Matthew Henry Commentary Matthew 23:13-33

"But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye enter not in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter[.] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows` houses, even while for a pretence ye make long prayers: therefore ye shall receive greater condemnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he is become so, ye make him twofold more a son of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor. Ye fools and blind: for which is greater, the gold, or the temple that hath sanctified the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor. Ye blind: for which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And he that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. Ye blind guides, that strain out the gnat, and swallow the camel! Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full from extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may become clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men`s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but inwardly ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and garnish the tombs of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell?" — Matthew 23:13-33 (ASV)

The scribes and Pharisees were enemies of the gospel of Christ, and therefore of the salvation of people's souls. It is bad to keep away from Christ ourselves, but it is worse also to keep others from Him. Yet it is no new thing for the show and form of godliness to be made a cloak for the greatest wicked acts.

But pretended piety will be considered double iniquity. They were very busy trying to convert souls to their party—not for the glory of God and the good of souls, but so that they might have the credit and advantage of making converts. With gain as their godliness, by a thousand devices they made religion give way to their worldly interests. They were very strict and precise in smaller matters of the law, but careless and lax in weightier matters.

It is not being scrupulous about a little sin that Christ reproves here; if it is a sin, though only a gnat, it must be strained out. Rather, He reproves the practice of doing that, and then swallowing a camel—that is, committing a greater sin. While they appeared to be godly, they were neither self-controlled nor righteous. We are, in reality, what we are inwardly.

Outward motives may keep the outside clean while the inside is filthy. However, if the heart and spirit are made new, there will be newness of life; this is where we must begin with ourselves. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was like the adornments of a grave, or like dressing up a dead body—only for show. The deceitfulness of sinners' hearts is revealed in that they go along with the prevailing sins of their own day, while they imagine that they would have opposed the sins of former days.

We sometimes think that if we had lived when Christ was on earth, we would not have despised and rejected Him, as people then did. Yet Christ—in His Spirit, in His word, in His ministers—is still treated no better. And it is just of God to give those up to their hearts' lusts who obstinately persist in gratifying them. Christ reveals people's true characters.