But for revealed religion, innovation is not a crime, on the one hand; nor on the other, is tradition a millstone. As the prophet respects the scripture which in turn supports his mission, so he also respects tradition, and tradition supports his claims. Christ respected the traditional offices of the Jews and ordered his followers to do the same: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works” (Matthew 23:2 [Matt. 10:25]—3). Paul respected the office of the high priest even while the man insulted him. (Acts 23:5 [Acts 12:20].) On the other hand, when the gospel was preached at Jerusalem, “a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7 [Acts 4:1]). Some scholars have recently suggested that this great company may have been such a band of holy men as we find described in the newly discovered Dead Sea Scrolls and related documents, if not a group actually named in one of them. These men were prepared by their tradition to receive the gospel when they heard it. Without that tradition and training the preaching to them might have fallen on deaf ears.
Eusebius and Clement of Alexandria both suggest that Greek philosophy was meant by God as a sort of preparation to ready men’s minds for the reception of the gospel. Eusebius goes further and shares with Justin and Origen the belief that that philosophy, insofar as it is true and its principles sound, is actually a carryover from earlier lost dispensations of the gospel. The gospel has been on earth from time to time, according to the old apocalyptic or eschatological pattern followed by Eusebius, but each time men have fallen from grace and lost its fullness, they have not lost everything. There is always left some memory, some lingering trace of divinely revealed doctrines and institutions, and it is to the presence of these lingering traces, according to Eusebius, that we owe what we have in the world of humane laws, and refined manners.11 The great tradition of civilization is really the abiding remnant of the true gospel and as such is to be greatly esteemed.
Woes on the Pharisees; the Widow’s Mites (Sunday–Monday)
The last public words of his ministry: thirteen woes on the men who sit in Moses’ seat, a lament over the city that would not be gathered, and then, watching the treasury, a poor widow putting in two mites, which he says is more than all the rest.
Tap a Gospel to show or hide its column. Narrow to any two to read them side by side.
Note. Matthew gives the woes in full; Mark and Luke give only the warning about the scribes, and follow it immediately with the widow. The two belong together: the scribes “devour widows’ houses,” and the next thing Jesus does is point to a widow giving away her last coin.
? How to read this edition
The reading is the Joseph Smith Translation, in the text of the Covenant Christian Edition, carried beside each Gospel and set against the King James baseline. Headers give both numbering systems: the CCE chapter and verse, and the traditional KJV reference.
1Then spoke Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples, 2saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3All therefore whatever they bid you observe, that observe and do they will make you observe and do, for they are ministers of the law and they make themselves your judges. But do not after their works, for they say, and do not. 4For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves and lay on men’s shoulders, and they are grievous to be borne, but they will not move them with one of their fingers. 5And all their works they do to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi — which is, Master.
8But be not called Rabbi, for one is your Master, who is Christ, and all you are brethren. 9And call no man your father one your creator upon the earth, or your Heavenly Father, for one is your Father, which is in heaven creator and Heavenly Father, even he who is in Heaven. 10Neither be called masters, for one is your Master, even Christ he whom your Heavenly Father sent, who is Christ; for he has sent him among you that you might have life. 11But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant, 12and whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased of him, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted of him.
13But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer them that are entering to go in.
14Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, for you are hypocrites. You devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore, you shall receive the greater damnation punishment.
15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves he was before — like unto yourselves.
16Woe unto you blind guides, who say, Whoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing, but whoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he has committed sin and is a debtor. 17You are fools, and blind. For which is the greatest — the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18And you say, Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater O fools, and blind. For which is the greatest — the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20Truly I say unto you, whoever therefore shall swear by it, swears by the altar and by all things thereon. 21And whoever shall swear by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells therein. 22And he that shall swear by Heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits thereon.
23Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cumin, and have omitted the weightier things of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to have done, and not to leave the others undone. 24You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel, who make yourselves appear unto men that you would not commit the least sin, and yet you yourselves transgress the whole law.
25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26You blind Pharisees, cleanse first the cup and platter within, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but are within full of the bones of the dead and of all uncleanness. 28Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, 30and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31Wherefore, you are witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which of your own wickedness. And you are the children of them who killed the prophets, 32Fill ye up then the measure and will fill up the measure then of your fathers, for you yourselves kill the prophets like unto your fathers. 33You serpents, ye generation a generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?
34Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes. And some of them ye of them you shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye of them you shall scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city, 35that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth; from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. 36Truly I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation. You bear testimony against your fathers, when you yourselves are partakers of the same wickedness. Behold, your fathers did it through ignorance, but you do not. Wherefore, their sin shall be upon your heads.
37Then Jesus began to weep over Jerusalem, saying, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest you who will kill the prophets and will stone them who are sent unto you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! 38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39For I say unto you that you shall not see me henceforth, and know that I am he of whom it is written by the prophets, until you shall say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord in the clouds of Heaven, and all the holy angels with him.
Then understood his disciples that he should come again on the earth, after he was glorified and crowned on the right hand of God.
38And he said unto them in his teachings, Beware of the scribes who love to go in long clothing and have salutations in the marketplaces, 39and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts; 40who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These shall receive greater damnation.
41And after this, Jesus sat opposite the treasury and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury; and many that were rich cast in much. 42And there came a certain poor widow, and she cast in two mites, which make a farthing. 43And he called unto him his disciples, and saith Jesus called his disciples and said unto them, Truly I say unto you that this poor widow has cast more in than all they who have cast into the treasury; 44for all they the rich did cast in of their abundance, but she — notwithstanding her lack — did cast in all that she had; yea, even all her possessions.
45Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples, 46Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts, 47who devour widows’ houses and for a show make long prayers; the same shall receive greater damnation.
1And he looked up and saw the rich men casting in their gifts into the treasury. 2And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in there two mites. 3And he said, Truly I say unto you that this poor widow has cast in more than they all, for all 4these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God, but she of her poverty has cast in all the possessions that she had.
A Covenant Refused, and Children Who Would Not Be Gathered
Christ Proposed to Make a Covenant with Them
Writing from Kirtland in January 1833 to the editor of the Rochester Observer, a New York religious paper, Joseph Smith explained why the covenant promised to Israel had not yet been made. His answer is the lament of verse 37 in plain terms: Christ offered it in the days of his flesh, and they would not.
Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 January 1833, Kirtland, Ohio · Joseph Smith Letterbook 1, p. 15 (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 14) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗This covenant has never been established with the house of Isreal nor with th[e] house of Judah for it requires two parties to make a covenant and those two parties must be agreed or no covenant can be made. Christ in the days of his flesh proposed to make a covenant with them but they rejected him and his proposals and in consequence thereof they were broken off and no covenant was made with them at that time but their unbelief has not rendered the promise of God of none effect; no, for there was another day limited in David which was the day of his power and then his people Isreal, should be a willing people and he would write his laws in their hearts and print them in their thoughts their sins and their eniquities he would remember no more, Thus after this chosen family had rejected Christ and his proposals the heralds of salvation said to them. “lo we turn unto the gentiles,” and the gentiles received the covenant and were grafted in from whence the chosen family were broken off…
Their Sin Was Greater
In a Times and Seasons editorial on baptism for the dead, published while he edited the paper, Joseph Smith quoted verses 35 and 36 and gave the reason the blood of all the prophets was required of that one generation: they had greater privileges than any before them, for their dead as well as for themselves, and neglected both.
“Baptism for the Dead,” Times and Seasons, 15 April 1842, 3:761 (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 222–23) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗Hence it was that so great a responsibility rested upon the generation in which our Savior lived; for says he “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you all these things shall come upon this generation.” Matt. xxiii. 35, 36. Hence as they possessed greater privileges than any other generation, not only pertaining to themselves but to their dead, their sin was greater; as they not only neglected their own salvation but that of their progenitors, and hence their blood was required at their hands.
The Meekness and Lowliness of Jesus
At Springfield, Illinois, where he had gone to answer the Missouri extradition case in federal court, Joseph Smith spent the evening of January 2, 1843, at the home of William Sollars. When some of the company objected that he was not a very meek prophet, he answered by crying the woes of this chapter on the doctors, scribes and Pharisees, and then said what Jesus never did: find fault with the food, drink or lodging he was given.
Journal, 2 January 1843, Springfield, Illinois · Joseph Smith Journal, kept by Willard Richards, Book 1, p. 44 (History of the Church 5:218; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 270) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗Also recorded in the History, volume D-1, p. 1434.
Joseph spoke at great length. & edification. to the little co[mpany] obje[c]tions being made to the prophets meeknss— I am meek & lowly in hea[r]t I will personify Jesus for a moment to illustrate & you inquirers— Wo unto you ye Doctors Wo unto you ye scribes pharises & Hypocrits— You cannot find the place where I ever went that I found fault with their food their drink their house or their Lodging— no never, & this is what is meant by the meekness & Lowliness of Jesus
Why They Would Not Be Gathered
On a Sunday morning at the Nauvoo temple stand, Joseph had the whole of Matthew 23 read aloud, then took verse 37 for his text, the hen and her chickens, and turned the lament into a doctrine of the gathering: they were not gathered because they would not let him gather them, and the object of every gathering in every age is a house in which the ordinances can be given. Five reporters took it down; switch to “Scribal accounts” for their records.
Discourse, 11 June 1843 (Sunday morning), Temple Stand, Nauvoo, Illinois · History, 1838–1856, volume D-1, p. 1572 (History of the Church 5:423–27; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 307–08) · Joseph Smith Papers ↗Also recorded in Willard Richards’s report, as the Joseph Smith Papers extract it from the journal.
President Joseph Smith remarked, I am a rough stone, the sound of the hammer and chizel was never heard on me, until the Lord took me in hand. I desire the learning and wisdom of heaven alone. I have not the least idea if Christ should come to the earth, and preach such rough things as he preached to the Jews.. but that this generation would reject him for being so rough.
He then took for his text 37th. verse of 23 chapter of Mathew, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a Hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not.”
This subject was presented to me since I came to the stand, what was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the World? I can never find much to say in expounding a Text. A man never has half as much fuss to unlock a door if he has a key, as though he had not, and had to cut it open with his Jack knife.
The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby he could reveal unto his people the ordinances of his house and the glories of his kingdom, and teach the people the way of Salvation, for there are certain ordinances and principles that when they are taught and practised must be done in a place or house built for that purpose.
It was the design of the Councils of heaven before the world was, that the principles and Laws of the Priesthood were predicated upon the gathering of the people in every age of the world. Jesus did everything possible to gather the people and they would not be gathered and he therefore poured out curses upon them. Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the World in the Priesthood for the Salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed, all must be saved on the same principles.
It is for the same purpose that God gathers together his people in the last days to build unto the Lord a house to prepare them for the ordinances and endowments washings and anointings &c. One of the ordinances of the house of the Lord is baptism for the dead. God decreed before the foundation of the world that that ordinance should be administered in a font prepared for that purpose in the house of the Lord.
Moses’ Seat, and the Widow’s Mite
Two Nibley notes stand behind this section. The first is that Jesus, in the very act of denouncing the scribes, upheld their office: the point the Joseph Smith Translation sharpens by adding that they are “ministers of the law.” The second is his refusal to let the widow’s mite be quoted comfortably.
Now this Amulek, during the years of his prosperity, would have merited the praise of one student who told in his term paper how he lived in the richest ward in the stake which was full of very many, very rich and successful businessmen, who were none the less Christlike because they gave to the poor. So do the Mafiosi, thus purchasing public respect and even sanction for their gains. Students are fond of evoking the names of highly successful Latter-day Saint businessmen, who have endowed monuments to themselves with their left hand while none of their admirers knew what their right hand was doing. Wherever giving or money is the issue, “How much?” is the only question. The widow’s mite? Were the donors still rich after they had given? Was it enough to bring everyone up to an equal level, as the Book of Mormon commands? (Jacob 2:17 [Jacob 2:5]).
The Tithe Was Never for the Temple
Jesus condemns scribes who “devour widows’ houses” in the same breath as scribes who “pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin”, and then sits down opposite the treasury and watches a widow give everything. Barker shows why those belong in one sentence: under the older covenant the tithe was not temple revenue at all. It was the widow’s.
Above all you had to remember that nothing was yours by right… A tithe was paid, not to the temple and its priests, but to assist those without other means of support: the Levites, who were allowed no land because the Lord was their portion, the stranger, the orphan and the widow (Deut. 15.28-9 [Deut. 5:6-8]; also 16.11). At harvest, you could only visit your field or vineyard once. If there was grain left, or olives or grapes, they were to be left for the stranger, the widow and the orphan (Deut. 24.19-22 [Deut. 7:21-22]). These were divine laws and not negotiable.
The most familiar example of this is Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats, the story of the Day of Judgement. The question everyone is asked is: How did you treat the poor, the lonely, the sick, the hungry? And those who have not recognised the demands of God in every other human being are condemned to join the devil and his angels.