Note 14 at Mt 23:17: The Lord used the term "blind" five times in His rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees in this chapter (Mt 23:16, 17, 19, 24, and 26). Their greatest sin was not in their blindness but in their hypocrisy in professing to see (Joh 9:41).

Spiritual blindness is hereditary. People are born spiritually separated from God. However, God is constantly revealing Himself to people and seeking to draw them out of their blindness (Ro 1:18-20). For people to persist in this condition, they have to harden themselves against innumerable internal and external witnesses of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is inexcusable to continue in spiritual blindness. These scribes and Pharisees were blind by choice.

Note 15 at Mt 23:17: It is God who gives value to everything. Things mean nothing without Him. These scribes and Pharisees were making the same mistake that people make today. They put more value on material things than on spiritual things.