Matthew 23:23-28

Matthew 23:23-28

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees – pretenders - because you all tithe mint and dill and cumin and you push away the more significant things of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.  And these things it was necessary to do and not push away the others.  Blind guides: the ones who filter out a gnat but while swallowing the camel!  Woe to you all, scribes and Pharisees – pretenders – because you cleanse the outside of the cup and the plate but inside they are full of that which is taken by force and a lack of self-control.  Blind Pharisees, cleanse first the inside of the cup in order that its outside should also become clean.   Woe to you all, scribes and Pharisees – pretenders – because you resemble closely tombs having been painted white, in one case whose outside appears lovely but in another case the inside are full of dead bones and everything unclean.  In the same way in one case you all appear righteous to mankind on the outside but in another case on the inside you are full of pretense and lawless living.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In the next woe, Jesus speaks about those who pay attention to some aspects of the Law but who forget about the bigger picture.  There are always people in life who want to lift up one small point or another small point.  And yes, even small sins are still sins.  But the greater point of the Law is to point us to our need for grace.  The Law points us to our need for Christ.  The point is not to hold up the Law and expect to be able to live by it.  The point of the Law is to look into it, try our best, and realize that without Christ we have no chance.  Yes, we should endeavor to live a godly life.  But we also need to be forgiving of ourselves and others when we fail and repent.  After all, the point of God sending Jesus to us was to demonstrate grace and forgiveness.  If God can forgive when we are repentant, we need to remember that as being significant and follow in His lead!

Do you ever get caught up in the Law and judge those who fail on certain points of the Law?  Why do we each usually have certain sticky issues in our life that tend to get us hung up?  How forgiving are you in genuine repentance?  What about with a person who sins often and repents often?

Second Thought:

If we continue in this theme of comparing the woes to beatitudes, we can compare this one to “blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”  Jesus is arguing that while the religious leaders are great at holding up the Law, they stumble on offering grace and mercy.  They are not merciful.  We need to remember that the merciful are the ones who receive mercy.

How merciful of a person are you?  Why do you tend to be the way that you are?  Does it make sense that the merciful should receive the greater portion of mercy from God?

Third Thought:

In the next two woes, we hear Jesus critiquing the cleansing of the dishes that the Pharisees did.  They had scores of laws about washing plates and washing hands and washing clothes in order to keep ritually pure.  But Jesus seems to be making a much larger point here.  Following the Law in order to maintain ritual purity is pointless if the inside of a person is ignored.  Purity does not come from without and work its way in.  Purity comes from with and goes out.  Jesus says this in other places when he tells the religious leaders that it is not that which goes in that defiles a person but what comes out of the mouth.  This is why one of the beatitudes says, “Blessed are the pure in heart.”  Jesus clearly cares about what is on the inside of a person.  So, therefore, should we.

What does your inside look like?  Do you care about the inside of the people around you or are you more interested in external behavior? 

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 23:29-36