The gospel is the "whosoever exalts himself shall be humbled" gospel. In this gospel Christ ridicules the Pharisees for their preoccupation with appearance ("They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes"), urging people to listen to the words of the teachers but ignore their actions. It is a gospel filled with dichotomies: Words versus action, words versus meaning, and the main dichotomy the difference between the concerns of life and those of the spirit.
It seems a bit funny, Christ's dismissing the Pharisees, but later in the chapter it get harsh. The Pharisees "devour the houses of widows", are "blind guides", "full of rapine and uncleanliness", "whited sepulchres ("beautiful but full of dead men's bones")," "serpents, generation of vipers."
This is a lot worse than ridicule; this is serious condemnation. They "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel." They tithe mint and leave out the "weightier things of the law, judgment and mercy and faith." It is this debate between the concerns of life and those of the spirit that moves this gospel. The translators of the word are no better than anyone else; it is the word that is the point. Any earthly teacher pales in the presence of the Real Teacher. Gold itself is valueless; it is the altar that sanctifies the gold.
It is meaning that gives value to words. It is the spirit that brings significance to life. It is eternity that brings value to the temporary.
Now, these phylacteries ......
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