Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees

Today's Reflections


                                                           

Denunciation of the Scribes and Pharisees 
 

Mt 23:27-32

[Jesus said,] ²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. ²⁸Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.

²⁹“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, ³⁰and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ ³¹Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; ³²now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees. The series of woes represents judgments, not only by Jesus but by the One who sent him, on the scribes and Pharisees and all who make a mockery of religion. In this sixth woe, Jesus warns against concerning oneself with external appearances while neglecting the state of one’s heart. He compares the errant religious leaders to tombs in a cemetery that are so impressive but are filled with decaying bodies of the dead. For the Jews, even inadvertent contact with the dead causes ritual impurity (cf Nm 19:11-22); hence, the practice of whitewashing tombs to avoid contracting impurity.

The scribes and Pharisees are fair and upright in appearance as they go about their day, scrupulously observing the minutest detail of the law. But their hearts do not bear looking into. Their dark hearts are unmoved by the plight of the poor whom they burden by their rigid observance of the letter—not the spirit—of the law.

In the life of St. Monica we see how a wife and mother could bring her family closer to God through her prayers, patience, and love. Her sacrifices bore fruit as her abusive husband and wayward son changed their ways and turned to God.

“In place of a basket filled with fruits of the earth,

she [Monica] had learned to bring to the oratories of the martyrs

a heart full of purer petitions, and to give all that she could to the poor”

(St. Augustine, Confessions).