The Book of DieselThe Light Before the Gospel“Yohanan inherited resurrection as a promise and interpretation as a craft. He could make a law survive any circumstance by surrounding it with another law. People admired the fence until they discovered themselves trapped between its posts.”
The Book of Diesel · Gospel Threshold Edition v4.5
Historically anchoredThe setting or public event is documented; dialogue, motives, and recurring characters are invented.
By the first century CE, Pharisees were one influential Jewish movement among several. Matthew 23’s Seven Woes reflect fierce intra-Jewish conflict as presented by a later Gospel author; they should not be generalized into condemnation of all Jews or every Pharisee.
The council, burdened widow, and teacher Yohanan are fictional. The chapter foreshadows Gospel themes without putting later sayings into Jesus’s mouth before the narrative reaches him.