Jesus continues by saying woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.
Woe to you, blind guides! You say if anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath. You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say if anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by the oath. You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-mint, full and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should’ve practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look nice on the outside but on the inside are full of bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous, but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. You say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, you wouldn’t have taken part in the shedding on the prophets blood. So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, complete what your ancestors started!
You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from Abel to Zechariah. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together like a hen gathers her chicks, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say:
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 118:26
Wow…Jesus does not hold back. He blasts these religious leaders, calls them out on their hypocrisy. Today, as a new year begins, I want you to examine your own life. Do you clean the outside while the inside remains dirty? Do you act as if you have life in Christ, but on the inside there is only death? Do you lead people into a relationship with Jesus or further away from? Examine this passage…examine your life…what changes need to be made today?
A Journey With Jesus 