Then spoke Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
All Commentaries on Matthew 23:1 Go To Matthew 23
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
s27 , 28. Woe unto you . . . full of iniquity; Gr. α̉νομία, i.e, perversion of the law. "Ye simulate an outward zeal for the law, whilst inwardly ye despise and pervert it." Appositely says Auctor Imperfecti, "Tell me, 0 hypocrite, if it is good to be good, why do you not wish to be what you wish to appear? It is more base to be what it is base to appear: and what it is beautiful to appear, it is beautiful to be."
"Moreover, there are many in our days like the Pharisees," says S. Chrysostom, "who take the greatest care of cleanliness and outward adorning, but whose souls have no ornaments; yet who fill their souls with worms and gore and an inexpressible stench; who fill them, I say, with wicked and absurd lusts."
