Brood of vipers

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isabella_123

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Hi everyone!

I have a few questions on some verses in Mat 23:

Mat 23: 27:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”

And Mat 23:33
"“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? "

1_ Why did Jesus say that?
In these verses, Jesus doesn’t seem to distinguish between the sin and the sinner. His words aren’t exactly constructive criticism… I would even dare say they are real insults, but for what use? They didn’t make the Pharisees repent, did they? And they seemed to have encouraged the people to have a judgmental attitude towards Pharisiees.

It seems to me that, had you looked in Jesus’s eyes while he was saying these things, you would have found hatred, not love for the Pharisees. It also seems that Jesus was behaving not like a mother wanting to save her child (Pharisees) from the danger of being hit by a car, but like an angry mother self-righteously condemning someone (Pharisees) who, she thinks, has harmed her child (everyone else).

2_ While saying these things, did Jesus experience uncontrolable anger? Had he lost his temper?
 
Because on the outside they practiced all the Jewish laws and precepts but in their hearts they had no compassion , love or forgiveness for others and took complete pride in their actions.Which is a warning to all of us in the practice of our faith that without love it doesn’t really amount to much and the message of Gods word in Christ is lost. Whats in our heart for others God will see.
 
isabella_123 said:
Mat 23: 27:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
And Mat 23:33
"“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? "

1_ Why did Jesus say that?
In these verses, Jesus doesn’t seem to distinguish between the sin and the sinner. His words aren’t exactly constructive criticism… I would even dare say they are real insults, but for what use? They didn’t make the Pharisees repent, did they? And they seemed to have encouraged the people to have a judgmental attitude towards Pharisees.
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The Pharisees are teachers. Not only is their message wrong, but through their message they are leading people away from the True Way. This is a serious abuse of their role. He had to criticize both. He was here to teach, to shake up the inadequate faith in the Law.
It seems to me that, had you looked in Jesus’s eyes while he was saying these things, you would have found hatred, not love for the Pharisees. It also seems that Jesus was behaving not like a mother wanting to save her child (Pharisees) from the danger of being hit by a car, but like an angry mother self-righteously condemning someone (Pharisees) who, she thinks, has harmed her child (everyone else).
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  • Never hatred! Christ was fully human, but he was still all Good. He always faithfully abided by the will of the Father.
  • Who besides “The Righteous One” has a better right to be self-righteous?
  • Jesus was not nice. His mission was not to avoid hurting people’s feelings. He was KIND. By His teaching He was showing all of us the way we must interpret God’s will in the Scriptures.
2_ While saying these things, did Jesus experience uncontrolable anger? Had he lost his temper?
Click to expand...
  • Righteous anger is not forbidden, you know. We should feel righteous angry when we hear about the Black “mass” at Harvard or read about the girls stolen by terrorists.
  • The deadly sin is not righteous anger, but wrath.
  • Jesus was experiencing and acting from righteous anger.
From my favorite Catholic writer:
But amidst all these rejoicings Aslan himself quietly slipped away. And when the Kings and Queens noticed that he wasn’t there they said nothing about it. For Mr Beaver had warned them, “He’ll be coming and going,” he had said. “One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down and of course he has other countries to attend to. It’s quite all right. He’ll often drop in. Only you mustn’t press him. **He’s wild,’ you know. Not like a tame lion.” ** -C. S. Lewis
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I believe that Jesus said the things you mention as a warning. A dire warning!

These scriptures have always been a warning against being a hypocrisy to me. We can’t go around “acting” like a Christian on the outside or for “display” purposes while living a life of sin in reality. Example: I was aware of a person many years ago that everyone thought was a “great guy.” He did lots of outwardly Christian things like volunteering, donating money, or helping the elderly. However, he was frankly a pervert.

After this person died all the victims started talking about what he had done to them. He really was a “wolf in sheeps clothing.” A hypocrite. This is not the only example I could give, but I truly take the scriptures as a warning against this sort of thing.

To ward this off within our own lives we have to be very dilagent in examining our consciences. If we tell a lie, for example, are we not also guilty of being a thief? We violate people’s trust, we try to make ourselves look better than we are (pride), maybe we even are guilty of coveting and that is what prompts our telling a lie. We can’t simply be satisfied with confessing that we lied, we have to get to the root of why and what harm we have caused by that lie.

So in short, the scriptures you mention are warnings to us about the grave danger of all sin, not about Jesus losing his temper or being harsh toward someone. Sometimes harsh reminders are needed if we are to be protected from our own weaknesses and sinfulness.
 
The Pharisees message was not wrong.

Jesus told people to do what the Pharisees say but not what they do. They were hypocrites. The Greek word hypocrite means actor. Their message was correct but they did not follow their own instruction.

The Jewish leaders - Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes and Priests - were urged to repent and warned about judgement by the prophets for 1500 years, from the time of Moses to the time of Jesus. God had warned them over and over and over, and the time of judgment was upon them.

Notice that Jesus uses the phrase “Woe to you!”. The word woe didn’t just mean that trouble was ahead. Preaching woe onto someone meant that you were going to make it happen. Woe to you = I am passing judgement and I am going to execute the sentence.

The leaders were given fifteen centuries to repent. They didn’t listen to the prophets but killed them. They didn’t listen to the last prophet, St. John the Baptists, and beheaded him. Now the Messiah had come, he was God, and it was too late for repentance.

-Tim-
 
isabella_123 said:
Hi everyone!

I have a few questions on some verses in Mat 23:

Mat 23: 27:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”

And Mat 23:33
"“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? "

1_ Why did Jesus say that?
Click to expand...
Because He has the right to, given Him by His Father. His judgment is just. It seems corrupt clergy will not fair well at the judgement.

John 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
 
TimothyH said:
The Pharisees message was not wrong.

Jesus told people to do what the Pharisees say but not what they do. They were hypocrites. The Greek word hypocrite means actor. Their message was correct but they did not follow their own instruction.

The Jewish leaders - Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes and Priests - were urged to repent and warned about judgement by the prophets for 1500 years, from the time of Moses to the time of Jesus. God had warned them over and over and over, and the time of judgment was upon them.

Notice that Jesus uses the phrase “Woe to you!”. The word woe didn’t just mean that trouble was ahead. Preaching woe onto someone meant that you were going to make it happen. Woe to you = I am passing judgement and I am going to execute the sentence.

The leaders were given fifteen centuries to repent. They didn’t listen to the prophets but killed them. They didn’t listen to the last prophet, St. John the Baptists, and beheaded him. Now the Messiah had come, he was God, and it was too late for repentance.

-Tim-
Click to expand...
Point taken! 👍
 
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