Blind Guides
TRANSLATION
(1) Then Jesus said to the crowd and to his disciples, (2) “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. (3) Therefore, do and observe whatever they command you, but do not imitate their behavior, for they do not practice what they preach. (4) Indeed, they bind up heavy loads that are hard to carry and place them on others’ shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with a finger. (5) They do all their good works to be seen by others. They make their phylacteries wide and their fringes long, (6) and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues. (7) (They love) to be greeted in the marketplaces and to be called ‘rabbi.’ (8) But you must not be called ‘rabbi,’ for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. (9) And do not call any man on earth your ‘father,’ for you have one Father who is in heaven. (10) Neither be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, Christ. (11) But the one who is greatest among you will be your servant. (12) Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
(13) “But woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! (I call you) hypocrites because you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven in others’ faces, for you neither enter in yourselves nor do you allow those who want to enter in to enter. (14) Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! (I call you) hypocrites because you consume widows’ houses even while you pretend to pray piously. Therefore, you shall receive greater condemnation. (15) Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! (I call you) hypocrites because you travel across sea and land to make one convert and, when someone becomes a convert, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. (16) Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it means nothing, but whoever swears by the gold in the temple is bound by that oath!’ (17) You blind fools! Which is greater? The gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? (18) And (you say) “Whoever swears by the altar, it means nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is bound by that oath.’ (19) You blind (fools)! Which is greater? The gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? (20) Therefore, whoever swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it. (21) Whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells inside it. (22) And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it.”
OBSERVATIONS
In these two paragraphs where Jesus pronounced “Woe!” on Israel’s religious leaders several times, we find some important repetitions. “Teachers of the Law and Pharisees” were specified four times (vss. 2, 13, 14, & 15). In the first paragraph Jesus emphasized that while his disciples should listen to their commands, they should never imitate their behavior. Titles such as “rabbi” (vss. 7 & 8), “father” (vs. 9), and “teacher” (vs. 10) were all repeated. In verse 12 we find repetitions of the contrasting words “humbled(s)” and “exalted(s).”
In the second paragraph, Jesus used the phrase “woe to you” four times (vss. 13, 14, 15, & 16) as well as the repeated terms “(I call you) hypocrites” (vss. 13, 14, & 15) and “blind guides/fools/men” (vss. 16, 17, & 19). The noun, “convert,” occurred twice (in vs. 16). “Swears” is found eight times in four verses (vss. 16, 20, 21, & 22) while “bound by that oath” occurred twice (vss. 16 & 18). “Heaven” is found in both paragraphs (vss. 9, 13, & 22) while “temple” (vss. 16, 18, & 21), “gold” (three times in vss. 16 & 17), “altar” (four times in vss. 18, 19, & 20), and “gift” (three times in vss. 18 & 19) were all repeated.
OUTLINE
I. Jesus instructed his followers to obey the Pharisees’ commands but not to imitate their lifestyle. (1-12)
II. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their hypocrisy which led many astray. (13-22)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus condemned the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees for their hypocritical legalism which was hindering those wanting to enter God’s Kingdom.
APPLICATION
Jesus used several condemnatory terms to describe the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. First, he called them “hypocrites.” The word originally referred to actors playing a role and pretending to be someone else. It then evolved to describe those who put on a false appearance of virtue or religiosity, those whose sinful lives contradicted their professed beliefs. He then called them “blind guides” (vs. 16) and “blind fools” (vss. 17 & 19). Instead of showing others the way to God, they led those who depended on their instruction into greater confusion and deeper error.
The examples Jesus gave showed just how ridiculous and illogical their requirements could be. The most serious charge that Jesus leveled at them is found in verse 14: “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.” One of Aesop’s fables described a “Dog in the Manger” who ferociously guarded access to the grain he would never eat, doing everything in his power to prevent the other animals in the stable from feeding on the nourishment they needed. That story captured the essence of Pharisaic legalism which Jesus strenuously condemned.