---
title: Matthew 23:25
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-23-25/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/matthew-23-25.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: Matthew 23:25
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# Matthew 23:25

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.

## NWT Wording of the Key Phrase

- NWT (2013 revision): "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of greediness and self-indulgence."

## JW Usage

JWs receive Jesus' woes against the Pharisees as a warning against formalistic religion in general but apply the lesson to mainstream Christianity rather than to the Watchtower's own institutional practices. The cup-and-dish image rarely surfaces in Watchtower treatments of organisational reform.

## Protestant Usage

Jesus' rebuke is the diagnostic for cosmetic reform that leaves the inside untouched. The 2024 announcements — the brief-greeting concession at neutral locations, the retirement of "disfellowshipping" in favour of "removal" — clean the outside of the cup. The judicial committees, family separation, public announcements at the Kingdom Hall, fear of losing one's children — the inside of the cup — remain unchanged. Pair this with 2 Timothy 3:5 ("a form of godliness but denying its power") to expose the rebrand as the very pattern Jesus condemned: appearance-management without substance change. The inside of the cup is what Jesus said Jehovah examines; renaming the outside does not address what is in there.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [2024 'Removed' Rebrand — Not Reform](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/2024-removed-rebrand-not-reform.md) — 2 Timothy 3:5 — A form of godliness, denying its power [Authority]