Pharisees With Phylacteries Talking in a Jerusalem Streetby KandD
23:1Matthew 23:1
Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
Then Jesus turned to speak at once to the crowding multitude and to His own disciples. He did so in the temple courts on the last day of His teaching there, before watching priests, rulers and scribes, while the people heard Him gladly and many even of the leaders believed. He began to lay open the hypocrisy and character of the scribes and Pharisees, warning the people not to follow blind leaders nor trust a corrupt priesthood and its traditions. What they taught from the law was to be obeyed, but their example was not to be copied, for they neglected judgment, mercy and faith while stressing lesser matters. His denunciations stand as a lasting admonition against pride, human authority ruling the conscience, and exalting numbers, wealth and popularity above truth, the same spirit still seen in those who refuse to examine Scripture.
Setting and Hearers
Then Jesus spoke at the same time to the gathered multitude and to His disciples. He spoke in the temple courts on the last day of His teaching ministry in the temple, openly before priests, rulers, and scribes. The people watched closely and listened as He addressed them, and the crowd grew as He taught.
The common people heard Him gladly as He answered the attempts of the Pharisees to trap Him, exposing their condition and warning of the consequences of their sins. Many even of the priests and rulers believed on Him, while the chief of the priesthood and the leading men encased themselves in prejudice. His words were meant both to warn the leaders and to instruct those willing to learn and seeking truth.
The religious setting was one in which the scribes and Pharisees claimed authority as teachers of Moses' law. They taught human commandments and left the people ignorant of God's Word, even though public reading of Scripture had been commanded and Ezra had read it to the people after their return to Jerusalem.
Rebuke and Lasting Warning
Speaking to the multitude together with His disciples, Jesus began to teach them about the scribes and Pharisees and the conduct expected of His followers. In that address He uttered woes and fearful denunciations upon the Pharisees, exposing their hypocrisy, character and condition and warning of the consequences of their sins. His denunciations and warnings against following blind leaders were a deliberate effort to free the people from customs, traditions, and unquestioning trust in a corrupt priesthood. What the scribes and Pharisees taught was to be followed when it agreed with the law of Moses, whose teachers they claimed to be, but their conduct was not to be imitated because they failed to practice what they taught.
Those addressed in the chapter are spiritually blinded to the relative importance of what they should understand. They neglect the weightier matters of the law — judgment, mercy, and faith, also called justice, mercy, and faith — while carefully and scrupulously attending to minor and lesser matters. The address confronts Pharisaism as pride, the desire to rule, and human authority lacking God's sanction. It shows wicked priests using lawful religious authority for unlawful ends, teaching that such authority must not rule against God's word and that men should learn from Jesus rather than assume authority over others. At the same time the chief of the priesthood and the leading men encased themselves in prejudice and rejected the clearest evidence of His Messiahship lest they be forced to become His disciples, and by their influence led the Jewish nation to reject its Redeemer, even while the common people heard Him gladly and many even of the priests and rulers believed on Him.
His words were meant not only for that audience in the temple but were recorded as an admonition for people of every age and nation and for future generations. Christ spoke with prophetic view of the undue assumption of authority and the exalting of human authority to rule the conscience, which has been a terrible curse to the church in all ages. The same spirit is still manifested by those who make high profession of piety, refuse to examine the testimony of the Scriptures concerning special truth, and point to their own numbers, wealth, and popularity while looking with contempt upon advocates of truth as few, poor, and unpopular. The same scathing rebukes and woes pronounced upon the Pharisees would be spoken by Christ on earth today to priests and rulers for their impenitence and their opposition to truth and righteousness.
Then Jesus turned to speak at once to the crowding multitude and to His own disciples. He did so in the temple courts on the last day of His teaching there, before watching priests, rulers and scribes, while the people heard Him gladly and many even of the leaders believed. He began to lay open the hypocrisy and character of the scribes and Pharisees, warning the people not to follow blind leaders nor trust a corrupt priesthood and its traditions. What they taught from the law was to be obeyed, but their example was not to be copied, for they neglected judgment, mercy and faith while stressing lesser matters. His denunciations stand as a lasting admonition against pride, human authority ruling the conscience, and exalting numbers, wealth and popularity above truth, the same spirit still seen in those who refuse to examine Scripture.
Setting and Hearers
Then Jesus spoke at the same time to the gathered multitude and to His disciples. He spoke in the temple courts on the last day of His teaching ministry in the temple, openly before priests, rulers, and scribes. The people watched closely and listened as He addressed them, and the crowd grew as He taught.
The common people heard Him gladly as He answered the attempts of the Pharisees to trap Him, exposing their condition and warning of the consequences of their sins. Many even of the priests and rulers believed on Him, while the chief of the priesthood and the leading men encased themselves in prejudice. His words were meant both to warn the leaders and to instruct those willing to learn and seeking truth.
The religious setting was one in which the scribes and Pharisees claimed authority as teachers of Moses' law. They taught human commandments and left the people ignorant of God's Word, even though public reading of Scripture had been commanded and Ezra had read it to the people after their return to Jerusalem.
Rebuke and Lasting Warning
Speaking to the multitude together with His disciples, Jesus began to teach them about the scribes and Pharisees and the conduct expected of His followers. In that address He uttered woes and fearful denunciations upon the Pharisees, exposing their hypocrisy, character and condition and warning of the consequences of their sins. His denunciations and warnings against following blind leaders were a deliberate effort to free the people from customs, traditions, and unquestioning trust in a corrupt priesthood. What the scribes and Pharisees taught was to be followed when it agreed with the law of Moses, whose teachers they claimed to be, but their conduct was not to be imitated because they failed to practice what they taught.
Those addressed in the chapter are spiritually blinded to the relative importance of what they should understand. They neglect the weightier matters of the law — judgment, mercy, and faith, also called justice, mercy, and faith — while carefully and scrupulously attending to minor and lesser matters. The address confronts Pharisaism as pride, the desire to rule, and human authority lacking God's sanction. It shows wicked priests using lawful religious authority for unlawful ends, teaching that such authority must not rule against God's word and that men should learn from Jesus rather than assume authority over others. At the same time the chief of the priesthood and the leading men encased themselves in prejudice and rejected the clearest evidence of His Messiahship lest they be forced to become His disciples, and by their influence led the Jewish nation to reject its Redeemer, even while the common people heard Him gladly and many even of the priests and rulers believed on Him.
His words were meant not only for that audience in the temple but were recorded as an admonition for people of every age and nation and for future generations. Christ spoke with prophetic view of the undue assumption of authority and the exalting of human authority to rule the conscience, which has been a terrible curse to the church in all ages. The same spirit is still manifested by those who make high profession of piety, refuse to examine the testimony of the Scriptures concerning special truth, and point to their own numbers, wealth, and popularity while looking with contempt upon advocates of truth as few, poor, and unpopular. The same scathing rebukes and woes pronounced upon the Pharisees would be spoken by Christ on earth today to priests and rulers for their impenitence and their opposition to truth and righteousness.