Seven Woes: Performative Religion — September 28 [Description]Overview of Matthew 23:13-36:In this passage, Jesus delivers a scathing rebuke to the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of His day. He pronounces seven woes—deep expressions of sorrow and judgment—against them for their hypocrisy, pride, and spiritual blindness. These leaders appear outwardly righteous but inwardly are full of greed, self-indulgence, and corruption. They:- Shut the door of the kingdom in people’s faces (v.13)- Exploit converts for their own gain (v.15)- Twist oaths and religious obligations (vv.16—22)- Obsess over minor rules while ignoring justice, mercy, and faithfulness (vv.23—24)- Clean the outside while the inside is filthy (vv.25—26)- Appear righteous but are inwardly full of sin (vv.27—28)- Honor dead prophets while planning violence like their ancestors (vv.29—36)Jesus ends with a solemn warning: these religious leaders are accountable for generations of bloodshed, and judgment is coming.This passage calls out performative religion and emphasizes that God cares more about the authentic condition of the heart than outward displays of piety.

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Matthew 23:13-36365D 271.1

13 “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. 14 ^{[g]NU omits v. 14.} 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.365D 271.2

14 365D 271.3

15 “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 ^{[h]Gr. Gehenna} hell as yourselves.365D 271.4

16 “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. ’365D 271.5

17 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that ^{[i]NU sanctified} sanctifies the gold?365D 271.6

18 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. ’365D 271.7

19 Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?365D 271.8

20 Therefore he who ^{[j]Swears an oath} swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.365D 271.9

21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who ^{[k]M dwelt} dwells in it.365D 271.10

22 And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.365D 271.11

23 “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.365D 271.12

24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!365D 271.13

25 “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 ^{[l]M unrighteousness} self-indulgence.365D 271.14

26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.365D 271.15

27 “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.365D 271.16

28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.365D 271.17

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and ^[m]decorate adorn the monuments of the righteous,365D 271.18

30 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.’365D 271.19

31 “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.365D 271.20

32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.365D 271.21

33 Serpents, brood ^[n]offspring of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?365D 271.22

34 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,365D 271.23

35 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.365D 271.24

36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.365D 271.25