There are 9 Beatitudes in Matthew 5, there are 7 “Woes” given here. Whatever else you do, make sure you model the Beatitudes and DON’T model the Woes.
The Pharisees were men who thought they were doing the right thing. Maybe not today, but in days past they were in earnest in their faith. The problem wasn’t that they didn’t try hard enough, or have enough faith. The problem was they misunderstood the Scripture, which led to poor practice. On top of that, they lost their humility, which allowed arrogance and pride to grow in their lives. On top of that, they had become greedy. I doubt they would have recognized or agreed to any of these charges….because their hearts were now hardened. Let’s take a look at the eight points on which Jesus takes issue with them.
1. (13) Made it difficult for people to enter into a relationship with Jesus…and didn’t have one themselves
2. (15) Similar to the first, they evangelize, but then make it hard to accept God
3. (16) They held the physical things of this life in greater regard than the spiritual eternal things. (valued the gold over the altar)
4. (23)They were faithful to complete the tasks that God requires ie: tithing, but they neglected what was more important: ie: attitudes and humble service. They should have done both. Quick note here: in this passage Jesus confirms that we should tithe.
5. (25) Greed and self indulgence had wormed their way into their lives. You can’t stop people from praising you, but you shouldn’t live for it, or hunger after it. Thinking about yourself first, or more than you should…is a deceptively easy sin to fall into.
6. (27) Hypocrisy and lawlessness. Once they realized, they didn’t repent. They began to ignore the Law they were custodians of in order to stay in power. John the Baptist is a good example of the opposite behavior. He steps aside and points to Jesus. John said that he should become “less” and Jesus would become “greater”. These Pharisees taught forgiveness and compassion, but in their hearts they were neither.
7. (29) They act like they are on the side of the righteous, decorating their tombs, and celebrating their lives. But in reality, they are the type of people who kill prophets. Perfect example: they decorate the tombs of prophets while they are plotting to kill Jesus. These men knew nothing of genuine faith. But they had an appearance of faith about them. The person who didn’t know anything about true faith might find them quite compelling.
Before we “cast stones” at the Pharisee’s let’s remember that they probably began as men who wanted to preserve the faith. In humility we should always pray that God will keep us from the same sort of shortcomings that they succumbed to.
Seeking the deeper path,
PR