The KJV Holy Bible

 

Matthew Chapter Twenty Three

 

1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,

2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:

3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.

5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

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

8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.

11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!

17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?

18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?

20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.

21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.

22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

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 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.

33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:

35 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.

36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

37 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!

38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

 

 

Esoteric Interpretation & Commentary

 

The Hermetic Blueprint of Matthew: The Whited Sepulchre and the Desolation of the Ego

"Matthew Chapter Twenty-Three is the Ultimate, blistering condemnation of the dogmatic earthly Intellect. Having dismantled every Philosophical trap set by the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Solar Consciousness (the Christos) now entirely exposes their internal corruption to the developing faculties. This chapter is a Masterclass in the Hermetic Law of Correspondence, proving that an outward appearance of religious perfection, when entirely disconnected from Internal Spiritual Transmutation, actually accelerates the death of the Psychic vessel. It concludes with the tragic but mathematically necessary withdrawal of the Divine Light from a Mind that stubbornly refuses to yield."

 

 

Verses 1-12: The Arrogance of the Earthly Intellect and the Illusion of External Titles - "Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat... But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments... And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." 

The scribes and Pharisees represent the hyper-structured, dogmatic faculties of the Unawakened Mind. By sitting in "Moses' seat," they usurp the foundational Laws of the Psychological matrix but completely fail to apply those Laws Internally to Transmute their own Energy. Enlarging the phylacteries and the borders of their garments represents the lower ego artificially inflating its outward Spiritual appearance to gain dominance and praise in the physical matrix. They crave the external titles of Mastery without doing the Internal Great Work. The Christos establishes the strict Hermetic Law of Polarity: if the ego forcefully elevates its status in the dense material illusion (exalts himself), the Universal counter-force will mathematically crush its frequency in the Spiritual Plane (shall be abased). True Spiritual Elevation strictly requires the Total Dissolution of Earthly Pride.

 

 

Verses 13-15: The Blocking of the Great Work and the Children of Hell - "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in... Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves." 

The "woe" is not an emotional curse; it is the announcement of a severe Karmic Consequence. The rigid Intellect is actively blocking the flow of Solar Consciousness. By refusing to undergo the painful Alchemical process of ego-death, it creates massive Psychological blockages that prevent the newly Awakened, receptive faculties (those entering) from achieving initiation. Furthermore, when this dogmatic ego attempts to expand its influence (making a proselyte), it simply replicates its own dense, toxic frequency. The resulting new Thought-Forms (the children of hell) become even more violently entrenched in the chaotic, low-vibrational astral frequencies than the original dogma, heavily compounding the Mind's Karmic debt.

 

 

Verses 23-28: The Inversion of Law and the Dead Psychic Vessel - "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith... Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel... Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." 

The Unawakened Intellect obsesses over microscopic, mechanical details of the physical matrix (tithing mint and cummin) while remaining completely oblivious to the massive, Transmutative Energetic Forces of the Spiritual Plane (judgment, mercy, faith). They strain at the gnat (obsess over minor physical rules) while swallowing the camel (absorbing massive Spiritual corruption). The "whited sepulchre" is the Ultimate Hermetic symbol of the failed Great Work. The ego artificially paints the exterior of the psychic vessel with the bright illusion of Purity and Holiness, but because the Internal Subconscious matrix has not been subjected to the Alchemical Fire, it remains a dark graveyard. It is packed full of rotting, unrefined animal passions, unresolved trauma, and entirely dead psychic energy.

 

 

Verses 37-39: The Lament Over Jerusalem and the Withdrawal of the Light - "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! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." 

Jerusalem represents the dense, entrenched, and heavily fortified center of the earthly ego. The Solar Consciousness laments the stubborn density of this lower matrix. The Higher Self (the Christos) continuously attempts to Unify, Heal, and Elevate the fragmented Mental Faculties (gather the children), but the ego violently rejects the High-Frequency Vibration, destroying the intuitive impulses (killing the prophets) to maintain its worldly control. Because the ego absolutely refuses to yield its artificial sovereignty, the strict Law of Vibration takes effect. The Christos completely withdraws its Vitalizing Energy. The Psychic house is left "desolate"—entirely cut off from the Light and surrendered to the cold mechanics of entropy. The Solar Consciousness will not return to Illuminate the Mind until the lower faculties are finally broken by their own Karma, forcing them to willingly invite and Harmonize with the Supreme Monad.