Hypocrisy and Servanthood
Matthew 23Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in Moses’ chair. Therefore y’all must carefully do everything they tell you. But y’all must not do what they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy, grievous burdens and lay them on the shoulders of humans, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. But they do all their deeds to be seen by humans. They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels of their garments long. They love the place of honor at banquets, the best seats in the synagogues, public greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by the humans. But y’all are not to be called ‘Rabbi’, for y’all have one teacher, the Christ, and all y’all are siblings. Y’all are not to call anyone on the earth ‘father,’ for y’all have one Father, ʜᴇ who is in heaven. Neither are y’all to be called guides, for y’all have one guide, the Christ. But the greatest among y’all will be y’all’s deacon. For whoever exalts themself will be humbled, and whoever humbles themself will be exalted.
Seven Woes
“Woe to y’all, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Y’all keep shutting humans out of the Empire of Heaven. For y’all do not enter it, but neither to do allow others to enter. +23:13 Some manuscripts include verse 14 as verse 13, with words similar to Mark 12:40 and Luke 20:47.
Woe to y’all, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For y’all travel around by sea and land to make a single convert, and when they become one, y’all make them twice as much a child of Hell as y’all are.
“Woe to y’all blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’ Blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift on the altar is bound by the oath.’ Blind again! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it.
“Woe to y’all, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For y’all give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin. But y’all have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. Y’all should have done these things, without neglecting the others. Blind guides! Y’all strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel!
“Woe to y’all, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For y’all clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First you must clean the inside of the cup and the dish, so that its outside may become clean also.
“Woe to y’all, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For y’all are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inwardly are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, y’all outwardly appear to humans as righteous, but inwardly y’all are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
“Woe to y’all, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For y’all build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, and y’all say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we wouldn’t have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore y’all testify against yourself* that y’all are children of those who murdered the prophets. So then, y’all should fill up the measure of y’all’s ancestors. Snakes! Brood of vipers! How will y’all escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, I am sending y’all prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them y’all will kill and crucify; and some of them y’all will flog in your* synagogues and persecute from city to city, so that upon y’all will come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom y’all murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I tell y’all, all these things will come upon this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but y’all were not willing! Look, your* house is left desolate to y’all. For I tell y’all, y’all will not see me from now until y’all say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord [YHWH]!’”+Psa 118:26