwilling to be gathered as a hen gathers her chicks.
After answering all the leaders' questions in chapter 22, Jesus now speaks about them. This chapter is the last great public discourse of Jesus before the Olivet Discourse, and it combines firm criticism with grief for Jerusalem.
Jesus speaks to the crowd and to his disciples. He says the scribes and Pharisees sit on the seat of Moses, so what they teach should be done, but not what they do, for they say and do not do. They tie heavy burdens on others, do their deeds to be seen, make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and love the places of honor and greetings in the marketplaces. Jesus asks his disciples not to be called rabbi, nor to call anyone on earth father, for they have one Teacher, the Christ, and one Father, who is in heaven. The greatest among them will be their servant, for whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Then he pronounces woes on the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees. They shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces and neither enter nor allow others to enter. They tithe mint, dill and cumin but neglect the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy and faithfulness; they strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. They clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence; they are like whitewashed tombs, beautiful outside but full of dead people's bones inside. They build the tombs of the prophets and say they would not have taken part in their death, yet they are sons of those who murdered them. Jesus announces that he will send prophets, wise men and scribes, whom they will kill and persecute, and that on that generation will come the righteous blood shed.
The chapter ends with Jesus' lament: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those sent to her, how often I would have gathered your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not. Their house is left to them desolate, and they will not see him again until they say: blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus says to do what the scribes and Pharisees teach, who sit on the seat of Moses, but not to imitate their works, because they say and do not do. It is a warning against the gap between what is preached and what is lived.
Jesus says the greatest among his disciples will be their servant, and that whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. It is the rule of the kingdom, opposite to the quest for honor of the leaders he criticizes.
Jesus criticizes that they tithe small herbs and neglect the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy and faithfulness. He does not cancel the details, but demands that they not replace what is essential.
Jesus laments with sorrow that he wanted to gather Jerusalem's children as a hen gathers her chicks, and they were not willing. Behind the harsh words is a love that grieves for those who reject him.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That what they say should be done, but not what they do, because they say and do not do. — Matthew 23:2-3
Answer: Their servant. — Matthew 23:11
Answer: Justice, mercy and faithfulness. — Matthew 23:23
Answer: Whitewashed tombs, beautiful outside but full of dead people's bones and uncleanness inside. — Matthew 23:27
Answer: A hen gathering her brood under her wings. — Matthew 23:37
Answer: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. — Matthew 23:39
These hard words are a warning for those who teach and lead, but also for every believer. In a small group you can ask in what area we live an appearance of faith, concerned about the respect of others, while neglecting mercy or justice.
The words of Jesus also reveal his heart. Even when he denounces, he weeps. Ask whether your way of correcting or speaking of others comes from a love that desires restoration, and ask the Lord to teach you to combine truth with compassion.
Matthew 23 leaves a contrast between religion of appearances and the kingdom of service, between judgment and the grieving love of Jesus. In chapter 24 Jesus leaves the temple and, on the Mount of Olives, tells his disciples about the future: the destruction of the temple and his coming.
No. Jesus speaks to his fellow Jews as one of them and criticizes a group of leaders for their hypocrisy. Other Pharisees, like Nicodemus, appear with sympathy in the Gospels. The text does not justify contempt for the Jewish people, and its tone is that of the prophets who denounce the sin of their own people.
They were small leather boxes containing texts of the law that some Jews tied to the forehead and arm when praying, following a command of the law literally. Jesus does not censure the practice itself but making them broad in order to attract attention and be seen by others.
Interpreters understand it in several ways: as a reference to Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, as a promise that one day they will acknowledge Jesus, or as a reference to his final coming. Many see here a call to receive the Messiah with faith, like the crowd that welcomed him.