Coming of the King: Week 49

Matthew 23:23-39: The Final Woes of the Pharisees

• 23:23 "tithe of ... cumin" - Counting out cumin seeds makes a great show of meticulous attention to the Law of Moses, especially when done on the front porch. Giving old Widow Hannah a break on her rent doesn't get much press - so just evict her.

  "these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone" - this is Jesus' answer to a great many false dichotomies.

• 23:32 "fill up the iniquity of your fathers" - as in the parable of the wicked tenants, they would fill up the cup of iniquity with the murder of the Son, and showing they had the same spirit as their fathers.
• 23:35 "Abel to Zechariah" - covering all of the Old Testament. And coincidentally in English, A to Z.
• 23:37 "how often I have longed" - Jesus weeps over Jerusalem even as He pronounces her doom. Jesus always had a heart of compassion as he condemned hypocrisy and wickedness - so much so that the people called him Jeremiah. Matthew 16:14
• 23:38 "your house is left desolate" - In Ezekiel's vision, beginning in chapter 10, the glory departs from the temple, following the path taken by Jesus in the next chapter. Ezekiel 11:23