Jesus told the crowds:

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets.”

Matthew 23:27-32 - World English Bible

In the last two woes of Matthew 23, Jesus ramped up his criticism of the scribes and Pharisees with two charges: internal impurity and murder of the prophets. Both continued his rant from 23:25-26; both laid the worst type of charges against his opponents.

Jesus stated those who set the standards for kosher were themselves as unclean as rotting corpses. YHWH demanded purity among the people; those who acted as a gates to such a holy existence became what they guarded against because of their rigidity in practice. Such a highly regulated lifestyle left no place for compassion (23:13, 23-24). In the place of mercy stood a narcissistic evil.

Jesus saved the worst for last. The scribes and the Pharisees, the men who honored the prophets by defining the Hebrew scriptures as “the Law and the prophets,” implicitly opposed the heroes of the past. Over and over, evil men cut down those who spoke God's Word of care for the weak and the poor. The Lord charged his enemies with sharing the intent of those who killed God's messengers. Both placed self concern and self preservation over the good of others. So, the scribes and the Pharisees were the spiritual children of those who murdered the prophets.

The woes of Jesus stand as a caution sign to our spiritual life. We should not allow our practices to cloud our view of the good we can bring others.

Over the past three days we've considered a balanced spiritual life, molding practice and compassion. What progress have you made toward that balance?