that language well. It teaches a solemn lesson. It shows how utterly ahominable the spirit of the Scribes and Pharisees is in God's sight, in whatever form it may be found.
Let us glance shortly at the eight charges which our Lord brings forward, and then seek to draw from the whole passage some general instruction.
The first "woe" in the list is directed against the systematic opposition of the Scribes and Pharisees to the progress of the Gospel. They " shut up the kingdom of heaven." They would neither go in themselves, nor suffer others to go in. They rejected the warning voice of John the Baptist. They refused to acknowledge Jesus, when He appeared among them, as the Messiah. They tried to keep back Jewish inquirers. They would not believe the Gospel themselves, and they did all in their power to prevent others believing it. This was a great sin.
The second " woe" in the list is directed against the covetousness and self-aggrandizing spirit of the Scribes and Pharisees. They "devoured widows' houses, and for a pretence made long prayer." They imposed on the credulity of weak and unprotected women, by an affecta- tion of great devoutness, until they were regarded as their spiritual directors. They scrupled not to abuse the influence thus unrighteously obtained, to their own temporal advantage, and in a word to make money by their religion. This again was a great sin.
The third " woe" in the list is directed against the zeal of the Scribes and Pharisees for making j)artisans. They " compassed sea and land to make one proselyte." They labored incessantly to make men join their party
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and adopt their opinions. They did this from no desire to benefit men's souls in the least, or to bring them to God. They only did it to swell the ranks of their sect, and to increase the number of their adherents, and their own importance. Their religious zeal arose from sec- tarianism, and not from the love of God. This also w^as a great sin.
The fourth ^^ woe'' in the list is directed against the doctrines of the Scribes and Pharisees . about oaths. They drew subtle distinctions between one kind of oath and another. They taught the Jesuitical tenet, that some oaths were binding on men, while others were not. They attached greater importance to oaths sworn " by the gold" offered to the temple, than to oaths sworn " by the temple" itself By so doing they brought the third commandment into contempt — and by making men overrate the value of alms and oblations, advanced their own interests. This again was a great sin.-'-*
The fifth " woe" in the list is directed against the practice of the Scribes and Pharisees, to exalt trifles in religion above serious things, to put the last things first, and the fii'st last. They made great ado about tithing " mint," and other garden herbs, as if they could not be too strict in their obedience to God's law. And yet at the same time they neglected great plain duties, such as justice, charity, and honesty. This again was a great sin.
* This practice of tampering with oaths, -was well knoTrn among the heathen, as a feature in the Jewish character. It is a striking fact, that Martial, the Roman poet, specially refers to it :
" Ecce negas, jurasque mihi per templa Tonantis ;
Non credo : Jura, verpe, per Anchialum." — Martial, ix. 94.