Section 110 Jesus Takes Down the Scribes and Pharisees

Section 110 
JESUS' LAST PUBLIC DISCOURSE. DENUNCIATION OF SCRIBES AND PHARISEES
(In the court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, A. D. 30.) 
MATT. 23:1-39
MARK 12:38-40
LUKE 20:45-47

One principle Jesus taught through this indictment is that the moral acts are greater than the observances. The second is the idea that the Pharisees and scribes were guilty of acts of omission rather than commission.

Charles Gilbert Weston (1924-1974) views the passage as a declaration of the proper relationship between man and God:

"It is a declaration of the essential relations of man to God. Three things constitute a Christian—what he is, what he believes, what he does; doctrine, experience, practice. Man needs for his spiritual being three things—life, instruction, guidance; just what our Lord declares in the ten words of the Gospel—“I am the way, and the truth, and the life”... . Acknowledge no man as Father, for no man can impart or sustain spiritual life; install no man as an infallible teacher; allow no one to assume the office of spiritual director; your relation to God and to Christ is as close as that of any other person."

Jesus also clarifies the proper relationship between believers:

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters. And don’t address anyone here on earth as ‘Father,’ for only God in heaven is your Father." -Matthews 23:8-9

"Leadership positions should never be a goal in and of themselves, but should always be viewed as opportunities to serve others." -BKC

On the concept of Christian brother and sisterhood: "If God be the Father of all beings, they are all, in some way, related to us." -J. Jortin

The Pharisees are guilty of placing undue emphasis on the details of ritualism while neglecting the more important moral obligations:

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things
Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!  -Matt 23:23

The fifth woe is against ritualism without reality. The scribes and Pharisees were meticulous in giving the Lord a tenth of the most insignificant herbs they raised. Jesus did not condemn them for this care about small details of obedience, but He excoriated them for being utterly unscrupulous when it came to showing justice, mercy, and faithfulness to others. Using a figure of speech unsurpassed for expressiveness, Jesus described them as straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. The gnat, a tiny insect that often fell into a cup of sweet wine, was strained out by sucking the wine through the teeth. How ludicrous to take such care with the insignificant, then bolt down the largest unclean animal in Palestine! -Believer's Bible

"There is a spice of hypocrisy in us all." S. Rutherford

"The hypocrite-the man that stole the livery of heaven to serve the devil in." R. Pollok

Jesus asserts that physical details of faith (tithing for instance) should not be neglected but that we sin if we use outward observances to cloak inner motives that are impure. The physical observances can honored without touching a person's spirit. Christ teaches that we should first consider the intent of our own hearts, our motives, why we do what we do, and what we may be neglecting but should do.

Does all sin originate with acts of omission?

Vaughan believes this is the case:

"It scarcely admits of a question, but that every sin which was ever committed upon the earth, is traceable, in the first instance, to a sin of omission. At a certain point of the genealogy of that sin, there was something of which it is not too much to say that if it had been done that sin would have been cut short. And the very earliest cause of that sin (whether you are able to discover a root or not) lay, not in anything we did, or said, or thought, but in that which we might have done, and did not do; or, might have said, and did not say; or, might have thought, and did not think. Every sin lies in a chain, and the first link is fastened to another link. For instance, that first sin committed after the Fall-Cain’s fratricide-was the result of anger; that anger was the result of jealousy; that jealousy was the result of an unaccepted sacrifice; that unaccepted sacrifice was the result of the absence of faith; and that absence of faith was the result of an inattentive ear, or a heart which had grown silent towards God …As you uncoil a sin, you have been surprised to find what a compound thing that is which, at first sight, appeared single. You have gone on, finding the germ of one sin in the seed of another sin, till you could scarcely pursue the process because it stretched so far; but, if you went far enough, you found at last that some neglect was the beginning of it all." J. Vaughan, M. A.

"Sinners always are the troublers of the world." N. Emmons 

So simply put but accurate--our sin creates many of the troubles of this world.  We are always trying to climb out from underneath the sins of ourselves and others.  Only Christ holds the key.

An additionally  compelling analogy by Vaughan:

Sins of omission the most heinous

"By which are we most pained-the omissions, or the commissions, of life? Say you have two persons whom you love. I will suppose a father with two sons. The one often offends him by direct and open disobedience; and your heart is made to ache, again and again, by his frequent and flagrant transgressions of your law. The other does nothing which is outwardly and palpably bad. His life is moral, and his course correct. But he shows no sign whatsoever of any personal regard for you. You long to catch some indication of affection; but there is none. Day after day you have watched for it; but still there is none! You are plainly indifferent to him. He does not injure you. But in no thought, or word, or deed, does he ever show you that he has you in his heart, to care for you and love you. Now, which of those two sons will pain you most? The disobedient, or the cold one? The one who often transgresses, or the one who never loves? The one who commits, or the one who omits? Is there a doubt that, however much the committee may the more injure himself, or society, the omitter most wounds the parent’s heart? And is it not so with the great Father of us all?" J. Vaughan

And a further argument:

"The gospel precept-unlike the law-is direct and absolute, not negative: “Thou shalt love God, and thy neighbour.” And therefore the transgression must consist in an omission. It is only by not loving, that you can be brought in guilty, under the code of the gospel of Jesus Christ. -J. Vaughan

Charles John Vaughan, 1895