For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

 

 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

- Matthew 23:27–39 

 

On Wednesday we began reading Christ's final public sermon, an indictment of the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees.  In yesterday's reading, He continued that sermon, saying,  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  Here is Christ's vivid description of a hypocrisy that masks behavior that leads to death, not life.  

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation." My study Bible suggests that the reference to Zechariah (as in Luke 11:51) may refer to the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), while there is another opinion it may refer to the father of St. John the Baptist, who, according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.  

 

 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"   My study Bible comments that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of His people, yet most do not want Him.  The desolate house refers both to the temple and to the nation itself, for "house" can be used to mean "family" or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19). Both the temple and the nation will be without God's presence once Christ departs.  Noteworthy here is the feminine, loving, protective motherly image Christ gives for Himself as a hen who seeks to gather her chicks under her wings.  

 

 Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  In this image of the whitewashed tombs Jesus describes, we discover what we may look at as an illustration of what is called "the two ways."  These are the way of life and the way of death.  The two ways are specifically laid out for the people by God in the Book of Jeremiah, in which the prophet Jeremiah is instructed as follows, "Now you shall say to this people, 'Thus says the Lord: "Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death'" (Jeremiah 21:8).  In Jesus' preaching, we are taught about the two ways in the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus teaches, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13).  My study Bible tells us that the description of the two ways was widespread in Judaism (Deuteronomy 30:15-20; Psalm 1; Proverbs 4:18-19, 12:28, 15:21; Sirach 15:17), and also in early Christian writings (Didache, Barnabas).  In the struggle for the better way of the narrow gate, we as human beings wrestle against sin and human weakness in addition to spiritual forces of evil (Ephesians 6:12).  These varied forces and influences define the external focus of the religious leaders whom Jesus criticizes, who are like whitewashed tombs.  They are careful to appear to the world as pious and upholding religious law and doctrine, but their inner lives follow another way.  Hence Jesus' description, that all this beauty of the whitewash hides not only the sins done against others for gain (even "dead men's bones" that may allude to the prophets murdered by those in whose footsteps these men follow), but also their own neglect of their souls.  In Jesus words, they will "fill up the measure" of their "fathers' guilt."  Their hypocrisy, then, is a "way of death," another bad road leading to a bad end.  Jesus prophesies of those whom He will send out in the world:  "Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city."  But this bad road of hypocrisy in which, despite their words to the contrary, they follow the priests who stoned and killed the prophets before them, will lead to a particular end.  Jesus tells them, " . . . that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  Those dead men's bones, and all uncleanness therefore includes not only the state of their souls in their turning from the love of God but also the sins of their ancestors whose ways they follow.  This is what it means that He calls them "sons of those who murdered the prophets."  We have to recall the repeated warnings to Israel by the prophets, constantly calling the people back to God, and persecuted and rebuked, even murdered, by those holding these responsible positions.  Jesus says to them that all this will come down upon this particular generation.  We must note that this passage ends with Christ's great, sad, and loving lament over Jerusalem, and her repeated refusal of the Lord's prophets who have been sent to her.  The Lord's "motherly" lament over His lost children echoes and expands upon David's mournful weeping over the loss of his rebellious son Absalom, and the transcendent love of the father for his lost son in Christ's parable of the Prodigal (2 Samuel 18:33; Luke 15:32).  Once again, we need to remind ourselves that these words of Jesus are not meant to simply teach us about the past, but to warn us about our own paths in life.  We are given grace to help us follow His light, to find His way of life for us (John 8:12).  I once spoke to a modern psychotherapist who put it this way; he said, "You're either going the right way or the wrong way."  In Christian terms, we follow the light or we don't.  To follow the light, as grace makes possible for us, is to find our lives in Him and where He leads.  To refuse is to find ourselves in darkness.  And this is what repentance is for, to come back to the way of life.  For He always awaits and calls us back.

 

 

 

Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

- Matthew 23:13–26 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all of their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teacher; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  for which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  My study Bible comments on this passage that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  So, therefore, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  My study Bible comments that the warnings in this passage (and several verses that will follow in tomorrow's reading) are especially important to Orthodox Christians. Certainly they apply to many other Christian denominations as well.  It notes that the Church has maintained the ancient practice of tithing ("these you ought to have done"); sacred vessels ("you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish"); holy rites; and following the tradition handed down from fathers of the Church.  These practices, it says, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ, or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.  Regarding "strain out of gnat and swallow a camel," my study Bible explains that the Pharisees would attach strainers to the mouths of decanters in order to avoid accidentally consuming a ritually unclean substance.  

 

The scrupulosity of the Pharisees is well-illustrated in Christ's scathing criticism that they "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel."   It shows for us a clear emphasis on the details of observed piety, while the inner life and the fruits of the love of God are neglected.  In another memorable phrasing, Jesus says, "For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith."  As my study Bible comments, we always run the risk of placing all our emphasis on externals and forget the power of faith, that inner life of the love of God.  Once again, we return to our reading from Tuesday, in which Jesus, in response to the Pharisees' questioning, set out the first two great commandments, upon which "hang all the Law and the Prophets."  The first commanded a total love of God, with all the heart, and soul, and mind.  The second was like it, to love neighbor as oneself.  The second flows from the first.  With their emphasis on external piety and position, on their appearance and place and rank with others, they have forgotten to first "cleanse the inside of the cup" so that the outside may be clean also.  This is once again a reference to the inner life, and the pure hearts Jesus asks us to work for, as our first work of faith (Matthew 5:8).  That is, heart and soul and mind dedicated to love of God.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus repeatedly emphasizes the inner life, and our care for it, so that the love of God can produce its fruits and grow in us throughout our lives.  But a hypocritical focus on externals is what He condemns here in the practice of the Pharisees.  As my study Bible points out, all of these things and the traditions of the Church are meant as expressions of our faith, working to help us to shore up that faith within us, and to practice our faith and make it strong, to help us to express that love of God.  But it is a hypocritical focus only on the externals that is the source of the problem here, that is emphasized in Jesus' pronouncement of "woe" to these leaders.  Jesus calls them "blind guides" for they can't see what's in front of their eyes, nor can they sense what they lack in terms of their own faith and the fruits of the love of God.  Again, as my study Bible says, these warnings are not just for Christ's particular place and time, but they are always words in effect for all of us, so that we focus on our lives and the practice of our faith.  In modern times, our lives are seemingly governed by image and images, which are fantastically expanded and distorted through social media.  We need more than ever an understanding of what it is to cultivate a purity in heart and an internal, wholistic love of God which bears fruit in the growth of the soul and in love -- and not simply a reliance on slogans, movements, fashion, or to be seen by others.  As the celebration of Christ's Nativity approaches, let's remember where all the meaning comes from, and focus on cleansing the inside of the cup as He asks.    

 

 

 

 

But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 

 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all of their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teacher; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

- Matthew 23:1–12 

 

Yesterday we read that when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."  While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, "What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?"  They said to Him, "The Son of David."  He said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool"'?  If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his Son?" And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him any more.  

 

 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying . . .  Here begins Jesus' final public sermon (which makes up nearly the whole of chapter 23).  It is a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees.  There are several themes He involves.  My study Bible sums them up as follows:  First, the Jewish leaders have God-given authority and teach God's Law, but they are personally ungodly and cold-hearted.  So their teaching is to be honored, but they are not to be imitated.  Second, God is our true Father and Teacher.  A teacher or father on earth is one who leads people to God.  The scribes and Pharisees do the opposite, placing themselves in God's position.  These themes are covered in today's reading.  The rest of the chapter will cover an eightfold indictment of the scribes and Pharisees, in which Jesus charges that they invert God's values, they are mean-spirited, judgmental, greedy, ambitious, absorbed in externals, and they are blindly self-righteous.  My study Bible adds that while these charges were directed against the Jewish leaders of Christ's day, every word applies to those in the Church who behave in the same ways.

 

 "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers."  To sit in Moses' seat, my study Bible explains, means to hold the succession of office down from Moses himself.  In the synagogue, the teacher spoke while seated as a sign of this authority . My study Bible cites St. John Chrysostom's commentary, in which he said that the scribes were depraved in thought and in heart, yet Jesus still upholds the dignity of their office, as they don't speak their own words, but God's.  So also within the Church, clergy are to be shown respect for they hold the apostolic office, although they are also sinners.  Moreover, the sins of the clergy do not relieve the people from their resonsibilities before God.  Let us note here the cold-heartedness Jesus describes of those who bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders -- and yet will do nothing to help in the slightest.   This is in distinct contradiction to Christ's teaching in yesterday's reading (above), in which He cited the second greatest commandment as that in which we're told to "love your neighbor as yourself."

 

"But all of their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'"  Phylacteries are small leather pouches which contain passages of Scripture and are worn on the arm or forehead.  The concept is to keep God's Law always in mind (see Exodus 13:9).  But instead the Pharisees used them for a false show of piety, making them increasingly larger and more noticeable.  

 

 "But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teacher; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." My study Bible says that Christ's warning against calling hypocrites father and teacher is not meant as an absolute prohibition against using these terms (as some teach).  These terms are applied to people many times in the New Testament, and all of these usages are inspired by God.  "Teacher" is used in John 3:10; Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11; and 2 Timothy 1:11.  "Father" is used in Luke 16:24; 1 Corinthians 4:15; and Colossians 3:21.  From the earliest days of the Church, bishops and presbyters have been called "father" not in order to take the place of God, but rather for their fatherly care of their flocks:  they lead people to God, and exercise fatherly authority within the community. 

 

Jesus teaches in today's reading, "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  This is one of several occasions in which we read similar statements or teachings in the Bible.  See also, for example, Luke 14:11, 18:14; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 18:4, 23:11. There are many other occasions of such sentiment found in the Bible but using different language.  But in this context, this statement is given regarding use of the terms "father" and "teacher."  Jesus' statement is telling the disciples (and their spiritual descendants), who would come to be both "teachers" and "fathers" in the Church that they are not to be like the hypocrites.  This statement by Jesus suggests to us that if any of us, or if anyone in the Church, wishes to be thought of as teacher or father (or perhaps mother as well), then the only way to do this is to be a servant to others and to humble oneself.  It is in this way that teachers and fathers come to be exalted in the Church.  Oftentimes, we call such people saints, both literally and figuratively.  To be both humble and to serve is a way to curb the tendency to hypocrisy, as such discipline is counter to the goal of doing good works for the express purpose of simply being seen by others.  Human nature such as it is makes it difficult to both be concerned with serving others and also to tamper our desire to be seen as doing good.  The real emphasis here is on one's chosen aim or profession.  Do we really desire to teach?  Do we truly deeply desire to care for others with a "fatherly" (or motherly) care?  Or is our highest priority to be praised by others and to judge ourselves only through their eyes, rather than the eyes of God?  Every parent likely knows the dilemma of being a good parent -- and so sometimes having to say "No," imposing rules, and delineating boundaries, and wanting a child's love without their disappointment or disapproval.  Ultimately -- again, as in the teaching of the two greatest commandments in yesterday's reading (above) -- our highest priority needs to be loving and pleasing God, for in this way we do seek to be true teachers and fathers (and good parents, for that matter).  For this is where we go to be dedicated to truly learning love and goodness, what really serves, and what truly teaches.  There our desire can be met with God's care for our goals, and for the disposition of our souls.  Hypocrisy, living as an actor behind a mask (a literal understanding of the word's Greek roots) prevents us from assuming the humility necessary for sincerity, for the pure heart Jesus desires for us (Matthew 5:8).  A good teacher, just like a good father or mother, has for their primary concern the welfare of those under their care, and their first priority is not their own gain, well-being, or capacity to impress and lord it over others.  We are blessed in the Church to have a long history of many teachers, and many fathers, notably among those whom we call saints, but a myriad more whom we don't know.  Ultimately, as Jesus indicates, we have one true Teacher (the Christ) and one true Father (He who is in heaven).  We might call Christ the Teacher of all teachers, and God the  Father is the Father of all fathers.  But through humility and love we can learn to grow in likeness to them.  Let us start with Christ's first and greatest commandment, the love of God, and how love of neighbor (the second great commandment) can be expressed through all the teachers, fathers, and mothers of the Church.  Let us strive to become like them. 

 

 

See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

- Matthew 23:27-39 

 

We are currently reading Jesus' final public sermon, which makes up St. Matthew's chapter 23.  It is Christ's grand critique of the scribes and Pharisees, and their hypocritical practices.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets."  Once again, as in the "woes" listed in yesterday's reading, Jesus continues to elaborate regarding the false practices of the Pharisees and scribes.  He condemns not the what was given from Moses, nor the authority from God ("The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat" - see Monday's reading).  Rather, Jesus is criticizing their personal, hypocritical behavior, which undermines what has been given by God, scandalizes the public, and as He said in yesterday's reading (above), renders their proselytes "twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."  Jesus has taught His disciples to do what they say (for their teachings come from God), but not what they do.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus focused -- as He has so often in His own teachings to His disciples -- on the inner life of these people.  He taught, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  In today's reading, He continues this train of thought, saying that they are like "whitewashed tombs," meaning that this whitewash covers up their inner and private lives, where they are full of death and "all uncleanness."  They outwardly appear righteous to men (as "all their works they do to be seen by men"), but inside they are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Moreover, here Christ declares that these religious leaders are truly the spiritual children of those who killed the prophets sent in Israel's past.  They are hypocrites in that they build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, but in their practice they follow in the footsteps of their spiritual fathers who murdered the prophets.  Jesus goes so far as to tell them they are witnesses against themselves that they are the same. 

 

"Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."   Jesus is here not simply equating the scribes and Pharisees' behavior with those who killed the prophets of the past, but saying that these leaders will inherit the measure of their fathers' guilt.  He prophesies that they will continue to do so with the prophets, wise men, and scribes which He will send, and He prophesies also that they will scourge and prosecute His followers of the future -- "that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  My study Bible comments that in some patristic teachings this Zechariah is identified as the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), while others say it's a reference to the father of St. John the Baptist.  According to tradition, Zechariah the father of St. John the Baptist was also murdered in the temple.  

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  My study Bible comments here that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of God's people, but most do not want God.  The desolate house, it says, refers both to the temple and to the nation itself, as "house" can be used to mean "family" or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19).  Both the temple and the nation, it notes, will be without God's presence once Christ departs. 

Here Jesus makes it clear that He believes there is no turning back for this generation of religious leaders, and in our following reading from chapter 24, He will make it clear that the destruction that results from the measure of guilt He names above will also have extraordinary consequences reaching into the future.  In fact, Christ's exposition on "end times" will be tied to the destruction that will come in Jerusalem to which He alludes at the end of today's reading.  But here, even in light of Jesus' prophesy of destruction to come ("See! Your house is left to you desolate"), it is worth revisiting the commentary of my study Bible on the verses we read yesterday.  In the Church we have inherited many ancient practices from the earliest Christians such as tithing (which Christ mentioned in yesterday's reading in connection with the scribes and Pharisees), sacred vessels, and holy rites.  As my study Bible put it, "These practices can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ, or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation."  So, taking this commentary once again together with Christ's even stronger words in today's reading, in which He not only condemns but also expresses the consequences to come into the future, we need to understand that we could be, in effect, those whose fate in some sense follows the fate of the scribes and Pharisees.  If we also devolve into the kinds of hypocrisy that are possible for us -- through corruption, abuse of power, a lack of real faith, and a foundational shift toward the practice of doing nominally "good things" only for the sake of appearances -- then we also may find ourselves in the same place as the scribes and Pharisees of Christ's time.  Sincere faith is as important today (and perhaps even more important today) as it ever was at any time.  We live in a world of tremendously powerful weapons and economies, of great wealth and power side by side with those of small countries whose fates may be sealed tomorrow by the corrupt and powerful.  Our technology is capable of all kinds of things unimaginable a few decades ago.  The powerful nations of the world operate on a global scale unavailable to even the Roman Empire of Christ's time or any other later empire.  Therefore, when we read these passages in our Bible, we do ourselves a great disservice if we do not take them all to heart and apply them to ourselves today.  For we can't forget, also, that regardless of what we see, or the common belief that material appearance is all there is to life, that we as faithful must take the teaching seriously that we live as part of a creation of things both seen and unseen.  The spiritual reality we neglect today has consequences for us tomorrow; and, just like the people whom Jesus names who could not consider anything beyond their own material power for their own gain, we can't necessarily predict what those consequences are.  Regardless of material capability, or technology, or vast wealth, it remains an illusion to believe that everything can be controlled absolutely by the human will.  And we lose tremendously, as indeed did the rulers in Jerusalem, when we forget St. Paul's teaching, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  The only way to continue that true spiritual struggle is by putting on "the whole armor of God."  St. Paul writes, "Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:14-18).  For when we stop the true practice of our faith, the world is left open to such influences whose reflection we see in great injustices, mass violence and murder, corruption and inhumane exploitation such as we might not even be able to consider.  In St. Luke's Gospel, Jesus teaches a parable that "men [people] always ought to pray and not lose heart."  But He asks, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (see Luke 18:1-8).  Whatever else we may do to try to address the problems we see and experience in our world, it is ultimately the power of prayer that Jesus emphasizes as necessary and powerful.  The only way we make such prayer effective is by remembering His words condemning hypocrisy and corruption, living and doing only to be "seen" by others while our private and internal lives reveal death.  Christ speaks so that we may be aware of such mistakes, but how blind may we become when we dismiss them and the possibility that our own "house" may be left desolate thereby?  So much may depend upon how seriously we take His words to these men, and apply them to ourselves.  

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

- Matthew 23:13-26 

 

In our current reading, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and it is Holy Week.  Yesterday we began reading Matthew's chapter 23, which constitutes Jesus' final public sermon, an indictment of the hypocritical practices of the scribes and Pharisees.  Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells on it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  My study Bible comments on this passage that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding God as well.  So, therefore, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).  Here, Jesus calls these leaders "blind guides."

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  My study Bible comments that the warnings here (a passage which will be continued in tomorrow's reading) are especially important for Orthodox Christians.  The Church has maintained ancient practices of tithing (these you ought to have done); sacred vessels; holy rites; and following the tradition handed down from the Patristic era.  These practices, it notes, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ -- or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.  "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"  My study Bible explains this comment as referring to a practice in which the Pharisees would attach strainers to the mouths of decanters in order to avoid accidentally consuming a ritually unclean substance.

 

 The practices of the Church can clearly be used for good or for ill, depending upon how they are used.  If we are truly seeking God, and a deeper communion with God, they are used to build, strengthen, deepen, and shore up our faith, giving us a "recharge" when we need it, and helping to remind us of Christ's presence always at hand.  Additionally, within the ancient practices of the Church such as the veneration of saints, we are assured that we are a part of a communion that is both visible and invisible to us, "a great cloud of witnesses" that is not barred by time, nor place, nor death, but lives -- For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.  So, therefore, this final public sermon by Christ serves us all in the Church by reminding us of what is important, and how badly even the things blessed and given by God can be misused and corrupted because of hearts that are far from God.  It is a hard thing to write, but it is unfortunately true, and Christ's words are given to us in order for us to be clearly and concisely aware of just what bad things can happen even within a God-given institution.  For, if we are blind to the potential for corruption in our world, then we are no longer the intelligent sheep which Christ asks us to be.  In the history of the Church, we are given repeated Councils naming specific heresies for the same purpose -- so that we are aware of false and misleading teachings, the things which can lead us astray.  We do not want to become blind followers of the blind (Matthew 15:14).  No doubt that Christ has given us in today's reading these scathing criticisms and specific instructions as to conduct in order to protect us against this.  He tells the apostles as they are sent out on their first mission, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16).  We are taught to be discerning and wise, as each one of us -- as St. Paul reminds us -- is a temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).  We seek not the "wisdom of this age," which is easily persuaded by crafted appearances, manipulation, word-play, and coercive power, but rather that in which we can trust; that is, allegiance not to personalities, but to the One who laid down His life for us (1 Corinthians 3:18-23).  As St. Paul's language suggests in this latter citation, let us be "fools for Christ" that we may be wise to the world, to the hypocrisy Jesus names here, false leaders who would mislead and make us stumble.  For Christ's insight remains true:  to follow down a false path makes one "twice the son of hell" as the bad teacher.  Jesus has a remedy for this, offered when He teaches, "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  We start with the "inside," which Christ teaches us to cleanse.  As always, repentance and humility remain the weapons of endurance and vigilance.  Let us remember continually where and to whom our hearts belong, and the wisdom Christ wants for us always!

 

And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted

 

 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

- Matthew 23:1–12 

 

In our current readings, it is Holy Week in Jerusalem.  Jesus has made His Triumphal Entry into the holy city.  He has cleansed the temple.  He has been quizzed by the religious leaders as to His authority to do so.  He has verbally sparred with the religious leaders, teaching parables against them.  The Pharisees have sought to entrap Him in a question regarding paying taxes to Caesar, which He has skillfully answered in a way to teach.  On Saturday, we read that on that same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, saying:  "Teacher, Moses said to that if a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.  Now there were with us seven brothers.  The first died after he had married, and having no offspring, left his wife to his brother.  Likewise the second also, and the third, even to the seventh.  Last of all the woman died also.  Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be?  For they all had her."  Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God.  For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven.  But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?  God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."  And when the multitudes heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.  But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.  Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?"  Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets."

 

  Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do."  Here Jesus begins His final public sermon, which is a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees.  There are various themes to this sermon, which comprises the whole of chapter 23 of St. Matthew's Gospel, and constitutes an eight-fold indictment of their works.  We begin here, where Jesus notes that they have God-given authority and teach God's law, but personally they are ungodly and cold-hearted.  To sit in Moses' seat means to hold the succession of office down from Moses himself.  In the synagogue, my study Bible explains, the teacher spoke while seated as a sign of such authority.  According to St. John Chrysostom, my study Bible says, the scribes were depraved in thought and in heart, but Jesus still upholds the dignity of their office -- for they speak God's word and not their own.  Like wise in the Church, my study Bible notes, the clergy are to be shown respect because they hold the apostolic office, although they also are sinners.  Moreover, the sins of the clergy do not relieve the people from their responsibilities before God.  

"For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.' "  My study Bible explains that phylacteries are small leather pouches which contain passages of Scripture, and are worn on the arm of the forehead.  The purpose is to keep God's Law always in mind (see Exodus 13:9).  But here Jesus expresses the idea that they have been instead used as a show of false piety, as the Pharisees made them increasingly larger and more noticeable.  In the ways described here, Jesus elaborates on the theme that while their teaching and authority comes from God, these are to be honored -- but their own behavior is not to be imitated.  

"But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  My study Bible notes that Christ's warnings against calling hypocrites father and teacher is not an absolute prohibition against using these terms (some teach this is so).  These terms are applied many times in the New Testament, all of which usages are inspired by God.  "Teacher" is used in John 3:10; Acts 13:1; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11; and 2 Timothy 1:11.  "Father" is used in Luke 16:24; 1 Corinthians 4:15; and Colossians 3:21.  Since the earliest days of the Church, it notes, bishops and presbyters have been called "father" not because they take the place of God, but because in their fatherly care for their flocks, they lead people to God, and they exercise fatherly authority within the community.  Additionally, my study Bible comments on this passage that God is our true Father and Teacher.  On earth, therefore, a "teacher" or "father" is one who leads people to God.  The scribes and Pharisees do the contrary. Through their self-righteousness and hypocrisy, they put themselves in God's position. 

It is worth taking a closer look at Christ's final words in today's reading,  These teachings have a heightened importance to us because they reflect something that Jesus has repeatedly sought to teach the disciples throughout His ministry.  He has tried to emphasize to them that their leadership in His Church must be suffused with the notion of service and humility.  They are chosen not to be self-righteous, and not to be hypocrites like the Pharisees and scribes of Christ's time.  The emphasis here is on humility first of all, recognizing who they are and how they must all relate to one another in the Church (echoing the teaching on the first and second great commandments in Saturday's reading, above).  First is the One:  the Teacher, the Christ; and second, they are all brethren.  One is our Father, and this Father is in heaven.  "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."   Each time the disciples began to question Christ about what their own positions of "greatness" would be in His kingdom, He corrected them with teachings about how they are to care for the "little ones" of the Church.  See the whole of Matthew 18, and also Matthew 20:20-28.   He has repeatedly warned all His disciples against self-righteousness, noting the importance of personal change, casting aside the habits and patterns of behavior to which we cling that are in fact harmful to others, especially the "little ones," those of lesser stature, the humble in the Church.  See Matthew 5:20-42; 18:8-9.  These issues arise once again here, as Jesus seeks to contrast the behavior He teaches to them with the hypocritical behavior of the scribes and Pharisees.  Like those who sit in Moses' seat, the disciples will also be given a mantle of authority which will be extended to their successors, and they will teach what Christ has given them, building and extending, transfiguring the teachings in the Torah as revealed through Him.  In this sense, Jesus' teachings regarding the scribes and Pharisees here in chapter 23 will all apply within the Church.  Those who are to be His followers, even those who will be called teacher or father (or mother), must also be held to a higher standard.  In fact, we all need to be on guard about self-righteousness; we all need to understand the powerful remedy that humility is for all things.  For it is there that we remember our true Teacher and Father, and our need to follow in faith and adhere to Christ's word.  For we are all brethren, as He teaches.  Jesus says, "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant," echoing earlier teachings.  Then He adds, "And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  This is the sin of making oneself a "god," to take the place of God.  It is what the kings and rulers of the ancient world would do; it is the ways in which pagan worship would often work.  In this vein, let us not neglect Jesus' key statement regarding a necessary element for hypocrisy:  "But all their works they do to be seen by men."  However, we must always be mindful that it is God who sees us.  In a time when so many seem to think we can structure reality through media of all kinds, through a screen that reflects the image we project and demands we think only of what others see about us, let us not forget this.  Jesus brings us a reality, a picture of the true structure of Creation, and the love that constitutes and makes it all.  This is a true picture of who we are, how we are called, and how indeed we find ourselves.

 

 

 

 

Your house is left to you desolate

 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  

 

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. 

 

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones  those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

- Matthew 23:27-39 

 

In our current readings, it is Holy Week, and Jesus has been disputing in the temple with the religious leaders, who question His authority.  On Wednesday, the readings gave us the beginning of Christ's final public sermon, an eight-fold indictment of the practices of the scribes and Pharisees.  Yesterday, we read the next part of that sermon:  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!   Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also." 

 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  Jesus continues His sermon in the same theme from yesterday's reading (above), the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees.  Here He describes that state of their hypocrisy as being akin to whitewashed tombs.  In this context of hypocrisy and lawlessness we should remember that the earliest teachings of the apostles included the teaching of the two ways:  the way of life and the way of death (see the Didache).  This tradition was also found in Judaism, and so would be familiar to Christ's hearers in the temple.  Surely the association with tombs and dead men's bones and all uncleanness would indicate the way of death.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets."  Again, here are more associations of their hypocrisy with death, but this time the accusation is one of continuation in the way of the murderers of God's servants, the prophets, those who bear the word of God into the world.   

 

 "Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."  Jesus speaks directly to the scribes and Pharisees as those who continue in the ways of the ones who killed the prophets, but this time it is  a prophecy of persecution of those who will come in the name of Christ, and also a prophecy of what is to come upon this generation.  Some teach that Zechariah, son of Berechiah was the prophet at the time of Joash the king (2 Chronicles 24:20-22), but others, including Fr. Stephen De Young, say it refers to the father of St. John the Baptist, who, according to tradition, was also murdered in the temple.  When Jesus uses the epithet, "Serpents, brood of vipers!"  He's using images of demons, and so is associating the behaviors of the scribes and Pharisees, and those whom He's calling their fathers, with the work of evil.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones  those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"  My study Bible comments here that God's deepest desire is the reconciliation of God's people, yet most do not want Him.  This desolate house Christ describes is a reference both to the temple and also to the nation itself.  My study Bible points out that "house" can be used to mean "family" or "tribe" (see Psalms 115:12, 135:19).  It says that both the temple and the nation will be without God's presence once Christ departs.

Jesus' words in today's reading are so serious that they should give everyone pause.  What He says is the depth to which we may hold responsibility for actions that may be politically motivated, but that in effect harm the prophets of God.  There is a powerful thread of bearing responsibility for our failure to recognize the consequences of what we do when we act against the power of God, against the Holy Spirit.  Prophets come into the world as those who do not fit easily into a social construct or way of thinking.  They are those who call those in authority, or the practices of a whole society, back to God when they have strayed and practice that which is not acceptable in the sight of God.  Of course, the responsibility for such practices also depends upon the extent to which such people should "know better," their spiritual understanding and education.  But in this case, in this great indictment of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus is speaking to people who are steeped in the entirety of Jewish spiritual tradition and in the Scriptures.  He is speaking to those who not only know the prophets, but also claim, "If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets."  They are entirely familiar with the activity of the Holy Spirit throughout the spiritual history of Israel, and so, their rejection of Christ carries with it the responsibility for the denial of what they see in His ministry.  This is an extremely powerful example for ourselves today, because we have our own knowledge of the power of God, the Holy Spirit, the ministry of Christ, and of all the saints that have come in His name since.  We are aware of what our teachings tell us about compassion and faith in God, and about holiness itself.  These are things that this passage calls upon us to take seriously, especially in terms of our own blindness to them when they may be present to us in our own lives.  For we all bear not simply a responsibility for our spiritual capacity to hear and see such things, but also our lives are blighted by such blindness and deafness.  There are ways in which we are diminished and lessened, even when we are blind to spiritual truth.  For, possibly like these men to whom Jesus directs His criticism in Matthew's chapter 23, when we do feel the effects of our own rejection of holiness in our midst, it might be in a way that has eluded our awareness -- a course that may be too late to change.  Even the destruction of Jerusalem and its terrible violence would seem on material terms to simply be part of the force of Roman might and military.  But Christ here connects that outcome with the long line of rejection of God's work, and more to come that He foresees.  Let us be alert to what God seeks for us to see and to hear today.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

 

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.  

 

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!   Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."

 

- Matthew 23:13-26 

 

In our current readings, it is Holy Week, and Jesus is in the temple in Jerusalem, disputing with the religious leadership.  Yesterday we began to read Christ's final public sermon, which is a grand critique of the scribes and Pharisees and their practices.  Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying:  "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat.  Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.  For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen by men.  They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.  They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'  But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.  And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

  "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."  My study Bible comments here that because the example of a leader can be so influential, leaders who do not love God can hinder others from finding Him as well.  Therefore, leaders are held to a higher standard (James 3:1).   Note that Jesus says they make their proselytes "twice a son of hell as yourselves."  What this indicates is that the further along a path we go in error, the greater the error grows.  It gives us a sense of the importance of correction, and the urgency of correction.  

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?  And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'  Fools and blind!  For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?  Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.  He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  Here Christ gives an example that betrays the lack of focus on God of these religious leaders.  Instead their focus is on the gold of the altar, and not the power of God which sanctifies the gold.  A sense of the sacramental, then, is missing from their image of the temple in the first place -- that it is Him who dwells in it that gives everything its meaning and its substance.  It shows quite a materialist perspective which makes them fools and blind.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith.  These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!   Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  My study Bible comments here (and on the next few verses that follow in the next reading) that these warnings are especially important to Orthodox Christians.  (My study Bible is the Orthodox Study Bible.)   It notes that the Church has maintained these ancient practices ("These you ought to have done") of tithing; sacred vessels; holy rites; and following the tradition handed down from Church Father and Mothers.  These practices, it continues, can be expressions of deep faith, lead a person to deeper commitment to God, and safeguard our life in Christ -- or they can be observed without ever taking them to heart and lead to condemnation.  "Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!"  This refers to the practice of the Pharisees of attaching strainers to the mouths of decanters, so that one would avoid accidentally swallowing anything ritually unclean.

 

 Let us consider today the problem of hypocrisy in leadership, and particularly in religious leadership. For this is what Christ's great focus is on in this final public sermon, His critique of the scribes and Pharisees.  In the words of my study Bible, this sermon is an "eightfold indictment," in which He charges them with "inverting God's values and with being mean-spirited, judgmental, greedy, ambitious, absorbed in externals, and blindly self-righteous."    It goes on to note that, while these charges were directed against the Jewish leaders of the day, each word applies equally to those in the Church who behave in this way.  Hypocrisy is a hindrance to the very mission of any religious leader, because -- to paraphrase Christ's words -- hypocritical practices shut up the kingdom of heaven against people, and those in religious authority neither go in themselves, nor do they allow those who are entering to go in.  Hypocrisy, which we can observe in scandals of the Church, actually teaches such practices to others -- whether we are speaking of forms of abuse (sexual or otherwise) or corruption of a financial nature.  It not only "cancels" spiritual teaching by works that are against the teaching, it also teaches profound error and sin in practice which others then follow.  When one is preaching the gospel of love, the gospel of compassion, and then behaving in ways which are hurtful or cruel, what does that teach people, especially subordinates in a hierarchy?  Moreover, it scandalizes the people of the flock who follow in order to be uplifted and to gain strength in their faith.  If a religious leader shows by his or her actions that they don't really believe what they preach, then it subverts the message, overturns the gospel, and teaches others to be disrespectful of Christ's teachings.  Effectively, such a person in their selfish orientation means a religious authority may "travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."    Jesus says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."  He uses a reference to the practices of ritual cleanliness to refer figuratively to personal corruption:  this is why we seek to know and cleanse the heart, to "cut off" forms of sin from ourselves (Matthew 5:28-30; 18:8-9), so that we cleanse the inside of the "cup and dish" of ourselves, so that our outside may be clean also.  Jesus says something similar when He tells us to make our eye single, so that our whole body is full of light (Matthew 6:22-23), using darkness as an analogy for the blindness of sin and error and spiritual ignorance.  Ultimately all of these teachings are for all of us, for if we profess our faith, then each serves as a type of authority, an image for the faith, a way to teach others who observe.