Jesus’ condemnation of false teachers in today’s reading from the 23rd chapter of Matthew is among the strongest and most stinging of His comments in the Gospels. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.” Mt 23:27
What are we to make of these remarkably vivid passages? Let me digress for a moment to consider Jesus’ other instructions to us when correcting our fellow believers.
Let us be honest. It is always easier to see the speck in our brother’s eye than the beam in our own. This is an old and common human failing; I suppose it traces all the way back to original sin. We might categorize this failing under a variety of headings such as self-righteousness or gossip.
How to Provide Counsel
As the ultimate manual for living a God-centered life, the Bible contains many practical instructions on how to moderate this common failing. The most well-known is from a few chapters earlier in Matthew 18: 15-16 – “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go, and tell him about his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”
In 2 Corinthians 3:5-10 Paul mentions such a successful intervention. An individual sanctioned by the majority of the Church at Corinth has now repented. Paul counsels forgiveness and mercy for this person – “…so now you should forgive and console him, so that he may not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.”
In the preceding chapters of Matthew’s gospel leading up to Jesus’ string of condemnations in chapter 23, Jesus has been patiently debating the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus’ desire for everyone is always repentance and conversion. We know that many of the scribes and Pharisees who heard him did come to believe.
However, there was also a large group of Jewish religious leaders who had hardened their hearts and were deaf to Jesus’ entries. At last, Jesus resorts to His string of “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees…”
Jesus’ Model for Loving Counsel
At this point we might see, in similar situations in our lives, a license to unload and really rip into someone who is disputing with us. While it is important for us to take on the responsibility of correcting our brethren who are straying from correct behavior, we must always do so with extreme care and humility. Jesus did not lash out at the scribes and Pharisees through a sense of frustration or anger – as would tend to be the case for us. Jesus always acts out of love. His hope was that such strong condemnation might awaken something in His listeners and effect a change in their hearts. Remember, as Jesus hung from the cross mocked by this same group, His response was one of forgiveness and mercy.
We need to stand ready to defend our faith but should always strive to do so from Jesus’ perspective of Love.
