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, is it 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.  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 

 

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 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, is it 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.  And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it."  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.  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 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."   These warnings begin the last part of this final public sermon of Jesus.  Nearly the whole of chapter 23 is taken with it.  My study Bible comments that the warnings which begin in this section (and will continue in tomorrow's reading) are especially important to Orthodox Christians.  It notes that the Church has maintained the ancient practices of tithing ("These you ought to have done"), sacred vessels "you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish", and holy rites following the tradition handed down from the ancient Church through today.  These practices can be expressions of deep faith, it notes, 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 ("hypocrites!").  My study Bible explains that to "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel" is a reference to a practice in which the Pharisees would attach strainers to the mouths of decanters in order to avoid accidentally consuming any ritually unclean substance.  

 

 There are a few things we might want to pay attention to in today's reading, for they reveal patterns which Jesus condemns on the part of these religious leaders, the scribes and the Pharisees.  First of all we should place this section of chapter 23 of St. Matthew' Gospel in context.  This full chapter is an exposition of Jesus' final public sermon, and so it is noteworthy to begin with 6:simply on that basis.  It is a grand critique of the ways of the scribes and Pharisees, and in particular their hypocrisy.  It's notable for us that between the different parties that made up the ruling Council of the Jews (all of them religious leaders, and centered in the Jerusalem temple), the ones whom Jesus criticizes were perhaps the ones closest to Him in spiritual outlook and opinions.  The Sadducees are left out of this particular critique; they are the ones of whom He said they know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God (in this reading from Saturday).  It was a lawyer, in the second half of Saturday's reading, who approached Jesus with a question regarding the greatest commandments in the Law.  This lawyer was a Pharisee, and so we should keep this in mind.  For that Pharisee clearly understood Jesus' response to His question, and approved.  But the hypocritical practices Jesus condemns in today's reading show a clear violation of what Jesus called the first and greatest commandment ("You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind," which comes from Deuteronomy 6:5).  For these men in their hypocrisy pay lip service to piety, to devotion to God, but they don't practice it in what they do.  By their hypocrisy they take on pupils whom they mislead with their practices, and so "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."  As we reviewed in yesterday's reading and commentary, it's their job as stewards of the people and their spiritual tradition to lead them to God, but in their practices they do the opposite.  As teachers they fail to uphold their supposed purpose as religious leaders, rabbis.   Even worse, they prey on the weak and powerless, thus violating the second great commandment Jesus had given ("You shall love your neighbor as yourself" from Leviticus 19:18).  Jesus tells them, "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."   Such terrible teachers are they that they "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."  They not only fail to lead toward God, but lead toward the adversaries of God.  So blind are they to the things of God, they fail to understand that it is God who gives value to all things; therefore they can't see the sanctification of God, God's the power of holiness, and instead value the material that is useless without it.  Finally they miss God altogether in their pursuit of pious-appearing practices:  they tithe, but they have "neglected the weightier matters of the law:  justice and mercy and faith."  Without the love of God in their hearts, they have form but not substance.  They pay attention to the tiniest detail in appearing holy before others, but they swallow whole what is unclean in their faithlessness.  They take care to appear perfect to others in their external legalism, but "inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence."   In St. Matthew's 15th chapter, Jesus speaks of them by quoting from Isaiah:  "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me" (Matthew 15:8; Isaiah 29:13).  What we see in the outcome of their hypocrisy is the cruelty of their practices, the opposite of the intentions of the Law, antithetical to the purposes of God.  They become allied with evil, teaching their proselytes to become "twice as much a son of hell" as themselves.  Again, we turn back to Christ's teachings to the disciples about authority, power, and greatness, and the need for the consideration and protection of the "little ones" among them.  The widows whose houses are devoured are among such "little ones," the powerless and dependent, and so are the proselytes who seek instruction of matters of God.  As always, we consider what these examples mean for us, for, as my study Bible points out, there is no one who needs to take consideration of these warnings and criticism more than we who value and cherish the traditions we inherit, the faith we follow -- for we might find ourselves also at the receiving end of this criticisms should we engage in such hypocrisy ourselves.  A pure focus on externals might find us, rather than fully practicing our faith, in the same place of condemnation as these men whom Jesus faces.  When confronted with the truth -- and He is the person who is the Truth standing in front of them (John 14:6) -- they respond only by seeking to destroy Him.  The weightier matters of the law, "justice and mercy and faith," fall by the wayside to the blindness of their ways.  Jesus teaches, effectively, that there are two ways.  One is toward God, and the other is away.  We cannot do both, and neither are we capable of standing still or being neutral.  Indeed, this would be the teaching of the early Church, such as is found in the Didache, and was already well-known in Judaism.  So let us place first things first, lest we also become blind to where we are leading, and take others astray with us as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

"The LORD said to my Lord" & the poor widow

And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:

'The LORD said to my Lord,

"Sit at My right hand,

Till I make Your enemies your footstool."'

"Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how he He then his Son?"

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."

And he looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

- Luke 20:41-21:4

In yesterday's reading, we read of the continuing efforts to trap Jesus. He is teaching in the temple at Jerusalem, and various elements of the leadership question Him. Yesterday, we read of a question by the Saduccees, a high priestly and landowning class. They did not believe in resurrection, and so posed a question designed to trap Jesus - a woman was married in sequence to seven brothers, but none had children. In the resurrection, whose wife will she be? Jesus taught that they had it quite wrong: in the resurrection all things will change - those of "that age" will be equal to the angels, neither marrying nor given in marriage, nor will they die. Jesus then cited Moses in the passage of the burning bush, who called the Lord "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him."

And He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand . . ." My study bible has a note here: "The first reference to the LORD applies to God the Father, the second to Christ -- whom David, the writer of this Psalm, calls my Lord." This is another question Jesus poses in order to quiz His quizzers - the leadership of the temple, which includes the scribes who are experts in Scripture. He is, in this sense, turning the tables on them, challenging their education and understanding, while at the same time He seeks to open their eyes to His presence. We recall that the initial quizzing of Jesus began with the leadership challenging Him as to His authority to cleanse the temple, something only a Messiah could rightfully do.

'". . .Till I make Your enemies your footstool."' Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how he He then his Son?" My study bible notes, "The riddle has its solution in that the Messiah is David's Son in His humanity, yet David calls Him Lord in His eternal deity." So we are creeping into the territory of mystery (appropriate to a riddle posed to the temple leadership, particularly the scribes), and the understanding of Jesus' nature as both a Son of David and Son of God. In yesterday's reading, Jesus opened their eyes to the transformed nature of human beings who become sons of God in the resurrection. Here, He draws their minds further toward mysteries of spiritual reality they do not understand. And, in so doing, He has shown that His understanding of Scripture surpasses theirs -- so much for questions about His authority, and His credentials for teaching.

Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation." This is certainly a bold act! In the hearing of all the people, Jesus speaks to His disciples scathingly about the scribes whom He's just engaged in a Scriptural riddle. Jesus pronounces judgment! My study bible notes here, "These verses criticize the scribes, a professional class of teachers and experts in Mosaic Law, for glorying in their influential roles while practicing injustice." Jesus is teaching us the ties between the desire for worldly glory, and the failure to understand not only the Law and the Scriptures in which they are experts, but also the practice of God's Law, and God's love.

And he looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. My study bible says here, "A mite: a Jewish copper coin of the lowest value, like a penny. Yet this sacrificial offering by the poor widow is praised by Christ. The value of a gift derives from the spirit in which it is given. A gift that seeks recognition loses spiritual value; a gift made from the heart gains immense value."

So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had." At first glance, we might suspect that Jesus is speaking about the amount or percentage of our income we give. But I'm so glad that my study bible points out (in the note just above) that the gift is a gift of great love, given with all her heart. The wealthy, who give for show, are in comparison with the scribes "who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers." Seeking the praise of men rather than the praise of God shows a shortfall in love of God. So truly, Jesus is teaching here about those who are close to God, who truly love God with all their heart, and soul and mind and strength -- and the poor widow comes out above them on in that perspective. We recall the cleansing of the temple: it was the buyers and sellers of animals who profited from the sale of the "better animals" by the wealthiest at the Passover, which the poor could not afford.

In today's lectionary readings, we also have included verses from St. Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians. In chapter 4, verses 7 & 8, Paul writes, "For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit." Let us consider then the concept of holiness, and what this means in terms of the contrast between the poor widow, above, and the scribes and the wealthy who are concerned with show - with the opinions of others that reflect back upon them. This command for holiness cited by St. Paul comes from Leviticus 11:44, which is also placed in commands about "cleanliness:" "For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I, the Lord your God, am holy." This is something the scribes, experts in the Law, should know but fail to put into practice. We are not called to worldly perfection, therefore, but to sanctification and holiness. Holiness connotes the act of setting apart something for God. In our role as those who love God, it is we who therefore seek to put "right-relatedness" to God by understanding that all is God's creation, all is in God's image, and therefore we give ourselves, our lives and all we know to God. Therefore to truly love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength is to set ourselves apart for God, to return that which is God's to God. The Holy Spirit, working in us to create sanctification, draws us more and more deeply into holiness; indeed, it is the Trinity that works in us to draw our lives more and more into this union of love, or a state of holiness. This Christmas, there is deep concern socially with gift-giving and comparison. Let us remember, then, what it is to be His disciples, to be called to holiness. It is all about love and relationship; the measure of love - and holiness - is in the heart. How do you measure that? We turn all things back to our Creator, and redeem the world together with our Redeemer. Remember love and holiness, and the sanctification to which we are called, with the help of God at work within us, and among us. The Lord whose enemies will be made His footstool is the knower of the heart, and it is the poor widow He sees as the greatest giver of all.