Jesus Criticizes the Scribes and Pharisees
Then Jesus turned to speak to the crowds of people and to his disciples who had gathered around him. "The religious teachers and Pharisees have the authority to interpret Moses' law," he said. "So listen to what they teach you and follow it. But don't follow their example, because they don't live by the very rules they tell others to obey. They pile heavy, difficult burdens on people's backs—rules that are hard to follow—but they won't lift even a finger to help carry those burdens themselves. "Everything they do is just for show, so people will notice and admire them. They make their prayer boxes extra wide and their prayer shawls extra long so everyone can see how religious they are. They love to sit at the head table at dinner parties and claim the most important seats in the synagogues. They enjoy being greeted with respect in the marketplace and having people call them 'Teacher.' "But you must not let people call you 'Teacher,' because you have only one true Teacher, and you are all equal as brothers and sisters. And don't call anyone on earth your spiritual father, because you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Don't let people call you instructors either, because you have only one Instructor, and that is Christ. "The person who wants to be truly great among you must be willing to serve everyone else. Anyone who tries to make himself important will be brought down, but anyone who chooses to humble himself will be lifted up."
The Seven Woes
How terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are pretenders who slam shut the door to God's kingdom right in people's faces. You refuse to go in yourselves, and you block the way for others who want to enter. How terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are pretenders who will travel across land and sea to win just one person to your cause. But when you succeed, you make that person twice as deserving of hell as you are. How terrible it will be for you, you blind guides! You teach that if someone makes a promise using the temple as their guarantee, it doesn't matter. But if they promise using the gold in the temple, then they must keep their word. You foolish blind men! What's more important—the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say that promising by the altar means nothing, but promising by the gift placed on the altar is binding. You blind people! What matters more—the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Don't you understand? When someone makes a promise using the altar, they're really promising by the altar and everything on it. When someone promises by the temple, they're promising by the temple and by God who lives there. And when someone promises by heaven, they're promising by God's throne and by God himself who sits on that throne. How terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are pretenders who carefully give God one-tenth of even your smallest garden herbs—your mint, dill, and cumin. But you completely ignore the most important parts of God's law: treating people fairly, showing mercy, and being faithful. You should do both—care about the important things without forgetting the smaller details. You blind guides! You're like someone who carefully strains a tiny gnat out of their drink but then swallows a whole camel. How terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are pretenders who scrub the outside of your cups and dishes until they shine, but inside they're filled with your greed and selfishness. You blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of the cup and dish first, and then the outside will be clean too. How terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are pretenders! You're like graves that have been painted white to look beautiful on the outside, but inside they're full of dead bones and rotting filth. That's exactly how you appear to people—righteous and good on the outside, but inside you're full of pretense and evil. How terrible it will be for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are pretenders who build fancy tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of good people from the past. You say, "If we had lived back when our ancestors did, we never would have helped them kill the prophets." But by saying this, you're actually admitting that you're the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead then—finish what your ancestors started! You snakes! You nest of poisonous vipers! How do you think you'll escape being condemned to hell?
Judgment on This Generation
Because of this, I am going to send prophets, wise men, and teachers to you. You will kill some of them and nail them to crosses. You will beat others with whips in your synagogues and chase them from town to town, making their lives miserable. When you do this, you will become responsible for every drop of innocent blood that has been spilled on the earth throughout history. This includes the blood of righteous Abel all the way to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered right there between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth—all of these consequences will fall on the people living right now in this generation.
Lament over Jerusalem
"Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and throw stones at those God sends to you. How many times I have wanted to gather your people together the way a mother hen pulls her baby chicks under her wings to keep them safe. But you would not let me. Look—your house will be left empty and abandoned. I tell you this: you will not see me again until the day comes when you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"