These repeated woes may be translated, Alas for you! Our Lord with unfailing accuracy indicates the inevitable doom which such conduct as that of the Pharisees and scribes must incur. He forewarned them that they could expect nothing in the dread future but the judgment of Gehenna-the metaphor being taken from the valley of Hinnom, south of Jerusalem, where fires were kept burning to consume rubbish and refuse.
Hypocrisy is hiding under a cloak of religion the sins which the ordinary moralist and worldling would condemn. It is very injurious, because it hinders men from entering the Kingdom, Matthew 23:13. It is punctilious in its exactions, because while it strains out gnats, it swallows camels, Matthew 23:23-24. It expends itself on outward ritual-the Pharisees would not enter Pilate's hall on the day before the Passover, but they murdered the holy Savior. Above all things, let us be true, professing to be no more than we are! [source]
Chapter Summary: Matthew 23
1Jesus admonishes the people to follow good doctrine, not bad examples 5His disciples must beware of their ambition 13He denounces eight woes against their hypocrisy and blindness, 34and prophesies of the destruction of Jerusalem
What do the individual words in Matthew 23:20 mean?
The [one]thereforehaving swornbythealtarswearsitandall thingsthat [are]uponit