Matthew 23:23-38

²³ “Tragedy is coming to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the more important matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

²⁵ “Tragedy is coming to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, so that the outside also may be clean.

²⁷ “Tragedy is coming to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but on the side are full of dead people’s bones and all kinds of uncleanness.

²⁸ So you also appear righteous on the outside –to others, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹ “Tragedy is coming to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous ones,

³⁰ saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have joined them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’

³¹ Thus you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

³² Fill up, then, the measure of the works of your fathers.

³³ You snakes, you brood of vipers, how are you going to escape being sentenced to Gehenna?

³⁴ For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,

³⁵ so that upon you may come the guilt for all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.

³⁶ Honestly, I am telling you, all these things will come upon this generation.

³⁷ “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that is known for killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you would not!

³⁸ See, your house is left to you desolate.

³⁹ Because I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'”

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visually challenged guides

There is only one thing worse than blatant wicked living. That is hypocritical living. The Pharisees and scribes that Jesus condemned here were the religious super-elite. They were the heroes of Jesus’ day. But their commitment to God was all a show to impress others. Jesus was not impressed. This section of Matthew’s Gospel, which features predictions of the future predominantly, contains an entire chapter predicting God’s judgment upon the Pharisees and scribes. Hypocritical living is the opposite of righteous living, and it is so dangerous because it appears to be righteous living. People looking for a way out of their sinful lives were looking to these religious leaders for guidance. They were being guided straight to destruction in Gehenna. Their guides were visually challenged but they didn’t know it.

LORD, open our eyes to authentic righteous living according to your words. Keep us real so that those seeking you can find their way to you.