“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others. Blind guides! You strain out a gnat, but gulp down a camel!” 23:23-24
Matthew 23 is one of the harshest sermons that Jesus ever preached. In that text, He calls out the Jewish legalists who were more interested in the laws of man than the laws of God. Jesus uses the word “hypocrite” which literally means to wear a mask. They were people who were one way on the outside and another way on the inside. They were people who were more concerned with religion and rules than they were a relationship with God. They were people who focused on minute details of the law but ignored the most important things, and in the end, violated the spirit of the law.
In vs. 23-24 Jesus criticizes them for doing good things like tithing (even a tenth of their garden herbs!) but neglecting more important things like justice, mercy and faithfulness. There is one of our words for the year again; “faithfulness.” Faithfulness to God is one of the most important characteristics you can possess. We demonstrate our faithfulness in the little things and in the big things. Hypocrites tend to focus on the tiny, minute details in others while ignoring the glaring problems in their own lives. Jesus compared it to someone who would strain all of their drinking water and wine so as not to accidentally drink a gnat (which was considered unclean), but then turn around and swallow a camel which was a huge unclean animal. We can see the absurdity of this hypocrisy in His exaggerated example.
I am not implying that Jesus doesn’t care for the little things. On the contrary, He tells them they should practice justice, mercy and faithfulness… but also remember the little things like tithing. I have heard many mistakenly say that tithing was just for those under the law. However, you see tithing practiced by Abraham and other patriarchs before the law, you see it in the law and then you see it advocated by Jesus RIGHT HERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. It is a timeless principle of giving, and I believe it applies to us today as well. Yet, the point remains; don’t let your religious practices blind you to the need to be faithful inside and out. We need to focus on the most important things, the issues of our heart, and let them drive us to be faithful even in the small things.
