But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. (Matthew 23:5)
Jesus was not against wearing phylacteries or fringes but rather rebuked the Pharisees for their motives. They were not trying to keep God's Word before them continually, as was the intent in Deuteronomy 6:8, but they wanted everyone to notice how holy they were. Motives, not actions, are usually what make people hypocrites.
Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9)
Likewise, Jesus told us not to call any man on earth "Father" (Mt 23:9). This is not speaking of a physical, father-child relationship, since the Apostle Paul applied this term to people often (Romans 4:11)
Apostle Paul even referred to himself as being a father to the believers in Corinth in a spiritual sense (1Corinthains 4:15).
Jesus pronounced eight denunciations in Matthew 23, each beginning with, "Woe unto you" (Matthew 23:13-16, 23, 25, 27, and 29).
Hypocrites don't practice what they preach (Matthew 23:3-4), they always seek self-glory instead of seeking to glorify God (Matthew 23:5-7), they have their priorities wrong (Mt 23:16-24), they focus on outward show instead of the inner condition of the heart (Matthew 23:25-28), and they always persecute the true worshipers of God (Matthew 23:29-35).
There are two main types of hypocrisy:
1.Not practicing what one preaches (Titus 1:16)
2.Right actions with wrong motives (Matthew 15:8).
This second type of hypocrisy was what Jesus rebuked in the scribes and Pharisees. It is more subtle than the first type and is very prevalent in religion today.
and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. (Matthew 23:14)
Jesus prayed for long periods of time including some all-night prayer times. Jesus was also disappointed that His disciples could not pray with Him for one hour. Therefore, Jesus was not rebuking long prayers but rather the fact that the scribes and Pharisees were praying only for pretense or show
What is worse than having no guide?
Having a blind guide
Woe to you, blind guides, (Matthew 23:16)
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? (Matthew 23:17)
The mistake that the Pharisees did was to put more emphasis on the material gift than the spiritual altar that sanctified the gift.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. (Matthew 23:23)
Some have erroneously taught that Jesus did away with the tithe since He did not specifically make it a part of His New Testament teaching. But in this instance, Jesus made endorsed tithing and implied that they were right in doing so. So then, the New Covenant did not do away with the tithe, but it did clarify what the motives for tithing should be. Grace never said don't give the tithe.
Abram tithed over 430 years before the Law was given (Genesis 14:20). Jacob also tithed approximately 300 years before the time of the Law (Genesis 28:22). Therefore, tithing was a Bible principle that didn't begin or end with the Law of Moses.
Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! (Matthew 23:24)
This is a classic example of majoring on the minors. This means focusing on trivial things and ignoring major issues.
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