<p>23:5&nbsp;<em>But they do all their works</em>- See on :3&nbsp;<em>Their works&hellip; they do not</em>.</p><p><em>To be seen by men</em>- The same Greek word and teaching as in 6:1; the Pharisees did good deeds &ldquo;to be seen of men&rdquo; and therefore have no reward. But the warning of 6:1 is to us all. Too easily we can feel that these woes against the Pharisees are not relevant to us, but they were merely giving in to the same tendencies as are common to us all. John&rsquo;s Gospel uses the same word for &lsquo;seeing&rsquo; with regard to our &lsquo;seeing&rsquo; Jesus in the sense of believing in Him. So the contrast is between those who look to Jesus, and those who want others to look to them. Widening and enlarging the religious symbols on their clothing was exactly in order to be seen by men. Our focus upon looking toward Jesus will make us less interested in how men look upon us.</p><p><em>For they make their phylacteries wide</em>- Nearly all the descriptions here of what the Pharisees did are couched in language which is elsewhere used about spiritual things. The point being made is that they were living a religious life which was an inversion of what true spirituality, and especially the example of the Lord Jesus, are all about. The reason why so much attention is given to the Pharisees in the Gospel records is surely because their mentality is so typically human, and their failure is preserved as a warning to all who claim to be committed to the same God of Israel. The Greek word translated &ldquo;enlarge&rdquo; is elsewhere nearly always used about the need to &ldquo;magnify&rdquo;&nbsp;<em>God</em>&nbsp;rather than ourselves (Lk. 1:46 &ldquo;My soul&nbsp;<em>magnifies</em>&nbsp;the Lord&rdquo;; Acts 10:46; 19:17; Phil. 1:20).</p><p><em>And the tassels on their garments long</em>- The same word translated &ldquo;hem&rdquo; is used elsewhere only about the hem of the Lord&rsquo;s garment which gave blessing and healing to others (9:20; 14:36).</p>