Chapter 23.

Brood of Vipers. Spiritual wickedness in high places.

The Sermon on the Mount, which was given near the beginning of this gospel occupies three full chapters. It is a beautiful discourse on the nature of charity, and it contains some of the most profound teachings ever given to humanity. Filled with gentle wisdom, it teaches the value of humility, meekness, mercy, forgiveness, and love. It is considered the epitome of all ethical teaching, and the “Constitution of Christianity.” It has been hailed as a divine picture of a new Moses, standing on a new mountain, proclaiming a new gospel of universal love.

But as Jesus prepares for His final hours in Jerusalem, His message changes in tone. It becomes more difficult to discern the great love for humanity that lies within His words. While He has addressed the hypocritical behavior of the religious leaders at various times during His ministry, and referred to it indirectly in His parables, His message becomes much more than an encouraging sermon, or even a cautionary tale. It becomes a veritable diatribe against the religious leaders. He will call them “hypocrites,” “serpents,” “a brood of vipers,” and “whitewashed tombs filled with dead men’s bones.” And in subsequent chapters Jesus will speak about the everlasting punishment that awaits all sinners. The strong language and foreboding content of these chapters are very different from the gentle tone and promising content of the Sermon on the Mount.

But why?

The answer lies in understanding the inner battles that have been raging all along in the recesses of Jesus’ soul — spiritual battles that are now intensifying as Jesus approaches the final days of His earthly ministry. Throughout His thirty-three years on earth, Jesus has been continuously attacked by hellish forces. We saw a glimpse of these attacks when Jesus was tempted by the devil when He was in the wilderness (4:1-11). We had another glimpse when Jesus predicted that He must go to Jerusalem to suffer and die. When Peter rebuked Jesus for saying this, Jesus replied, “Get behind Me, Satan!” (16:22-23). ¹

Although Jesus’ comment appeared to be directed at Peter, the real target was hell itself. It is a picture of the diabolical forces that have been striving to divert Jesus from His mission to save the human race. Jesus knows what He has to do; He knows it will involve agony and death; and He knows that it will challenge the last of all natural instincts — the instinct for self-preservation. Peter’s counsel, therefore, is not consistent with God’s plan of salvation. Peter’s counsel is a subtle temptation, redirecting Jesus to an easier, less confrontational path.

Each of us experiences moments like this — moments when we deeply know what we must do to accomplish God’s will, however difficult it may be. And yet, in moments of spiritual weakness, we can be more susceptible to the soothing advice of well-meaning friends than to the higher dictates of divine truth. These are the times when we “wrestle with the angels.” ²

In His rebuke to Peter, Jesus identifies the source of the temptation. It is not Peter at all, even though the words come through Peter. This is why Jesus says, “Get behind Me, Satan. You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but things of men” (16:23). Though Peter meant well, He was unaware of the deeper combat going on within Jesus at that very moment. As it is written, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12).

In order to understand the final days of Jesus’ life on earth, it is necessary to understand that heaven and hell are always with us, ready to bless us with goodness and truth (heaven), or destroy us with evil and falsity (hell). Although it appears to us that good people do good, and evil people do evil, we are only intermediaries and agents through whom good influences and evil influences enter the world. The good that we think, speak and do is from God. The evil that we think, speak, and do is from hell. This is an absolute and fundamental law of spiritual reality. We need to keep it in mind as we accompany Jesus on His last visit to Jerusalem, where He will confront “spiritual wickedness in high places.” ³

Heavy Burdens

1. Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,

2. Saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in the seat of Moses;

3. All things therefore whatever they say to you to keep, keep and do; but do not according to their works; for they say, and do not.

4. For they bind burdens, heavy and difficult to bear, and put [them] on the shoulders of men; but they are not willing to move them with their finger.”

One of the most difficult things to understand in the gospels is the apparently harsh and condemning way that Jesus speaks to and about the religious leaders of His day. “They bind heavy burdens,” He says, “hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift them with one of their fingers” (23:4) On one level Jesus is indeed talking about the religious leaders of the day, who made religion a difficult and burdensome ordeal. Not content with the laws that were given in the sacred scriptures, they added to them their own interpretations, and enforced them with rigor. They multiplied rituals and added traditions which they imposed upon the people as though these decrees had the weight of divine Law. Excessive worry about properly observing rituals and maintaining traditions can lead people away from the essence of religion, which is simply to love God with all of one’s heart, and one’s neighbor as oneself (22:37-39). As it is written by the prophet Isaiah, “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free” (Isaiah 58:6).

On a more interior level, however, the “heavy burdens” Jesus speaks of are not only the unnecessary religious burdens that are imposed upon people by the religious leaders in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, but also the unseen pressures that evil spirits exert upon people today. These spirits especially induce inordinate feelings of guilt and self-condemnation in the name of religion. They delight in holding the mind fixed on unimportant details of morality. ⁴

As a result, good people can be driven into states of deep depression by these spirits who harp incessantly on what we have done wrong. In fact, they can call to mind not only the actual sins of our past, but also uninvited evils that merely entered our minds without our consent. In this way, these spiritual influences oppress us with heavy burdens of guilt, feelings of worthlessness, and deeply troubling doubts about whether we can ever be saved. For many people, this is the unseen root of depression. ⁵

Jesus sees through the religious leaders; He sees beyond their external actions to the unseen world of spirit that drives and motivates them. He sees the evil spirits themselves. And as He does so, Jesus says that these spirits “bind heavy burdens,” but that they will not lift a finger to remove them. These spirits have no desire to lighten the heavy burdens of guilt they have imposed. Why should they? After all, it is their very delight to lay these burdens upon us, to watch us writhe under the weight, and thereby to deprive us of any desire to go on living. They will “not lift a finger” to help us. ⁶

To Be Seen of Men

5. “But all their works they do to be observed by men; and they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the hems of their garments;

6. And love the first place to recline at suppers, and the first seats in the synagogues;

7. And greetings in the market, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.

8. But be ye not called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, the Christ; but all you are brothers.

9. And call not [anyone] your father on the earth; for One is your Father that [is] in the heavens.

10. Neither be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.

11. But the greater of you shall be your minister.

12. And whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.”

There are many types and classes of evil spirits. We have just described the kind that overburden the conscience with guilt. There is, however, another class of spirits that works in a very different way, but with the same goal — to destroy us. These are the proud and pretentious spirits who think they are better than others. Jesus describes them in this way: “All their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogue, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi, Rabbi’” (23:5-8).

Jesus has already spoken about this while delivering the Sermon on the Mount, but His words were relatively gentle: “Take heed.” He said, “that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them” He said (6:1). “When you pray go into your room” (6:6). “When you fast anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting” (6:17-18).

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus urges His disciples to “not be like the hypocrites” (6:16). Because He is instructing and inspiring His disciples, Jesus’ words are gentle and encouraging. But now, as Jesus approaches His last days with them, His words become more urgent as He offers final cautions. “But you,” He says, speaking to His disciples, “do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven” (23:8-9). Jesus then reminds them to not be like the arrogant and proud religious leaders: “He who is greatest among you shall be your servant,” He says. And then He adds, “Whoever exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (23:11-12).

After describing the burdens that the religious leaders have lain upon the people, Jesus then describes the arrogant, prideful attitudes of these men. These two descriptions describe contrasting but equally devastating ploys of evil spirits. Whether they fill us with debilitating guilt (“heavy burdens’) or puff us up with arrogant pride (“to be seen of men”), they keep us focused on the wrong objects: in once case the object is self-loathing; in the other case, the object is our self-importance. In either case the focus is on “self” rather than on loving the Lord and serving the neighbor. Love to the Lord and love to the neighbor should be at the forefront of our mind always. Love to the Lord and love to the neighbor should be first and foremost. Love to the Lord and to love to the neighbor should be at the front. No wonder Jesus says, “Get behind Me, Satan, for you are not mindful of the things of God” (16:23).

Woes Instead of Blessings

13. “And woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of the heavens before men; for you do not enter in [yourselves], neither do you let those that are entering in to enter in.

14. And woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you eat up the houses of widows, and for a pretense pray long; on this account you shall receive excessive judgment.

15. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you go around the sea and the dry [land] to make one proselyte, and when it is done, you make him the son of gehenna twofold more than yourselves.

16. Woe 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 is a debtor.

17. [Ye] fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold, or the temple that hallows the gold?

18. And whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gift which is on it, he is a debtor.

19. [Ye] fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that hallows the gift?

20. He therefore that swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all things upon it.

21. And he that swears by the temple, swears by it, and by Him who dwells [in] it.

22. And he that swears by | heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by Him that sits upon it.

23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe of mint, and anise, and cumin, and have left [out] the weightier things of the law: the judgment, and the mercy, and the faith. These things you ought to have done, and not to have left [out] those also.

24. Blind guides, straining out the gnat, and swallowing the camel!

25. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but inside they are full of extortion and intemperance.

26. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside of them may become clean also.

27. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you make yourselves like whited tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are filled with the bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness.

28. So you also outwardly indeed appear just unto men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the sepulchers of the just,

30. And 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.’

31. Thus you witness to yourselves, that you are the sons of those that murdered the prophets.

32. And you have fulfilled the measure of your fathers.”

In verse 12 of this chapter, Jesus said, “Whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (23:12). In a state of humble receptivity, we become open to all the blessings that God wishes to bestow upon us. The opposite state, however, is represented by the religious leaders who refuse to accept Jesus’ words. Instead of opening heaven to themselves, they shut themselves out of heaven. Moreover, they do this not only to themselves, but they also do it to others. Their false teachings prevent people from understanding and living the life that leads to heaven. Therefore Jesus says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in” (23:1).

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the basic attitudes needed if we are to receive the happiness and blessings of heaven. It is the beginning of His ministry. His words are filled with encouragement. He does not rebuke or reprimand the people who listen. Instead He speaks of heavenly blessings: “Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who are persecuted.” Again and again, Jesus promises the reward of blessing for all who freely chose to take on these heavenly attitudes.

But now, as Jesus turns His attention to the religious leaders, His manner is different. Instead of blessings, He now speaks of woes. Jesus has not changed, but His audience has. When He delivered the Sermon on the Mount, His audience was the disciples and the multitudes; but now, as He delivers His reprimand in the temple, His audience is the hypocritical religious leaders. For this reason, His great love is clothed in language that appears harsh and condemning. Nevertheless, His goal remains the same as always: to save His people from their sins.

As Jesus addresses the disciples and the multitudes, He is aware that arrogant pride closes heaven, just as humility opens it. Throughout His ministry He teaches this lesson through parable and example — even by setting a child in the midst of His disciples. But the religious leaders have remained unmoved and unconvinced by anything that Jesus has said or done. Nothing has impressed them, or softened their stubborn hearts, or opened them to receive the blessings that Jesus wants to bring to them. Now, as a last resort, Jesus has no other choice but to warn the religious leaders, in no uncertain terms, of the everlasting torment and endless woe that is in store for them if they continue to reject His message. Even though Jesus’ reprimand may not change the hearts, it may serve to restrain their behavior. Even the worst people can be restrained by the fear of punishment. ⁷

In this case, if the religious leaders continue their corrupt and hypocritical ways, their “punishment” will be a miserable life, a life of woe upon woe. Each woe corresponds to the rejection of a particular heavenly blessing. Like the series of blessings that Jesus spoke when He gave the Sermon on the Mount, the series of woes also begins with a reference to the kingdom of heaven:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” says Jesus, “For you shut up the kingdom of heaven” (24:13). This corresponds to “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The simple lesson is that pride and arrogance closes people off from the blessings of heaven. But when people freely choose to be humble and receptive, “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” says Jesus, “For you devour widows’ houses” (23:14). In the Hebrew scriptures, God had clearly said, “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child” (Exodus 22:22) and “Woe to those who make widows their prey and rob the fatherless” (Isaiah 10:2). Instead the religious leaders convinced widows to make contributions to the temple in exchange for long prayers and other blessings that could only be received through the priesthood. It is the Lord’s will that widows “be comforted” — not preyed upon. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” says Jesus, “For you travel land and sea to win one convert” (23:15). The religious leaders “travel land and sea” to get more people to honor and worship them, more people to engage in their religious traditions, and more people to support the temple and pay the temple tax. But genuine religion is not about elaborate rituals and extravagant ceremonies conducted by high priests in decorative robes. Rather, it’s about leading a gentle, quiet life in accordance with God’s commandments. The person who does this does not need to “travel land and sea” to convince people about what they should believe. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” ⁸

“Woe to you, blind guides!” says Jesus, “For you say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple it is nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it’” (23:16).

The religious leaders have the situation backwards. The gold does not sanctify the temple; if anything, the holy temple sanctifies the gold. Moreover, because it is the Lord alone who makes the temple holy, it is the presence of the Lord that sanctifies the temple. The insistence of the religious leaders that “swearing by the gold of the temple” could somehow sanctify a promise reveals their materialistic nature, their worship of external things, and their lack of true righteousness. Their hunger for material wealth and their thirst for worldly power is contrasted with its opposite: a truly righteous life. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” says Jesus, “For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, but you have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith” (23:23).” The religious leaders meticulously attend to the details of their ceremonies and traditions, but neglect what really matters: justice, and mercy, and faith. While it is true that the law contained teachings about appropriate tithing, the emphasis of the scriptures is not on carefully weighing the grain to see how much a person has tithed; rather, it is upon matters that are much weightier — matters such as justice and mercy. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ” says Jesus, “ For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence” (23:25). Here Jesus criticizes the religious leaders for the way they equate external cleanliness with moral purity. But all the water in the world cannot wash away the corruption of a sinful heart. The heart can only be purified through a life according to the commandments. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” says Jesus, “…. For when you make one convert, you make him two times more than you the son of hell (23:15). This is the second part of the verse that begins with the words, “You travel land and sea to make one convert.” The first part deals with the desire to convert and control others — to make them submissive to one’s will. The hellish desire to control, and the willingness to be controlled by hellish desire, turns people into “sons of hell.” This is the opposite of freely choosing to live in accordance with the commandments. When we love to do God’s will, we enter a state of peace and become God’s children. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

Before launching into the final woe, Jesus returns to the central theme that runs throughout the list of woes — hypocrisy. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” He says. “You make yourselves like white-washed tombs, which outwardly indeed appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones, and of every uncleanness” (23:27). Jesus is speaking about their elaborate pretenses to look good, seem holy, and appear righteous in the eyes of people, while inwardly they are full of cunning, deceit, treachery. As Jesus puts it, “On the outside you appear to people to be righteous, but on the inside, you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (23:28).

With this absolute denouncement of the religious leaders as a preface, Jesus now delivers the final woe: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets’” (23:29-30). Historically, the role of a prophet was not only to teach God’s will, but also to warn people of the consequences for deviating from it. One of the most commonly heard words on the lips of the prophets was “repent!” It is for this reason that evil people — especially those in positions of power — hated the prophets, reviled them, persecuted them, and even killed them. Jesus here points out that the religious leaders of His day are no different from those who killed the prophets in former times. If they honor the prophets at all, it is only to look good in the eyes of the common people. Though they build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, this is only a matter of outward show. They claim that if they had lived during the days that the prophets were murdered, “the blood of the prophets” would not have been on their hands.

Jesus knows that the religious leaders are hypocrites; He knows that they are lying when they say that, unlike their forefathers, they would never be partakers in the blood of the prophets. In fact, Jesus turns their own words against them, saying, “So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets” (23:31). In other words, Jesus knows that they are no different than their forefathers who murdered the prophets, no matter how much they may say that they are not. They are, as Jesus told them before, and will tell them again, “a brood of vipers” — the offspring of venomous people. Therefore, Jesus tells them to go ahead and finish what their forefathers have already started. “Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your forefathers” (23:32).

These are hard words. No one is condemned to repeat the sins of one’s ancestors. There is always hope. There is always the possibility of turning to the Lord and keeping His commandments. However, it is also true that if we repeatedly deny the truths that are intended to shine light on our sins, we are condemned to repeat them. And the more we deny the truth that has come to save us, the more we will indulge in the evil practices until they become so ingrained that we cannot be separated from them. If nothing is done to avert this steady decline, which can be passed on from generation to generation, we not only condemn ourselves to hell, but also pass on these evil tendencies to our children and grandchildren. ⁹

There is a more interior lesson here as well. The prophets who come to each of us are the truths of the Lord Word. These prophets help us to identify the evils within ourselves, and denounce them. If, however, we dismiss the teachings of sacred scripture, or see it solely in relation to others, rather than in relation to ourselves, we miss a great opportunity to put an end to any evils that have been passed down to us through the generations.

It’s hard work to accept the truth and admit one’s failings. Our old nature fights to retain its control over us and refuses to give up. Sometimes it feels like the truths we embrace are under siege. Evils rise up within us to persecute and destroy these truths. But if we have the faith and the courage to persevere, we will find ourselves living the promise of Jesus’ final blessing, given in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you…. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets before you.”

In the Name of the Lord

33. “Serpents, brood of vipers, how can you flee from the judgment of gehenna?

34. On this account, behold, I send to you prophets, and wise [men], and scribes; and [some] of them you shall kill and crucify, and [some] of them you shall scourge in your synagogues, and shall persecute from city to city:

35. So that upon you may come all the just blood poured out upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the just unto the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachias, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

36. Amen I say to you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

37. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and stonest those that were sent unto her, how often I willed to gather together thy children, even as a hen gathers together her young under the wings, and you were not willing!

38. Behold, your house is left unto you deserted.

39. For I say to you, you shall not see Me from henceforth, until you shall say, Blessed [is] He that comes in the name of the Lord.”

Having pronounced eight successive woes on the religious leaders, Jesus then says to them, “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (23:33). This brings to mind the first Messianic prophecy when God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed” (Genesis 3:15).

The prophecy has now come true in the enmity seen between Jesus (the seed of the woman) and the religious leaders (the seed of the serpent). The religious leaders represent every evil inclination and false teaching that would lead us away from loving God and serving our neighbor. These are the true “serpents” and “vipers” — within us — that Jesus came to combat and subdue.

But first He had to fight this battle within Himself.

This battle is now intensifying as Jesus confronts the hellish influences that are attacking him through the religious leaders. He identifies evil after evil, and declares woe upon woe, as He combats these enemies of humanity. Throughout the long and arduous process, it is clear that this kind of conflict gives Him no pleasure. Instead, with grief and pity in His Divine heart, He says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (23:37).

Instead of a life filled with woe (sadness, anxiety, and hatred), Jesus would much rather have us accept His invitation to enjoy a life filled with blessing (joy, peace, and love). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus carefully enumerates the blessings that come to those who strive to live according to His teachings — the blessings that include qualities such as humility, patience, mercy, and forgiveness. These divine qualities are the “name of the Lord” in each of us. The Lord’s “name” is every form of goodness and truth; it is every divinely human quality — whatever name we give to it. God is love, mercy, patience, forgiveness, charity, humility, kindness, compassion, courage, gentleness … the list of the Lord’s holy names is inexhaustible. This is because “the name of the Lord” — that is, the entirety of His divine attributes — when taken together constitute all the qualities of love and wisdom that belong to God. ¹⁰

God continually strives to fill our mind with His “name” — the many wonderful qualities that He longs to give us. And to the extent that we receive His words and live by them, these qualities become our own. Our minds can then be compared to a magnificently furnished house, built on a rock — a happy and blessed dwelling-place filled with peace and joy. But without the presence of God’s qualities, the human mind is like a desolate, abandoned house, a sorrowful dwelling-place, filled with nothing but woe. Because the Lord is shut out, there is nothing truly living in that house. Therefore, Jesus says, “See! Your house is left to you desolate” (23:28).

But in the next breath Jesus quickly adds, “for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (23:39). To say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” is to acknowledge Jesus’ divinity. It is to open the door of our minds and let Him in. It is to go through life with the Lord’s qualities in our hearts, practicing them and living by them in everything we do, and in every place we go. In this way we can go forward into every aspect of life “in the name of the Lord” — the Lord’s qualities in our minds and hearts.

While there are numberless blessings — and equally numberless woes — the sum and summation of all blessings is to live “in His name.” Therefore, even as this chapter is filled with woes, and even as Jesus laments over Jerusalem, it ends on a note of hope. We are reminded, once again, that great blessings await all who live “in the name of the Lord,” honoring and praising His name by living according to His teachings.

This is the end of Jesus’ teaching in the temple. He has clearly warned the religious leaders of the woes in store for them if they continue to reject Him. As He gets ready to leave, He tells them that they will see Him no more until they can truly say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

Will they relent? Will they acknowledge that Jesus is more than the son of David? Will they acknowledge His divinity and allow Him to bless their lives? Or will they maintain their stubborn opposition and, even worse, conspire to destroy Him? We will soon find out.

Footnotes:

2009. That 'no longer will your name be called Abram' means that He will cast off the human, and that 'your name will be Abraham' means that He will put on the Divine, is clear from the meaning of 'name', also from the meaning of 'Abram', and after that of 'Abraham'. When the phrase 'your name will be' is used in the Word it means the nature of, that is, what a person's nature is going to be like, as is clear from what has been brought forward in Volume One, in 144, 145, 1754. And since 'names means the nature of, a name includes everything in its entirety within that person, for in heaven no attention is paid to someone's name, but when anyone is referred to by name, or when a name is used, a mental picture of his nature comes up, that is, of all that is his, with him and in him. This is why 'name' in the Word means the nature of. To make this matter clearer to the understanding let further confirmatory quotations from the Word be introduced, such as in the Blessing in Moses,

Jehovah bless you and keep you; Jehovah make His face ¹ shine upon you and be merciful to you; Jehovah lift up His face ¹ upon you and give you peace.

So shall they put My name upon the sons of Israel. Numbers 6:24-27.

From this it is evident what 'name' and 'putting Jehovah's name upon the sons of Israel' means, namely that Jehovah blesses, keeps, enlightens, is merciful, and gives peace, and that such is Jehovah's or the Lord's nature.

[2] In the Ten Commandments,

You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain, for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless who has taken His name in vain. Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11.

Here taking God's name in vain does not mean His name but every single thing deriving from Him, and so every single thing belonging to the worship of Him, which must not be treated with disdain, still less be blasphemed and defiled by what is filthy. In the Lord's Prayer,

Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in heaven so on earth. Luke 11:2.

Nor in this instance is 'name' used to mean name but all things that belong to love and faith, for these are God's, or the Lord's, and derive from Him. Since the latter are holy, the Lord's kingdom comes, and His will is done on earth as it is in heaven, when they are upheld as being holy.

[3] That 'name' means such things is clear from all the places in the Old Testament Word and in the New where the word 'name' is used, as in Isaiah,

You will say on that day, Confess Jehovah, call on His name, make His deeds known among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. Isaiah 12:4.

Here 'calling on the name of Jehovah' and 'making mention that it is exalted' does not in any way mean making the name itself an object of worship, or believing that Jehovah is called on by the mere uttering of His name, but by knowing His nature, and so every single thing that derives from Him. In the same prophet,

Therefore in the Urim give honour to Jehovah, in the isles of the sea to the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel. Isaiah 24:15.

Here 'in the Urim give honour to Jehovah' means worship based on the holy things of love, 'in the isles of the sea to the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel' worship based on the holy things of faith.

[4] In the same prophet,

Jehovah our God, in You alone will we make mention of Your name. Isaiah 26:13.

And in the same prophet,

I will stir up one from the north, and he will come, from the rising of the sun he will call on My name. Isaiah 41:25.

Here 'making mention of' and 'calling on the name of Jehovah' is worshipping from the goods of love and the truths of faith. Those 'from the north' are people outside the Church who do not know the name of Jehovah but who do nevertheless call on His name when they are leading charitable lives one with another and venerate some deity as the Creator of the universe, for it is the worship and what constitutes it, not the name, that calling on Jehovah entails. That the Lord is also present with gentiles, see 932, 1032, 1059.

[5] In the same prophet,

The nations will see your righteousness and all the kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name which the mouth of Jehovah will announce. Isaiah 62:2.

Here 'you will be called by a new name' stands for becoming a different person, that is to say, as a result of being created anew or regenerated, and so stands for becoming such. In Micah,

All the peoples walk each in the name of its god, but we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God for ever and eternally. Micah 4:5.

'Walking in the name of its god' clearly stands for worship that is profane, while 'walking in the name of Jehovah' stands for true worship. In Malachi,

From the rising of the sun and even to its setting, great is My name among the nations; and in every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure minchah, for great is My name among the nations. Malachi 1:11.

Here 'name' is not used to mean the name but the worship; and this worship is the essential nature of Jehovah or the Lord, from which He wills to be adored.

[6] In Moses,

The place which Jehovah your God chooses out of all the tribes to put His name there, and to make His name dwell there, to that place shall you bring all that I am commanding you. Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 14; 16:2, 6, 11.

Here also 'putting His name' and 'making His name dwell there' do not mean the name but the worship, and so Jehovah's or the Lord's essential nature from which He is to be worshipped. His nature consists in the good of love and the truth of faith, it being with those who are governed by such good and truth that Jehovah's name dwells. In Jeremiah,

Go to My place which is in Shiloh where I made My name dwell at first. Jeremiah 7:12.

Here similarly 'name' stands for worship, and so for doctrine concerning true faith. It may become clear to anyone that Jehovah does not dwell with somebody who merely knows and utters His name, for without any conception and recognition of His essential nature, and without any belief in it, the name by itself is a mere verbal expression. From this it is evident that the word 'name' means the nature of, and the knowledge of that nature.

[7] In Moses,

At that time Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi to serve Him and to bless in His name. Deuteronomy 10:8.

Here 'blessing in the name of Jehovah' is doing so not by means of the name but by means of those qualities associated with the name of Jehovah which have been referred to above. In Jeremiah,

This is His name which they will call Him, Jehovah our righteousness. Jeremiah 23:6.

Here 'name' stands for the righteousness which is the essential nature of the Lord, to whom these words refer. In Isaiah,

Jehovah called Me from the womb, from My mother's body ² He made mention of My name. Isaiah 49:1.

These words too refer to the Lord. 'Making mention of His name' is informing about His essential nature.

[8] That 'name' means the nature of is plainer still in John's Revelation,

You have a few names in Sardis, who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers will be clad in white garments and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name before My father and before the angels. He who conquers I will write on him the name of God, and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. Revelation 3:4-5, 12.

Here it is quite clear that name does not mean the name but the essential nature of him who conquers. 'The name in the book of life' is nothing else. Nor is 'confessing his name before My Father', and 'writing on him the name of God and of the city, and a new name'. The same applies elsewhere to the names which are said to have been written in the book of life and in heaven, Revelation 13:8; 17:8; Luke 10:20.

[9] In heaven one person is always recognized from another by his nature or character, which is expressed in the sense of the letter as 'the name', as may also become clear to anyone from the fact that on earth the mention of anybody's name presents to another a mental picture of his nature or character by which he is known and distinguished from anyone else. In the next life those mental pictures survive but names perish. More especially is this so with angels. This is why in the internal sense 'name' means the essential nature of, or the knowledge of that nature. In the same book,

On the head of Him who sat on the white horse were many jewels. He has a name written which no one knows but He Himself. He was clad in a garment dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. Revelation 19:12-13.

Here it is stated openly that His 'name' is The Word of God, thus the essential nature of Him who sat on the white horse.

[10] The fact that the name of Jehovah means the knowledge of His nature, that is to say, it means every good of love and every truth of faith, is quite clear from these words spoken by the Lord,

Righteous Father, I have known You, and these too have known that You have sent Me, for I made known to them Your name, and I will make it known that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them. John 17:25-26.

[11] And that the name of God or of the Lord means the whole doctrine of faith concerning love and charity, which is meant by 'believing in His name', is clear from these words in the same gospel,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name. John 1:12.

If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:13-15.

Whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give it to you. These things I command you, that you love one another. John 15:16-17.

In Matthew,

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20.

Here 'being gathered together in the Lord's name' means those who possess the doctrine of faith concerning love and charity, and so who are governed by love and charity.

[12] In the same gospel,

You will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. Matthew 10:22; 24:9-10; Mark 13:13.

Here 'for My name's sake' clearly stands for doctrine's sake. The fact that a name itself is of no avail, only that which the name embodies, that is to say, everything constituting charity and faith, is quite clear from the following in Matthew,

Did we not prophesy through Your name, and cast out demons through Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name? And then I will confess to them, I do not know you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity. Matthew 7:22-23.

From this it is clear that people who make worship consist in a name, as Jews do in the name of Jehovah and Christians in the name of the Lord, are not on that account worthier than any others, for the name is of no avail. But they are worthier when their characters conform to what He has commanded; and this is the meaning of 'believing in His name'. And when they say that there is salvation in no other name than the Lord's they mean in no other doctrine, that is, in none other than mutual love, which is the true doctrine of faith, and so in none other than the Lord since all love comes from Him alone, and all faith from that love.

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