In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus really gets after the scribes and Pharisees, calling them out for their pretense and greed and lack of authenticity in the last of his public discourses. He continues an excoriating rant covering the entire 23rd chapter – a lecture we would hate to receive from a parent or a boss, much less the Lord of the universe. He calls them hypocrites no less than seven times!
Colorful Language
Jesus does not mince words. Here is a sample of His colorful language in Matthew Chapter 23:
● “They say and do not.”
● “They bind heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders but themselves will not move them with one of their fingers”
● “All their works they do to be seen of men; they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments”
● “They love the uppermost places at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.”
● “You shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither allow you them that are entering to go in.”
● “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore, you shall receive the greater condemnation.”
● “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel on sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”
● “You pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith”
● “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.”
● “You make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.”
● “You are like unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”
● “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
● “You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the judgment of hell?”
Warning
In what has been described as a “torrent of woes,” each time the Lord pronounces them hypocrites, he warns them with a “woe to you.” It has been said that these “woes” were not so much curses as “solemn, compassionate declarations of the misery which these stubborn sinners were bringing upon themselves” (Benson Bible Commentary). Another commentator observed, “Never was there more faithful dealing, more terrible reproof, more profound knowledge of the workings of hypocrisy, or more skill in detecting the concealments of sin.” (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible).
Theophylact of Ochrid wrote in the 12th century that the impact of these “blind guides” who prided themselves in their teaching and extensive knowledge was that “they were of benefit to no one, but rather, they corrupted every one and cast them into the pit of unbelief.”
Take Heed
God is compassionately warning us of the potential consequences of our own inner Pharisee and our human tendencies:
1. to be punctiliously exact in trifles;
2. to be fond of distinction and esteem;
3. to be content with external piety;
4. to entertain a high opinion of ourselves, and to be impatient of reproof;
5. to be harsh to others, and ready to impose on them what we do not observe ourselves.
Fr. George Haydock observes that these are “sins abundantly sufficient to rob us of every good, and to leave our house quite desolate!” St. Jerome, commenting in the fifth century, stated that “The greater of God’s commands we ‘swallow’ and overlook, but show our carelessness by a religious scrupulousness in little things which bring profit with them.”
Antidotes
So, what are the antidotes? St. John Chrysostom wrote that to lead them into what really is virtue, and to the purifyings of the soul, Christ makes mention of mercy, judgment and faith and teaches that what purifies the soul is justice, love to man, and truth, which in turn incline us to pardon and not be excessively severe and unforgiving, and to sympathize with those who are spitefully treated, but not to allow them to be deceitful and crafty.
Let us take care, then, to keep an eye on our inner Pharisee and purify it as often as possible with all of the tools God has given us.
