The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 403

Is the father of lies. God loveth truth. These hypocrites, the Lord said, shut up the kingdom of heaven against men. The kingdom of heaven was the Christian Church which the Lord had come to establiah upon earth. There were multitudes willing to listen to the gospel of the kingdom, ready to enter in. But the Pharisees closed the way; they brought all their great influence to bear upon the work ot obstruction, They would not enter into the kingdom themselves; they were like the guests first bidden in the parable of the marriage supper. And they hindered them that were entering in, who were on the point of becoming Christ's disciples. When the people were amazed at hie mighty works, and said," ls not this the Son of David?" the Phari- sees interfered with their envious and malicious suggestions, and dared to attribute the miracles of the bleBBed Saviour to the agency of Satan. They agreed that if any man did confess that he was the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. So they shut up the kingdom of hea.ven against men, They set themselves in direct opposition to the gracious will of God, to the Saviour's work of love, opposing him now, as after- wards they opposed his apostles-" forbidding us," says St. Paul (1 Thess. ii, 16), "to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to 6.11 up their sins al way: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost." Upon those who fight against God, who hinder the work of hia servants, who try to check the progress of the gospel, the woe must come, the heavy wrath of God must surely fall upon them. 2. The second woe. Ver. 14 has apparently been inserted here from Mark xii. 40 and .Luke xx. 47, where it is certainly genuine. The scribes were like those false teachers described by St. Paul in 2 Tim. iii. 6. They made a profit of their reputation for knowledge and sanctity, imposing upon weak women. They were not what the Lord bade his apostles to be, fishers of men's souls, but they fished for their money. They made long prayers, but their prayers were mere acting; they were addressed in reality not to God, but to men, to those widows and others whose favour they sought for .filthy lucre's sake. Therefore, the Lord said, they should receive greater con- demnation. They were not only hypocrites; they were covetous, dishonest. The condemnation of the hypocrite would fall upon them, and the condemnation of the thief. The affectation of piety for the sake of selfish gain is awful guilt in the sight of the all-holy Lord. We were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but. with the precious blood of Christ. That tremendous ransom ought to give depth, reality, zeal, to our religion. It is grievous sin to substitute earthly motives for that one only Christian motive, grateful love for our Redeemer. 3. The third woe. The Pharisees were not without zeal; they had zeal enough; they were fanatics; they would compass sea and land to make a single proselyte. But their zeal was party Eeal. Party spirit had taken the place of religion in their hearts; they would work hard for their party; they would not deny themselves to please God. Their missionary zeal, such as it was, brought no glory to Almighty God, saved no souls. The proselyte, once made, became twofold more the child of hell than his teachers, more bigoted, more devoted to party, narrower and more exclusive, prouder of the privileges of Judaism than even those who had been born Jews. They should have been children of the kingdom; alas I they were children of hell; for there is no place in the kingdom of heaven for hypocrites, but only for the true worshippers, who worship God in spirit and in truth. The devil.is the father of lies; those whose worship is a lie must have their place with him. 4. The fourth woe. They were blind guides, fools and blind. They f.lrofessed to be teachers; they despised the untaught. "This people," they said, "who knoweth not the Law are cursed" (John vii. 49). But they were ignorant them- selves; they did not understand the very ritual which they prized so highly. Their teaching was full of puerile and false distinctions. An oath by the temple, they said, was not binding, neither an oath by the altar; but he was a debtor who swore by the gold of the temple or by the gift that lay upon the altar. They who taught such untruth, such folly, were fools and blind indeed. They did not understand the order of consecration; the gold was eaored only because it belonged to the temple, which was the house of God; the gift was sacrecl only because it was offered upon the altar, which was the table of the Lord, The gold derived its sacredness from the temple, the giH from the altar. The Lord recognizes the reverence which is due to consecrated things and places. We may find God everywhere; we may worship him everywhere, not only at Jel'Ulalem or on Mount Gerizim; but in the present limitations and con- 408 TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [011. xxm. 1-3t.