Matthew: Chapter 23 | New to His Word

The big picture

Before the crowd and his followers, Jesus, the teacher and healer, speaks against leaders who hide harm behind a holy image. The scribes teach God's law. The Pharisees are a group known for strict religious practice. Jesus does not dismiss the law they teach. He condemns their pride, greed, and refusal to practise what they demand from others. His sharp warnings end in grief over Jerusalem, the city where God's temple stands. Its people have refused the shelter he offered.

In this chapter

Greatness Comes Through Serving Others Matthew 23:1-12
Addressing the crowd and his followers, Jesus tells them to heed the law taught by these leaders.
Pious Words Cover Harm Matthew 23:13-22
Jesus charges these leaders with blocking entry into God's kingdom.
Clean Surfaces Hide Inner Corruption Matthew 23:23-28
Even small garden crops receive attention as the leaders give God a tenth of their harvest.
Honouring the Dead While Rejecting Messengers Matthew 23:29-36
The leaders decorate the tombs of God's past messengers and claim they would never have joined their killers.
A City Refuses Offered Shelter Matthew 23:37-39
Jesus turns from warnings to grief over Jerusalem.

Central truth

Jesus condemns leaders who seek honour while harming others, then grieves over a city that refuses his care.

Matthew 23: Jesus Condemns False Religious Leaders

Scripture beside the summary

Matthew · King James Version · 39

Matthew 23:1-12

Greatness Comes Through Serving Others

Addressing the crowd and his followers, Jesus tells them to heed the law taught by these leaders. They occupy the teaching place of Moses, the lawgiver. Yet their deeds must not become an example. They place heavy demands on others without helping them. They enlarge prayer boxes and clothing tassels, visible signs of devotion, to attract notice. They seek fine seats, titles, and public honour. Jesus tells his followers that they belong as equals under one heavenly Father and one master, Christ, God's chosen king. Greatness means serving, not lifting oneself above others. Christians differ on the use of religious titles, while sharing this warning against proud rank.

In everyday life

A senior canoeist takes the heaviest boat when the group reaches a steep bank. Another member keeps naming his rank while watching novices struggle with the gear. The senior paddler's service gives his role weight that a title alone lacks. Jesus places all his followers under God and Christ, not under a sport's ranking system.

Notice

Matthew 23:4 The leaders do more than demand difficult things. They refuse even small help with the loads they place on others, exposing the lack of care beneath their rules.

Matthew 23:1-12

King James Version

1Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

2Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat:

3All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

4For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

5But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

6And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

7And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

8But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

9And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

10Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

11But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

12And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:13-22

Pious Words Cover Harm

Jesus charges these leaders with blocking entry into God's kingdom. They refuse to enter and obstruct others. Long prayers disguise their greed as they take widows' homes. Their tireless search for converts trains new members in even worse wrongdoing. Jesus also attacks their rules about sworn promises. They treat an oath by temple gold as binding but dismiss one by the temple itself. They make a similar split between a gift and the altar that makes it holy. Jesus says these distinctions cannot release them from truth. A promise tied to God's dwelling or throne involves God, whatever object their words mention.

In everyday life

A storage-yard owner points to a tiny clause to deny a promise made beside a customer's locked unit. He insists that his spoken guarantee applied only to the padlock, not to safe storage. The customer holds the key and asks why his words meant so little. Jesus exposes false oaths that invoke God's holiness, not a storage contract.

Notice

Matthew 23:14 The long prayers appear alongside the taking of widows' homes. Public devotion makes the harm worse because it helps conceal the abuse of people with little protection.

Matthew 23:13-22

King James Version

13But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

14Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

16Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

17Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

18And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

19Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

20Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

21And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

22And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

Matthew 23:23-28

Clean Surfaces Hide Inner Corruption

Even small garden crops receive attention as the leaders give God a tenth of their harvest. Yet they neglect fair judgement, mercy, and faith. He says they should do both, rather than letting tiny duties replace greater ones. He pictures a person removing a small insect from a drink while swallowing a huge animal. Their care has lost its sense of weight. They polish a cup outside while greed and excess remain within. They also resemble whitewashed tombs, tidy to look at but filled with death. Their public goodness hides deceit and sin. Jesus calls for inner cleansing rather than a better outer display.

In everyday life

A dairy inspector lifts the shining lid of a milk tank and finds sour residue beneath it. The owner has polished every visible panel while skipping the wash that keeps milk safe. A clean surface cannot make the contents fit to drink. Jesus speaks about greed and hidden sin in people, not faults in food handling.

Notice

Matthew 23:23 Jesus does not tell them to stop the smaller acts of giving. He says those acts must not crowd out mercy, faith, and fair judgement.

Matthew 23:23-28

King James Version

23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

24Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Matthew 23:29-36

Honouring the Dead While Rejecting Messengers

The leaders decorate the tombs of God's past messengers and claim they would never have joined their killers. Jesus says their coming deeds will prove otherwise. He will send messengers, wise people, and teachers. These leaders will kill some, nail some to crosses, flog others in meeting houses, and pursue them between cities. Jesus names earlier innocent victims: Abel and Zacharias, son of Barachias, killed near the temple altar. Their deaths mark a long record of bloodshed. The leaders are about to add to it. Jesus warns that their generation will face the judgement they claim belongs only to their ancestors.

In everyday life

A historical-site guide opens a memorial room while survivors wait outside with new complaints. She hears officials praise past victims and dismiss those still asking to be heard. The gap between public tribute and present conduct becomes plain at the doorway. Jesus predicts renewed killing and God's judgement; the guide witnesses refusal to listen.

Notice

Matthew 23:34 Fresh messengers will come at Jesus' command. The leaders' response to living voices will test their claim to honour the dead ones.

Matthew 23:29-36

King James Version

29Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

30And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.

31Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

32Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

33Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

34Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

35That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

36Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

Matthew 23:37-39

A City Refuses Offered Shelter

Jesus turns from warnings to grief over Jerusalem. The city has killed God's prophets and stoned those sent to it. He describes his wish to gather its people as a hen shelters chicks beneath her wings. They have refused that care. He says their house will be left empty and abandoned. The word house points toward the temple and the life centred on it. He also says they will not see him again until they greet the one who comes in God's name. His grief does not erase the judgement. Both the offered shelter and the refusal are real.

In everyday life

A search-and-rescue parent waits beside an open shelter door as a stranded relative rejects repeated calls to come inside. She keeps a blanket ready and watches the weather worsen. Her concern does not force him through the doorway. Jesus mourns a city's rejection of God's messengers, with consequences larger than one refused offer of shelter.

Notice

Matthew 23:37 The image of wings gives the warning a tender shape. Jesus speaks as one who wanted to protect the people who have refused him.

Matthew 23:37-39

King James Version

37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

39For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

Details worth noticing

39verses in this reading

5major movements

4verses with speech

3questions in the KJV text

The opening image

Matthew 23:1 begins with “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,”

Where the chapter turns

Matthew 23:19 forms a natural hinge: “Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?”

The final note

Matthew 23:39 leaves the reader with “For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

A word trail through the chapter

The words scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, swear, blind, prophets help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.

KJV words made clear

phylacteries: Small boxes holding Scripture texts, worn during prayer.
proselyte: Someone entering a faith from outside its existing membership.
sepulchres: Tombs where the bodies of dead people are placed.

Music and video connected to the passage

Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.