New Testament Commentary - Matthew 23

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 23 Jesus pronounces woes upon the scribes and Pharisees—The blood of the prophets shall be required at their hands—They shall not escape the damnation of hell.
Seat of Moses This stone 'Seat of Moses' was excavated from the Ancient Synagogue at Chorazin, Israel. Depending upon the 'luxury' of the enterior of a synagogue, it would have such a stone particular seat and around the synagogue the elders would sit either on the ground or on benches. During the weekly Hebrew Bible reading one would rise to read from the delivered scripture and then sit on such as this seat to explain it. During the judgment councils of such lesser 'Sanhedrins' and even of the Grand Jerusalem Sanhedrin, the council would so sit about with the preciding high priest/official taking his place upon the 'Seat of Moses' to administer the Law of Moses. It may be asked if this is what Christ did in Nazareth? Did he stand to read from Isaiah 61 and then sit upon Moses' Seat of that synagogue to then explain who he was (Luke 4:16-28)? Was he that prophet like unto Moses foretold, who now sat upon Moses' Seat? They wondered concerning the explanation Christ gave and asked 'Is this not Joseph's Son?' (see Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph), but they became angered when he put Israel down in compared treatments of the pagans of Elijah's and Elisha's day. Had Jesus intimated that the Messiah was come to the benefit and ministery unto the Gentiles and not to Jews? When Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin Grand Council of Jerusalem, the Supreme Court of the land, this arrangement was that in which he stood. The High Sanhedrin council sat about and the high priest Caiaphas would have taken his seat upon Moses' Seat of Judgment in the ancient order of the council of Israel. Perhaps this 'stone bench' type seat of Moses gives an additional perception to the phrase, 'the ruling from the bench' in our own legal terminology or nomenclature.
1 THEN spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying, The ^ascribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' ^bseat^a: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. The Sanhedrin The specific 'scribes and Pharisees' to which Jesus referred to were those who made up the various ruling bodies of the Jews. The main Sanhedrin of the 'high seventies' resided in Jerusalem. That Sandhedrin court consisted of seventy high elders of Israel, also called according to their religious sect, Pharisees, Sadducees, etc., and as the 'princes of Israel' as they were commonly selected from the known heads or chiefs of the leading powerful and wealthy families. Other sub-courts existed due to the diversity of location and the need for such. Thus Capernum of Galilee had their own Pharisees and Sadducees of one of these lesser courts that where subjegated to the high court of Jerusalem. Not all of this 'high court' of Jerusalem were opposed to Jesus. But certainly they who comprised the seats of the attending Judges the night of the trial were all so adjurned under the order of the persecuting High Priest. Joseph of Arimathaea and the Pharisee Necodemus were actual disciples and members of Christ Church, but their membership was of necessity secretive due to the overwhelming majority of the Sadhedrin elders. Joseph of Arimathaea was not one who was called upon to act in the 'judgement quorum' of Jesus that night of his trial, neither most likely was Nicodemus. Only those who held the hardline against Christ were called upon to form the judgement quorum that night.	2^a The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat As opposed to the LORD 'mercy seat' within the walls of the temple, where grace and mercy was shown as a result of the atonement to the end of forgiving sin; the seat of Moses' was that of the Judgement Seat. Moses was the first Chief Judge of Israel. In Moses' day this task was too burdensome for Moses alone (Exodus 18:13), thus the order of the 70 elders of Israel were established to aid Moses in judging Israel (Numbers 11:14-17 & 24-25). After the time of Moses, the Judgeship and the priest of the temple where separate, Joshua being the next apointed Judge in Israel. When Israel required of Samuel that he and his sons no longer judge Israel but that Israel should have a King the power of the 'judgeship' was divided betweent he King upon civil matters and the seventy of the Sanhedrin over religious matters of the Law of Moses. And it was then that the matter of administering the 'religious law' over the people fell to the Chief High Priest. Thus on the one hand the rule of law according to Moses and the Seventy of Israel remained in tack as far as the Law of Moses was concerned. But like all matters so divided between 'Church and State', there is overlap and often a struggle over which is a matter of state and which is a matter of religion. And thus some close referencing correlation, out of necessity, evolved between the King and his court and that of the court of the temple, the princes and elders of the people under the High Priest. This explains much about the days of Zedekiah and the Rulers or Princes of Israel had obtain so much the power over the King and the goings on at the time of Christ with the actual three ruling bodies (Roman's Pilate, Judah's King Herod and the court of the Sanhedrin) of his day which he was suffled between the night and morning of his 'trials'.	1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of; 'A Pithy Sanhedrin History' A number of scholars will present that the 'Sanhedrin' of the Jews did not have a recognized beginning until around 200 C.E. Their point is that the term 'Sanhedrin' did not exist or have a difinition unto the Jewish sturcture until that time when the Hellenization of the Jews was also so established. In his compaigns of conquest Alexander had spared Jerusalem but in the subsequent periods of the Greek influence, the Greek language became a standard of influence. Hebrew names began to have Greek/Roman substitues. And many Jewish terms or concepts became defined in the Greek. Yes, the Jewish judgment council was not known by the name Sanhedrin until around 200 C.E. 'Sunedrion' literally meant 'sitting together'. This 'sitting together' council of judgment of the Jewish elders had been in existence since the time of Moses and his selection of the 70 elders who were to assist him in administering the Law of Moses among the Children of Israel (see Number 11). It continued under Joshua where Joshua became the high judge in Moses' stead or seat. During the period of the Judges, the system still existed but perhaps secondary councils in various cities took shape due to the divisions of the land. When the kings came into power, the administration of the Law of Moses did not end and it did not fall under the King's realm of jurisdiction. Rather the chief high priest assumed Moses'/Joshua's role and the selected elders to aid in its administration continued. That council of 'rulers', 'judges', 'princes' and/or 'elders' had existed even down to and during the time of Jeremiah the prophet and before the Babylonian captivity. It was that body of rulers, elders and princes which so influence the 'puppet king' Zedekiah. And shortly after the Jewish return out of that captivity, that council of the Jews over the Law of Moses was again reestabished. Just because it was given a Hellenistic name 'Sanhedrin' placed upon the Jewish Law of Moses council during the Hellenization of the Jews did not mean that it had not been in existance before. One might as well set forth that there was not to be a 'Christ' until the Greeks used that Greek term or name in the place of the Hebrew 'Messiah'.
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they ^amake broad their ^bphylacteries, and enlarge the ^cborders of their garments, 6 And love the ^auppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, ^aRabbi. 8 But be not ye called ^aRabbi: for one is your ^bMaster, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9 ^aAnd *call no man* your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven^a**.	*9^a call no man* your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven** This is not speaking in a family since for indeed men have fathers of their flesh which they are commanded to honor. What this is speaking of is in a religious gospel and eternal sense, Now we might refer to the Bishop as the 'father of the ward' and so there seems to have been a like consideration in the early Christian Church. But as this states we do not call him our Father, our Papa or our Pope. This practice the early apostasy fell into, call their Bishops by the title of Father, Papa which is the meaning of the name Pope. None is the Holy Father but God. And no one in the Church of God ought to be called by the name of Father. Thus a mark of false religion is for their minister to be called by the name of Father or as in the case of the Catholic Church 'Pope'. This is what this scripture has reference to.	1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, ^aeven Christ. 11 But he that is ^agreatest among you shall be your ^bservant. 12 And whosoever shall ^aexalt himself shall be ^babased; and he that shall ^chumble himself shall be exalted.
13 ¶ But woe unto you, ^ascribes and ^bPharisees, ^chypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. 14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye ^adevour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater ^bdamnation. 15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell ^athan yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye ^ablind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, ^ahypocrites! for ye pay ^btithe of mint and ^canise and cummin, and have ^domitted the weightier matters of the law, ^ejudgment, ^fmercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a ^acamel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of ^aextortion and ^bexcess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, ^acleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto ^awhited ^bsepulchres, which indeed appear ^cbeautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all ^duncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear ^arighteous unto men, but within ye are full of ^bhypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the ^aprophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which ^akilled the ^bprophets. 32 Fill ye up then the ^ameasure of your ^bfathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye ^ageneration of vipers, how can ye escape the ^bdamnation of hell?
34 ¶ Wherefore, behold, I send unto you ^aprophets, and wise men, and ^bscribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35 That upon you may come all the righteous ^ablood shed upon the earth, from the blood of ^brighteous Abel unto the blood of ^cZacharias son of Barachias^a, whom ye slew between the ^ctemple and the altar. 36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this ^ageneration. Jesus' Condemnation In Jesus' condemnation of this generation of Jews and their leaders, Christ does recite that they had so persecuted, scourged, stoned and murdered the prophets of God from the righteous Abel all the way down to Zacharias, the priestly father and prophet father of John the Baptist. Certainly Jesus was speaking directing his accusation to the Pharisees and scripes, yet he includes the murder of Abel which Cain committed all the way down until his time and the immediate generation just prior to his own in the murder of John's father Zacharias. Technically those two extremes may be looked upon by the Jews to be outside of their resposibility as Cain was not a Jew and it was Herod's edict which led to Zacharias' death when he would not reveal were his son's and wife's 'hiding place' was. And though it was based upon Herod's the current King of the Jew's order, Jesus lays the blame of it upon the whole of the Jews including those Pharisees and scribes to who is speaking. He states, " ... unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, who *ye slew* between the temple and the altar." This collective guilt reminds one that the sin of murding the prophets is a sin laid upon all who have so committed it. Yet the Pharisee and scribes may claim, 'We did not kill Zacharias, but did Herod. Yet the complicity in the crime is laid upon the whole of those who so was a part thereof. Where would Herod seek to find the names of those who might well have been the object of the wisemen's worship but of the scribes and Pharisees. Even in devulging to Herod that John had been one of great fulfillment of prophesies, they do literally finger the fate of Zacharias.	35^a Zacharias son of Barachias Some would make this the same as Zechariah son of Jehoiada (See 2 Chr. 24:20). But the prophet Joseph Smith taught that this Zacharias the son of Barachias was the same as Zacharias father of John the Baptist (See TPJS page 261). It seems that in the circumstance of the slaughter of the children from age 2 and under, John the Baptist fell in that grouping and since he had been celebrated and known, he specifically was sought after as some had made him out to be the possible promised Messiah which Herod sought to be killed. And in cooperation with the Sanhedrin found and had Zacharias killed as he would not devulge the whereabouts of his wife and son John. This would add to the concept that the 'hill country' wherein Zacharias did live was indeed included in that of Ramah, for it was Rachel's weeping which was prophesied by the Prophet Jeremiah (See Jeremiah 31:15) and referenced by the Apostle Matthew (See Matthew 2:16-18) whose weeping and morning for all her children relative to the babes who where killed was heard in Ramah. This puts Zacharias in that same Levite family group assigned to the cities of Ephraim and of the same location site as Joseph of Arimathaea was from.	Joseph Smith's Statement " ... When Herod's edict went forth to destroy the young children, John was about six months older than Jesus, and came under this hellish edict, and Zacharias caused his mother to take him into the mountains, where he was raised on locusts and wild honey. When his father refused to disclose his hiding place and being the officiating high priest at the Temple that year, was slain by Herod's order, between the porch and the altar, as Jesus said. ... " (TPJS page 261). And as Jesus just said, 'the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.' (Matthew 23:35) Jesus was speaking to the Jews collectively and the Pharisees and scribes specifically. That the edict order was that of Herod is but the order. The compliance with the order Jesus seems to lay at the feet of the Jews as a whole as he is more specifically speaking to the Pharisees and scribes of the Jews. Whether Jesus is stating implicitely that all the Jews held mutual guilt of allowing Herod their King to carry forth that order or whether the Pharisees and scribes did more actively participate by directing, devulging, complying with, and even participating in such an act is not so clearly historically found. Yet the cooperation of the Kingly rule and that of the Sanhedrin is clearly set out in the united effort of hatred toward the Messiah as exhibited by the joint efforts of King Herod and the Sanhedrin on the night and morning of the trials of Christ and his eventual execution by crucifixion. There too the Pharisees and scribes of the Jews do claim that it was Roman who so killed the Christ and not the Jews. Yet the record so states that Pilate of Roman would have set Jesus free finding no fault in him but that the Jews did opening pronouce and seek his life. And when Pilate symbolically washed his hands of the blood of Christ, it was the Jews who had said, 'His blood be upon us, and on our children.' (Matthew 26:25) It was the Jewish intent and purpose that Christ be killed and the moving force behind it was that of the Jews of the chief priest and the Sanhedrin. Likewise, who is to say that the advise of King Herod in the time of Christ did not so evolve around and in conjunction with the Jews who had voice and complicity with Herod and whose influence and purpose was but the same with the King? And so did Jesus so state that Zacharias' blood was upon the hands of the Pharisees and scribes of the Jews.
37 O ^aJerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that ^bkillest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often ^cwould I have ^dgathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye ^ewould not! 38 Behold, your house is left unto you ^adesolate. 39 ^aFor I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, ^bBlessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.