"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, 'If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets' blood.' Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out! (Mt 23:27-32)
‘Bearing witness’ is essential in Christian religion. Every follower is asked to bear witness to the love of God, the redemption of Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Here Jesus criticises the Pharisees and the scribes for bearing witness to themselves though negatively. Yes they go about doing things and speaking about themselves. It is in this they are hypocrites. They, in stead should speak of God and do Godly things.
Secondly they are the children of the murderers. Since they are descendants their activities are like their fore fathers. They keep repeating what their elders have done and gone before them. In no way they are better than them. Even though, they pretend to do things differently. They do the same actions but differently.
What do they do differently? It is true that they do not kill the prophets. But they build tombs and monuments to the prophets thus agreeing with what their ancestors have done. They keep whitewashing the tombs and again agreeing with what their fore fathers have done in the past. Not only they agree with their ancestors they themselves are doing things which are only external. They do it for a show. And that is why they are hypocrites.
