The Saviour never encouraged rebellion against the establishment. He taught the importance of paying taxes (Mt 17.24-27; 22.15-22). And concerning the Pharisees He acknowledged their position as teachers in Israel, albeit a place they took to themselves: "the scribes and the Pharisees have set themselves down in Moses’ seat" (23.2, JND). Therefore, in the measure in which they expounded the Law of Moses, the authoritative code for living up until Christ’s death and resurrection, they were to be obeyed, but not followed, "for they say, and do not" (v.3). It is important for us as Christian believers to understand that we "are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom 6.14). The standard of life for Christians is not the Law of Moses, but rather "the will of God in the context of His grace given in our Lord Jesus Christ as revealed perfectly in the entire written word of God".1

The Jews added to the Law of Moses. Their oral traditions were passed down from generation to generation, finally being codified about AD 200. The Mishna was the result, a rule book containing hundreds of regulations, still considered by Jews as equalling the written Law of God in authority. The Pharisees took these "heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and [laid] them on men’s shoulders" (v.4), forcing people to obey man-made additions to God’s law. "But they themselves [would] not move them with one of their fingers" (v.4), in the sense of trying to alleviate the burdens; and by finding convenient loopholes they did not even obey their own traditions. The horrifying fact is that through their traditions they actually transgressed "the commandment of God" (Mt 15.3-6); they broke every one of the Ten Commandments (see Table). The lesson is plain. A religious façade can cover the reality of flagrant disobedience to God’s revealed will. This is legalism – religious hypocrisy. It is abhorrent to Christ and God, and it leads to hell. It was to people bowed down under this system that the Lord Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11.28-30).

The Pharisees focused on external appearances. Their real motive for supposed piety was to increase their esteem among men: "all their works they do for to be seen of men" (v.5). Phylacteries "were square capsules, covered with leather, containing on small scrolls of parchment these four sections of the Law (see Ex 13.1-10; 11-16; Deut 6.4-9; 11.13-21). These phylacteries were fastened by long leather straps to the forehead, and round the left arm, near the heart".2 This Jewish tradition was built on a command for God’s word to dominate every aspect of their lives, never to be forgotten (Deut 11.18). But it developed into a religious pretension. By making their phylacteries bigger they heightened their appearance of piety. Another commandment, to have fringes on their garments, was meant as a constant reminder of Holy Scripture (Num 15.37-41; Deut 22.12). This too was abused – they enlarged "the borders of their garments" (Mt 23.5). Pharisees also loved "the long flowing tallith which was regarded as a sign of piety and scholarship" (Mk 12.38).3 Their love for prominence pervaded every area of their lives - social, religious, and commercial. They loved to sit as honoured guests in the "uppermost reclining places at feasts" (v.6, Newberry). Each synagogue had a "bench…before the…chest where the sacred scrolls were kept; it faced the audience and was reserved for the leaders and people of distinction".4 The Pharisees loved the attention and respect they received from sitting on these "chief seats in the synagogues" (v.6). In the market place they expected deferential greetings, "to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi" (Mt 23.7).

The Lord Jesus reminded His disciples that they all were brethren, He alone their Master, and their Father is in heaven. True greatness in the things of God is measured by our service for others. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled and vice versa. Therefore, the Lord Jesus warned His disciples against receiving deferential titles.

The Pharisees were doomed. Under the following eight woes Christ denounced them.

1. Shutting the kingdom of God (v.13) – they refused to enter the kingdom and prevented others from doing so.

2. A cloak of covetousness (v.14) – they concealed their stealing from vulnerable members of society with long prayers.

3. Energetic proselytising (v.15) – their converts, twice as zealous of the traditions, became twofold more children of hell.

4. False swearing (vv.16-22) – by making subtle distinctions between one kind of oath and another they showed themselves to be spiritually blind and fools; the temple sanctifies its gold, the altar its gifts. Whoever swears by the temple swears by God that dwells in it; whoever swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and God that sits on it.

5. Concentrating on minutiae (vv.23-24) – while tithing the tiniest herbs, they omitted weightier matters of the Law, judgment, mercy, and faith. Although every detail of Scripture is equally inspired, some things are more important than others; nevertheless, the Lord Jesus taught, "these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" (v.23). By focusing on tiny things, such as weighing herbs, they wasted time that could have been better spent. Christ compared their behaviour to straining out a gnat (fly) from their drink and then swallowing a camel – a ceremonially unclean animal (Lev 11.4).

6. Focusing on external appearance (vv.25-26) – they cleansed the outside of cups and platters while the inside was full of "extortion" (harpage, pillage) and "excess".

7. Focusing on external appearance (vv.27-28) – as white washed sepulchres appear beautiful on the outside to men, but are "full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness," so the Pharisees were "full of hypocrisy and iniquity".

8. Murderous tendencies (vv.29-36) – building the tombs of prophets and garnishing the sepulchres of the righteous evidenced national pride, not godly repentance. Although they claimed that they would never have participated in the murders committed by their fathers, they confessed the same blood ran through their veins (v.31). Of course, their continuing malice for God’s servants finally culminated in Christ’s death; then they truly filled up the measure of their fathers (v.32). So much so, that the guilt of all Old Testament martyrs (represented by Abel in Genesis through to Zecharias at the end of the Hebrew Old Testament) rested at their feet. Although in mercy God kept sending messengers to this recalcitrant nation, He still held them accountable. Zechariah’s prayer for vengeance – "The Lord look upon it, and require it" (2 Chr 24.22) – was answered centuries later on this very generation to which Christ spoke, for in AD 70 when Roman legions entered Jerusalem they razed the temple to the ground.

The Saviour closed with a moving, perceptive, and critical lament over Jerusalem, holding out a final ray of hope for Israel. His use of the present tense, "killest" and "stonest", emphasised the settled character of the Jewish people. Time had not changed them. He, Jehovah in their midst, had often sought to gather their "children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and [they] would not" (Mt 23.37). And now, their house, the temple, no longer God’s house, would be decimated (v.38). Neither would they see Him "henceforth, till ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord" (Ps 118.26; comp Mt 21.9). Then will Messiah, "the man whose name is The BRANCH…build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory" (Zech 6.12-13).

http://www.believersmagazine.com/bm.php?i=20091206