The religious scholars known as scribes and the ultra-orthodox Pharisee group were well represented in Judaea, and could easily walk out to the Bethany of Peraea to take a look at Jesus while he remained in that vicinity on the Jordan River's east bank.
One day, a Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner. (We cannot say exactly where this took place.)
So Jesus went inside and sat down to dine – without first washing himself from a large pot dedicated for ritual bathing.
His host's face made plain his disapproval. But Jesus turned to the man and told him off. "You Pharisees make a big show of cleaning the outside of the vessel, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness. Absurd people, did not he who made the outside also make the inside? If you give over to God what's on the inside, then everything else is clean to you."
Jesus in this teaching is comparing the drinking cup or vessel with the human body, which is the vessel of the mind, however dark.
Jesus unleashed a blast at religious folderol.
"Teacher," said a scribe, "when you say such things, you also reproach us."
Jesus replied, "Woe to you lawyers, also!"
He leveled another blast:
Jesus continued, "Woe to you, lawyers! You take away the key of knowledge. Not only do you not go inside, you lock out others!"
After the legal scholars and Pharisees heard these sayings, they began to pay Jesus very close attention, hoping to trap him with something he might say.
One day, a Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner. (We cannot say exactly where this took place.)
So Jesus went inside and sat down to dine – without first washing himself from a large pot dedicated for ritual bathing.
His host's face made plain his disapproval. But Jesus turned to the man and told him off. "You Pharisees make a big show of cleaning the outside of the vessel, but inside you are full of extortion and wickedness. Absurd people, did not he who made the outside also make the inside? If you give over to God what's on the inside, then everything else is clean to you."
Jesus in this teaching is comparing the drinking cup or vessel with the human body, which is the vessel of the mind, however dark.
Jesus unleashed a blast at religious folderol.
Woe to you, Pharisees! You pay the tithe on dill and cummin, but leave undone the weightier matters of the law.
Woe to you, Pharisees! You love the chief seats in the synagogues, and the salutations of people in the street, and honor during the feasts, and to have people call you 'Rabbi.'
Woe to you, scribes, Pharisees, frauds!
You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of corpse rot."
We may observe that though his disciples and others often addressed Jesus as rabbi (or teacher), he sought no honors. Jesus often referred to himself in the third person as the son of man – an appellation that could be taken to mean messiah, but that most would have heard as a turn of phrase for modestly referring to oneself in the third person. That is, they would have heard something like, "This man here has nowhere to lay his head." (At other times, "son of man" could be taken to mean "some man," without referring specifically to Jesus.)
"Teacher," said a scribe, "when you say such things, you also reproach us."
Jesus replied, "Woe to you lawyers, also!"
He leveled another blast:
You lay on people grievously heavy burdensJesus added,
but don't lift a finger to help lighten a load.
Woe to you! You decorate the tombs of the prophets
that your fathers killed.
All you are doing is condoning your fathers' deeds.
Because of this, God's Wisdom said, 'I will send them prophets and messengers and some of them they will kill and persecute so that this generation might be charged for the blood of all the prophets that has been poured out since the foundation of the world – from the blood of Abel [ywt.1] to the blood of Zechariah, [ywt.2] who perished between the altar and sanctuary.' Yes, I say to you, it will be required of this generation.
I read because of this to mean because of the preference for formalities over mercy. That is, the reason God sent prophets and wise men was to provoke people to grasp real religion, and not to become overly involved in mumbo jumbo and hocus pocus.
Though it is possible Jesus quoted "God's Wisdom" in this context, I suspect that, when the Lucan writer encountered this teaching, he realized that there is no specific Scripture saying "I will send them prophets and messengers..." and so he attributed the saying to God's Wisdom. The writer of Matthew omits that locution.
In any case, though Jesus was not directly quoting Scripture, his quotation of God makes perfect sense. If God sent prophets, then he must have resolved to do so, as in "I said to myself I will send prophets..." Then, Jesus makes the point that those prophets were sent for a specific reason. In fact, there are a number of Scriptures that talk about why prophets were sent and a major focus was on the denouncing of vain religiosity versus God's desire for kindness and mercy from his people.
And what does Jesus mean by the religious frauds these days being required to pay for the blood of all the prophets? I believe that what is meant is that today's religious frauds are no better than people of previous times who murdered God's prophets. The guilt of the "religious" men of Jesus' day was equal to the guilt of those who killed the prophets in times past – which is why he calls them "your fathers."
We may put what Jesus said in modern terms: "You religious lawyers, by worrying about religious junk, are just like the men of yesteryear who, while focused on outward things, killed the prophets and God's men. You are just as guilty as they are – and your type is facing a reckoning for all that blood that's been spilled."
The scribe/lawyers were facing a severe judgment. But, on the bright side, it was Jesus whose blood would go to pay for all that sin and bloodshed. That is, these fellows owed big-time for their deathly grip on the people, but Jesus would pay their bill for them, on condition that they serve him (but how many would?).
Though it is possible Jesus quoted "God's Wisdom" in this context, I suspect that, when the Lucan writer encountered this teaching, he realized that there is no specific Scripture saying "I will send them prophets and messengers..." and so he attributed the saying to God's Wisdom. The writer of Matthew omits that locution.
In any case, though Jesus was not directly quoting Scripture, his quotation of God makes perfect sense. If God sent prophets, then he must have resolved to do so, as in "I said to myself I will send prophets..." Then, Jesus makes the point that those prophets were sent for a specific reason. In fact, there are a number of Scriptures that talk about why prophets were sent and a major focus was on the denouncing of vain religiosity versus God's desire for kindness and mercy from his people.
And what does Jesus mean by the religious frauds these days being required to pay for the blood of all the prophets? I believe that what is meant is that today's religious frauds are no better than people of previous times who murdered God's prophets. The guilt of the "religious" men of Jesus' day was equal to the guilt of those who killed the prophets in times past – which is why he calls them "your fathers."
We may put what Jesus said in modern terms: "You religious lawyers, by worrying about religious junk, are just like the men of yesteryear who, while focused on outward things, killed the prophets and God's men. You are just as guilty as they are – and your type is facing a reckoning for all that blood that's been spilled."
The scribe/lawyers were facing a severe judgment. But, on the bright side, it was Jesus whose blood would go to pay for all that sin and bloodshed. That is, these fellows owed big-time for their deathly grip on the people, but Jesus would pay their bill for them, on condition that they serve him (but how many would?).
Jesus continued, "Woe to you, lawyers! You take away the key of knowledge. Not only do you not go inside, you lock out others!"
Luke also quotes Jesus as saying:
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! Frauds! You are like unmarked graves that people walk over unawares.Contact with the dead or with human graves or bones brought ritual impurity, notes the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Bible commentary, citing Numbers 19:16. "Jesus presents the Pharisees as those who insidiously lead others astray through their seeming attention to the law."
After the legal scholars and Pharisees heard these sayings, they began to pay Jesus very close attention, hoping to trap him with something he might say.
Next Page: Section 35
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