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Jesus unleashes a powerful and damning critique against the scribes and Pharisees. He warns the crowds not to follow their hypocrisy, their love of human glory and honor, and the heavy burdens they lay on others. He pronounces “Seven Woes,” condemning them as “whitewashed tombs” and “blind guides” who “strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.” The chapter ends with His heartbreaking lament over Jerusalem, the holy city that rejects His mercy. 

The Rev. John Shank, senior pastor, Trinity Lutheran Church, Edwardsville, IL, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study Matthew 23:1-39. 

To learn more about Trinity Lutheran, visit trinitylutheranministries.org.

The Gospel of Matthew bridges Old and New Testaments, presenting Jesus as the promised Messiah who fulfills the Law we could never keep and establishes His kingdom of grace for all nations. Written by a tax collector transformed by pure grace, Matthew reveals Christ as the true Son of David and Emmanuel (God with us) who challenges us with the crushing demands of the Law in His Sermon on the Mount to the sweet comfort of the Gospel in His death and resurrection. From royal genealogy to glorious resurrection, this verse-by-verse study proclaims the One who conquered sin, death, and the devil for us, now delivering forgiveness, life, and salvation through Word and Sacrament as He remains with His church always, even to the end of the age. 

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

Matthew 23:1-39

Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees

23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, ³ so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. ⁴ They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,^[a] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. ⁵ They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ⁶ and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues ⁷ and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi^[b] by others. ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.^[c] 9 And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. ¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.^[d] 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell^[e] as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

²³ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

²⁵ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharise