ACC ~ Matthew 23 v13

CURSES AND BLESSINGS

ORIGEN: There are those who dare to say that God is not good because of the curses in his law that he places against their sin. And yet the one who is truly the Son of God who gave that same law is also the same one who put blessings into the law. The same God who provides blessings for those who are saved in a similar way applies curses which he placed in the law against sinners. “Woe,” he says. Woe to you and to those hearing these things who plead the God of the law and yet do not understand that these words were spoken by God in a kindly way. So we understand why Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees.” They believe that it is in fact a good thing to pronounce these curses against sinners. They consider the arrangement of the law’s curses to be a part of God’s design. The chiding father frequently urges his advice on his son for his improvement—advice that may seem to be a curse. He does not wish the curses to be actualized, however, but rather he desires to avert him from even more such curses. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 13. [1]

[1] GCS 38.2:24-25.

WOE TO YOU SCRIBES

HILARY OF POITIERS: “Woe” is a voice of sorrowing. For this reason he says that they close the kingdom of heaven, because they hide in the law the consolation of his truth. They lost sight of the advent expected by the prophets. Through deceptive teachings, they do not allow others to go to heaven either. They do not adorn the way of eternity. ON MATTHEW 24.3. [1]

[1] SC 258:166-68.

YOU NEITHER ENTER NOR ALLOW OTHERS

JEROME: The scribes and Pharisees have the knowledge of the prophets and of the law. They know that Christ is the Son of God. They are not ignorant that he was born of the Virgin. Yet they did not seek to serve the people to whom they were accountable. They themselves were not entering the kingdom of heaven, nor did they permit others who were able to do so. Hosea the prophet declares of them, “The priests have stolen the way, they have killed the [people of] Shechem,” [1] and again, “The priests did not ask where the Lord is.” [2] Surely every teacher who misleads his students shuts the gate of the kingdom of heaven before them. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4.23.13. [3]

[1] Hos 6:9.

[2] Jer 2:8.

[3] CCL 77:213.