This is a personal exposition by myself of Matthew 23. I acknowledge that I a sinful human being forgiven am only of opinion, but this is a crucial message. Please give it time.
Matthew 23
Religious Hypocrites Denounced
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples:
(No expounding necessary)
2 “The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses.
(They who judge the flesh by scripture)
3 Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do,because they don’t practice what they teach.
(In judging by the flesh and following the letter of the Law of Moses unto stoning, they themselves show themselves ugly on the inside and eaten up with sin)
4 They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.
(In context, this refers to religious rock stars not only following scripture, but actually adding to the complexity of scripture.... They added to the law and made the laws even harder to follow, but they had no compassion for the burdens of others, and even convicted men of sins with condemnation, without offering Love or Compassion to ease the internal pain they continually caused others. The only solutions they offered were religious practices and the purchasing of marked up temple sold sacrifices)
*note: Parasees believed in Heaven, Saducees didn't
5 They do everything to be observed by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
(Phylacteries are still used and they are boxes worn on the head to keep recorded laws of Moses, they expanded them by adding to them to show how well they kept the law.
This was a way of saying, look at me, I'm righteous beyond compare.
The Tassels reference is about garment boarders that were symbolic of heaven and the 613 laws that the scribes counted from Moses. They enlarged these to again show they were perfect by law and thus heaven bound)
6 They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues,
(They lived as religious rock stars and were heroes to many, they were constantly gaining favoritism for their good deeds and scriptural knowledge)
7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.
(Their motivation was self seeking and they counted their respected positions as sacred)
8 “But as for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi,’ because you have one Teacher,[h] and you are all brothers.
(To Lord over people and tell them that you are the infallible reflection of Scripture is bad for a human to do. All human beings are indeed fallible, while only God is our true teacher)
9 Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven.
(Even YHWH with us, Emanuel, set this example by calling His Spiritual form beyond time Father, and before you dive in on the Catholic Church note that Paul said:
For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:15 ESV)
But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. (Philippians 2:22 ESV)
Note in both these instances Paul is violating Jesus, but as the chief of all sinners by profession, Paul was not ever using this term to Lord over. People get hung up that Men and Women of the bible were without sin, and in doing so miss that we are elected by their admission of need to proclaim the only one who fills it)
10 And do not be called masters either, because you have one Master, the Messiah.
(No Human being has Truth, Jesus is the Truth. We are dim reflections of the servant King of kings)
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
(Jesus only referenced God as the God/Man amongst us, and He served all to the point the disciples called Him out on it by warning him to not hang around unreligious sinners, He was called a glutton and a drunk, He washed our feet and let a sinful woman wash His feet with her hair and kisses in preparation for His burial)
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
(The dependent on God, honest sinners will be vindicated, while the self proclaimed righteous will weep at their error)
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You lock up the kingdom of heaven from people. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.
(By demanding adherence to the Law, condemning people by the Law and demanding that men follow teachings of men to be saved, the Kingdom of God appeared Locked up to those that sinned... Deviated from the Law of Moses....
As far as Jesus's implication about doing this in there respects, I am deeply concerned for many, but trust God)
14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a harsher punishment.
(These people took advantage of the weak monetarily and only offered prayers for people, while letting them suffer in spirit and flesh)
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell[l] as you are!
(The better translation of this is Sons of The Accuser.... But regardless, it means they look for converts to their teachings of men and once they find them, they make them more selfish and merciless than they themselves are)
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the sanctuary, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by his oath.’[m]
(They point to the effort of flesh, instead of the work of God. The sanctuary of that time was the most elaborate sanctuary of all and it was Herod's Temple, yet it was pointing to the work of Jesus, instead, they pointed to money that is indeed worked for by human effort, or the accomplishment of human hands that was manifest in the gold of the temple that was part of its very mortar and all throughout it)
17 Blind fools![n] For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold?
(Jesus is of coarse the true Temple/Sanctuary of God, and by Him, we may have His fullness in us as well... For do we not know we are Temples of God?..... And in that, we find that a gathering of believers is a gathering of temples proclaiming gods good work. To relegate Gods work to the flesh is so very dangerous)
18 Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’[o]
(Again, this is about the work of flesh (meat), Vs the Work of God who recognizes the sacrifice... It is Gods mercy that sanctifies, not the quality of the flesh)
19 Blind people![p] For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
(Is not Jesus the Alter and the sacrifice?)
20 Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it.
(When we vow to God, and He recognizes our worthless offering of ourselves to Him, it is there that we see He accepts us, not because we are good, but because He is the Good Father aching to embrace us out of Love that covers a multitude of wrongs)
21 The one who takes an oath by the sanctuary takes an oath by it and by Him who dwells in it.
(God alone Sanctifies by His work of Love)
22 And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne and by Him who sits on it.
(Again, it all points to Gods work of Love)
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of[q] mint, dill, and cumin,[r] yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.
(To judge by the law is to literally violate Gods Royal Decree of MERCY, JUSTICE and FAITH that His Right Hand is strong enough to save ALL... Justice would have been the end of all mankind, but praise be to Jesus The Messiah that wields a scepter of Love and a Sword of Mercy.... In this light, it is not the sinner that should fear, but the one that judges sinners by the Law that should be afraid. Jesus never called a sinner the Son of the Devil, but the righteous that are proclaimed so by self and judge the soul of others because they sin differently than they themselves do are in great peril, unbeknownst to themselves. They are blind to their spiritual need, by defining others fleshly needs in matters of salvation)
24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, yet gulp down a camel!
(By judging the flesh, they themselves judge their own spirit. This is in no way a positive thing. Judgment is in the hands of the God that forgives. Praise Jesus that salvation is in the hands of the Servant King of kings, and not the brooding, viperous hands of humanity)
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence!
(To clean the flesh by human effort and condemn others for not doing so is to miss ones deep internal need to fall broken before Jesus in admission that He alone is worthy of praise)
26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,[t] so the outside of it may also become clean.
(By eternal admission of Spiritual need for Jesus, due to all humanities Fleshly Evil, including our own, we are set free from this evil and immediately covered by the Atonement of Jesus. We are pressed even further to Jesus as we admit that He is sufficient for all others as well. Salvation is His work, proclamation in whatever way Jesus personally elects in us, faith and Love above all are our yoke. We shouldn't be seen as condemning people, judging all matters of sin, but beggars who found a limitless supply of food, willing to show the way to other beggars )
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity.
(To profess any difference from others, other than faith and a call to Love that is beyond measure, is to envy those who are not marred by human affirmed, man taught self righteousness and every one one the 613 laws of Moses)
28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
(To proclaim that we are a priesthood by our flesh, is to proclaim the Cross Worthless, and thus we become law breakers of the Royal law. This is true Lawlessness)
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
(For they did)
30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.
(Their lust for power, pride, self righteousness and elite status has continually caused the persecution of those buried in the Grace of the Slain Lamb of lambs)
31 You, therefore, testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
(They are witnesses against themselves, every human being they mock, condemn, judge or call unsaved)
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ sins!
(They are exactly like the Father of deceivers, accusers and murderers)
33 “Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?
(Their use of Moses to break the hearts and lives of others, will be the very stone that is tied around their neck, God forbid He casts them into the ocean in which manner)
34 This is why I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and hound from town to town.
(I LOVE YOU, yet you yourselves are enemies of my Loving Work of Salvation, and thus you kill all who speak of me as Loving that give Hope to the hopeless and the means that the Godless might be saved. You have become my Adversaries or Satans)
35 So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you,[y] from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
(You who make my yoke Heavy and Cause any to lose faith by Judging, shall be Judged with ALL blood
36 I assure you: All these things will come on this generation!
(This begins as soon as my Good work is done)
Matthew 23
Religious Hypocrites Denounced
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples:
(No expounding necessary)
2 “The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses.
(They who judge the flesh by scripture)
3 Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do,because they don’t practice what they teach.
(In judging by the flesh and following the letter of the Law of Moses unto stoning, they themselves show themselves ugly on the inside and eaten up with sin)
4 They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.
(In context, this refers to religious rock stars not only following scripture, but actually adding to the complexity of scripture.... They added to the law and made the laws even harder to follow, but they had no compassion for the burdens of others, and even convicted men of sins with condemnation, without offering Love or Compassion to ease the internal pain they continually caused others. The only solutions they offered were religious practices and the purchasing of marked up temple sold sacrifices)
*note: Parasees believed in Heaven, Saducees didn't
5 They do everything to be observed by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.
(Phylacteries are still used and they are boxes worn on the head to keep recorded laws of Moses, they expanded them by adding to them to show how well they kept the law.
This was a way of saying, look at me, I'm righteous beyond compare.
The Tassels reference is about garment boarders that were symbolic of heaven and the 613 laws that the scribes counted from Moses. They enlarged these to again show they were perfect by law and thus heaven bound)
6 They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues,
(They lived as religious rock stars and were heroes to many, they were constantly gaining favoritism for their good deeds and scriptural knowledge)
7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people.
(Their motivation was self seeking and they counted their respected positions as sacred)
8 “But as for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi,’ because you have one Teacher,[h] and you are all brothers.
(To Lord over people and tell them that you are the infallible reflection of Scripture is bad for a human to do. All human beings are indeed fallible, while only God is our true teacher)
9 Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven.
(Even YHWH with us, Emanuel, set this example by calling His Spiritual form beyond time Father, and before you dive in on the Catholic Church note that Paul said:
For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (1 Corinthians 4:15 ESV)
But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. (Philippians 2:22 ESV)
Note in both these instances Paul is violating Jesus, but as the chief of all sinners by profession, Paul was not ever using this term to Lord over. People get hung up that Men and Women of the bible were without sin, and in doing so miss that we are elected by their admission of need to proclaim the only one who fills it)
10 And do not be called masters either, because you have one Master, the Messiah.
(No Human being has Truth, Jesus is the Truth. We are dim reflections of the servant King of kings)
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
(Jesus only referenced God as the God/Man amongst us, and He served all to the point the disciples called Him out on it by warning him to not hang around unreligious sinners, He was called a glutton and a drunk, He washed our feet and let a sinful woman wash His feet with her hair and kisses in preparation for His burial)
12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
(The dependent on God, honest sinners will be vindicated, while the self proclaimed righteous will weep at their error)
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You lock up the kingdom of heaven from people. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.
(By demanding adherence to the Law, condemning people by the Law and demanding that men follow teachings of men to be saved, the Kingdom of God appeared Locked up to those that sinned... Deviated from the Law of Moses....
As far as Jesus's implication about doing this in there respects, I am deeply concerned for many, but trust God)
14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a harsher punishment.
(These people took advantage of the weak monetarily and only offered prayers for people, while letting them suffer in spirit and flesh)
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell[l] as you are!
(The better translation of this is Sons of The Accuser.... But regardless, it means they look for converts to their teachings of men and once they find them, they make them more selfish and merciless than they themselves are)
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the sanctuary, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by his oath.’[m]
(They point to the effort of flesh, instead of the work of God. The sanctuary of that time was the most elaborate sanctuary of all and it was Herod's Temple, yet it was pointing to the work of Jesus, instead, they pointed to money that is indeed worked for by human effort, or the accomplishment of human hands that was manifest in the gold of the temple that was part of its very mortar and all throughout it)
17 Blind fools![n] For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold?
(Jesus is of coarse the true Temple/Sanctuary of God, and by Him, we may have His fullness in us as well... For do we not know we are Temples of God?..... And in that, we find that a gathering of believers is a gathering of temples proclaiming gods good work. To relegate Gods work to the flesh is so very dangerous)
18 Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’[o]
(Again, this is about the work of flesh (meat), Vs the Work of God who recognizes the sacrifice... It is Gods mercy that sanctifies, not the quality of the flesh)
19 Blind people![p] For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
(Is not Jesus the Alter and the sacrifice?)
20 Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it.
(When we vow to God, and He recognizes our worthless offering of ourselves to Him, it is there that we see He accepts us, not because we are good, but because He is the Good Father aching to embrace us out of Love that covers a multitude of wrongs)
21 The one who takes an oath by the sanctuary takes an oath by it and by Him who dwells in it.
(God alone Sanctifies by His work of Love)
22 And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne and by Him who sits on it.
(Again, it all points to Gods work of Love)
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of[q] mint, dill, and cumin,[r] yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.
(To judge by the law is to literally violate Gods Royal Decree of MERCY, JUSTICE and FAITH that His Right Hand is strong enough to save ALL... Justice would have been the end of all mankind, but praise be to Jesus The Messiah that wields a scepter of Love and a Sword of Mercy.... In this light, it is not the sinner that should fear, but the one that judges sinners by the Law that should be afraid. Jesus never called a sinner the Son of the Devil, but the righteous that are proclaimed so by self and judge the soul of others because they sin differently than they themselves do are in great peril, unbeknownst to themselves. They are blind to their spiritual need, by defining others fleshly needs in matters of salvation)
24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, yet gulp down a camel!
(By judging the flesh, they themselves judge their own spirit. This is in no way a positive thing. Judgment is in the hands of the God that forgives. Praise Jesus that salvation is in the hands of the Servant King of kings, and not the brooding, viperous hands of humanity)
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed
(To clean the flesh by human effort and condemn others for not doing so is to miss ones deep internal need to fall broken before Jesus in admission that He alone is worthy of praise)
26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,[t] so the outside of it may also become clean.
(By eternal admission of Spiritual need for Jesus, due to all humanities Fleshly Evil, including our own, we are set free from this evil and immediately covered by the Atonement of Jesus. We are pressed even further to Jesus as we admit that He is sufficient for all others as well. Salvation is His work, proclamation in whatever way Jesus personally elects in us, faith and Love above all are our yoke. We shouldn't be seen as condemning people, judging all matters of sin, but beggars who found a limitless supply of food, willing to show the way to other beggars )
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity.
(To profess any difference from others, other than faith and a call to Love that is beyond measure, is to envy those who are not marred by human affirmed, man taught self righteousness and every one one the 613 laws of Moses)
28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
(To proclaim that we are a priesthood by our flesh, is to proclaim the Cross Worthless, and thus we become law breakers of the Royal law. This is true Lawlessness)
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
(For they did)
30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.
(Their lust for power, pride, self righteousness and elite status has continually caused the persecution of those buried in the Grace of the Slain Lamb of lambs)
31 You, therefore, testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
(They are witnesses against themselves, every human being they mock, condemn, judge or call unsaved)
32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ sins!
(They are exactly like the Father of deceivers, accusers and murderers)
33 “Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?
(Their use of Moses to break the hearts and lives of others, will be the very stone that is tied around their neck, God forbid He casts them into the ocean in which manner)
34 This is why I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and hound from town to town.
(I LOVE YOU, yet you yourselves are enemies of my Loving Work of Salvation, and thus you kill all who speak of me as Loving that give Hope to the hopeless and the means that the Godless might be saved. You have become my Adversaries or Satans)
35 So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you,[y] from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
(You who make my yoke Heavy and Cause any to lose faith by Judging, shall be Judged with ALL blood
36 I assure you: All these things will come on this generation!
(This begins as soon as my Good work is done)
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