Matthew 23:15-17

[Sif]

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?" - Matthew 23: 15-17

What is the context of this Gospel passage and what is the meaning for Christians today?

 

[ViaCrucis]

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?" - Matthew 23: 15-17

What is the context of this Gospel passage and what is the meaning for Christians today?

Hypocrisy, and the use of religion to oppress others, is never acceptable.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Sif]

Thank you for the response.

I am certainly no expert on the fours Gospels; however, even to me it is clear Jesus certainly took issue with the Jewish religious leaders of his day.

Did Jesus have anything to say regarding non-Jewish religious leaders of his time? Did Paul?

 

[Soyeong]

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?" - Matthew 23: 15-17

What is the context of this Gospel passage and what is the meaning for Christians today?

When two oxen are yoked together, there is a lead ox that helps to guide the other ox pulls a larger portion of the weight. This analogy was applied to the rabbi/disciple relationship, where a disciple would come under the rabbi's yoke (Matthew 11:28-30) in order to be guided by them as they learned to walk rightly in obedience to God's law. So the Pharisees were supposed to help share their burden, but instead they tied them up heavy burdens which they wouldn't lift a finger to move (Matthew 23:3-4). This burden was not God's law because God's law is not burdensome (1 John 5:3), but rather it was their many traditions that they added on top of the law. Messiah criticized the Pharisees for setting aside the commands of God in order to follow their own traditions (In Mark 7:6-8) and he criticized them of not doing a good enough job of following the law (Matthew 5:20, Matthew 23:23).

So in Matthew 23:15-17, the Pharisees were putting forth a lot of effort to make a new convert, but they were more concerned with getting another notch on their belt than with helping the convert mature in their faith. The Great Commission does not tell us to go out and make converts, but rather it says to go out and make disciples, so while it is tempting to become focused on increasing our numbers, we need to be focused on developing close relationships with the people that we bring to Messiah and with other new believers so that we can help them to grow and mature in their faith.

 

[Geralt]

idolatry, skepticism and immorality is the issue with the gentiles.

religious oppresion, hypocrisy and authority from man-made tradition is the issue with the jews.

Thank you for the response.

I am certainly no expert on the fours Gospels; however, even to me it is clear Jesus certainly took issue with the Jewish religious leaders of his day.

Did Jesus have anything to say regarding non-Jewish religious leaders of his time? Did Paul?

 

[ViaCrucis]

Thank you for the response.

I am certainly no expert on the fours Gospels; however, even to me it is clear Jesus certainly took issue with the Jewish religious leaders of his day.

Did Jesus have anything to say regarding non-Jewish religious leaders of his time? Did Paul?

Non-Jewish religious leaders would have more than likely been criticized for their general paganism. Jesus' issue with religious hypocrisy and the misuse of religion with the Jewish religious establishment involved Jesus speaking as an insider: Jesus was a Jew, and Jesus was speaking with fellow Jews.

The appropriate context, in a modern setting, would be Christian religious leaders--and speaking against religious hypocrisy and the misuse of Christian religion, as an internal rebuke and criticism.

-CryptoLutheran