In Matthew 23 Jesus is recorded as confronting the religious authorities of his day. The assumptions and practices of the Pharisees were deplorable enough to warrant this rather ruthless denunciation by Jesus in a series known as the 7 woes. Here I gathered their conclusions into forms that might offer a fresh way of understanding his teaching.
- You are a gatekeeper to heaven. (13-14)
- You can make sons of hell. (15)
- You should simply tell the truth. (16-22)
- God wants all of you, all of the time. (23-24)
- God wants your inside before he wants your outside. (25-26)
- You can look alive on the outside while being dead on the inside. (27-28)
- You must leave room for God’s grace in your life. (29-32)
