-
Lesson OneKingdom of God (Matthew 5–7, Luke 6–7)15 Activities
-
Lesson TwoDiscipleship (Matthew 10, 16, Mark 10)16 Activities2 Assessments
-
Lesson ThreeProphetic Critique (Jeremiah 7, Matthew 11, 23, Mark 14–16)14 Activities1 Assessment
-
Lesson FourIntroduction to Parables (Luke 14–16, 18–19)21 Activities2 Assessments
-
Lesson FiveThemes of Parables (Matthew 13, 18, 20–22, 24)18 Activities1 Assessment
-
Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 27
In | Workbook: Jesus’ Prophetic Critique in Matthew 23
Grab your Workbook Journal!
[Record your answers in the workbook provided at the beginning of this course.]
- In Matthew 23, Jesus levels a critique against religious leadership that is still relevant to Church leadership today. While appearing toward the end of the book, this critique is not a late development of Jesus’ teaching. In fact, each aspect of this speech can be found in another passage featured earlier in the book of Matthew. Carefully read Matthew 23 and complete the chart provided below with corresponding verse references from this chapter of prophetic critique.
Source: Dale C. Allison, Jr., ed., Matthew: A shorter commentary, 2004, p. 404.
| Critiques | Matthew 23 | Matthew 1–22 |
| Woes upon contemporaries | 11:21; 18:7 | |
| Condemnation of Pharisaic hypocrisy | 15:7; 22:18 | |
| Failure of scribes and Pharisees to enter the kingdom | 5:20 | |
| The Pharisees as blind guides | 15:14 | |
| Refutation of Pharisaic halakhah | 15:1-11; 16:5-12 | |
| To swear by one thing is to swear by another | 5:33–37 | |
| The Pharisees neglect the more important and heed the less important | 12:1-8; 15:1-20 | |
| The Pharisees are deficient in mercy | 9:10-13; 12:1-8 | |
| Condemnation of discrepancy between outward appearance and impure inward state | 6:1-18 | |
| The Pharisees are a “brood of vipers” destined for hell | 3:7 | |
| The scribes are murderers | 16:21; 20:18 |
|
Critiques |
Matthew 23 |
Matthew 1–22 |
|
Woes upon contemporaries |
vv 13, 15, etc. |
11:21; 18:7 |
|
Condemnation of Pharisaic hypocrisy |
vv 13, 15, 25-28, etc. |
15:7; 22:18 |
|
Failure of scribes and Pharisees to enter the kingdom |
v 13 |
5:20 |
|
The Pharisees as blind guides |
vv 16, 24 |
15:14 |
|
Refutation of Pharisaic halakhah |
vv 16-22 |
15:1-11; 16:5-12 |
|
To swear by one thing is to swear by another |
vv 16-22 |
5:33–37 |
|
The Pharisees neglect the more important and heed the less important |
vv 23-24 |
12:1-8; 15:1-20 |
|
The Pharisees are deficient in mercy |
v 23 |
9:10-13; 12:1-8 |
|
Condemnation of discrepancy between outward appearance and impure inward state |
vv 27-28 |
6:1-18 |
|
The Pharisees are a “brood of vipers” destined for hell |
v 33 |
3:7 |
|
The scribes are murderers |
vv 31-33 |
16:21; 20:18 |
Source: Dale C. Allison, Jr., ed., Matthew: A shorter commentary, 2004, p. 404.