Before I became a Christian, I had heard of the Ten Commandments.  When I became a Christian, I learned about the Eight Beatitudes.  But it wasn’t until I read Matthew’s Gospel straight through for the first time that I learned of the “Seven Woes.”

I have never heard  the “Seven Woes” of Jesus ever discussed in church. Why are they so important?  Because in them, Jesus confronts the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of his time.  His outrage towards them is chilling, and he doesn’t mince words. After enduring Jesus’ biting attack, it is no mystery why  the religious leaders wanted Jesus dead. He was a fantastic threat, to say the least, and that is why he was crucified.

The “Seven Woes” are found in Chapter 23 of Matthew, but I highly recommend reading the entire chapter.  It only takes a few minutes.  Here is an abbreviated version of them

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.  You lock the kingdom of heaven before human beings.  You do not enter yourselves, nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.  You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.”

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing, but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’ Blind fools, which is greater, the gold, or the temple that made the gold sacred?” 

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.   You pay tithes of mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. [But] these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.  Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

“Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.  Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evil.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood’  Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out!  You serpents, you brood of vipers, how can you flee from the judgement of Gehenna?…”  Matthew 23:13-36

I grew up with no religion and, thus, had this image of Jesus as being weak because all he seemed to preach about was love, giving, and forgiving.  While all of this was true, it was important  for me to find out that he also experienced frustration  and outrage, as he demonstrates here.  I found this passage at a time when I was also disturbed by the behavior of the religious leaders of my faith.  How does Jesus react? He doesn’t complain, sulk, or gossip.  Rather, he confronts the leaders directly, a courageous thing to do. He takes action and gets himself tortured and murdered. I am in love with him again.