Blind guides and hypocrites

‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.” You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.” How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.

- Matthew 23:13-26

Jesus continues his criticism of the scribes and Pharisees (begun in yesterday's reading). "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves." In the beginning of Jesus' critique, Jesus stated that his followers were to do as the Pharisees teach, but not as they do - because the Pharisees are hypocrites. In this sense, they lock people out of the kingdom because of this teaching by example - and the great emphasis they place on appearance alone, rather than a heartfelt commandment to the teachings of spiritual life. Most especially they lack humility - and Jesus' deepest, greatest teachings of life in the kingdom are about the great emphasis on humility. The Pharisees' notion of discipleship is for individual rabbinical teachers to take on pupils who will follow them absolutely - but Jesus has taught that his followers shall have only one Teacher, all are students of Christ, and children of One Father. The Pharisees, by teaching a hypocritical behavior, keep people away from this kingdom, and lead their students and converts away from God because of hypocrisy and the emphasis on outward appearance, and the desire for personal glory. My study bible has a note that reads: "The Pharisees perpetuate a systematic hypocrisy which creates a wall between people and God."

"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, 'Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.' How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it." This isn't the first time Jesus has called the Pharisees blind, nor the first time he has condemned religious hypocrisy: in Matthew 15:14 he also refers to religious teachers as hypocrites and calls them "the blind leading the blind." Here, Jesus begins by citing the minutiae of religious law that the Pharisees teach by repeating and searching for codes of behavior that emphasize the letter of the law, but fail to incorporate its spirit and its aim in the first place, and to teach such to those who are in their spiritual charge. There is neither mercy nor understanding in these teachings; the emphasis is on greed, and once again personal self-glorification via gold and gifts.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others." The emphasis on tithing here is expressing what we measure. The measuring of gifts once again takes precedence. And there is nothing wrong with tithing, nor making gifts. But there is something far more important than material gifts! They have "neglected the weightier matters of the law!" That is, "justice and mercy and faith!" How much should we take these words to heart for ourselves and our spiritual understanding? How often do we encounter gifts made for show, or glorifying one person or one place -- and where is this "tithe" in proportion to the "weightier matters?" A poetic understanding of weight and measurement by Jesus indeed! Are we always taught in this proportion of importance in our behavior and giving, as followers? "You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!" There were strainers on most containers of libation, to strain out unwanted particles for drinking. But they were also used for scrupulous religious observation, to strain out that which was considered "impure" spiritually. To "strain out a gnat but swallow a camel" is indeed to practice scrupulosity to the point of ignoring much weightier matters, and missing what should be obvious and important except to those who are blind.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean." To clean the outside of the cup is to be concerned about the appearance of sanctity and spiritual cleanliness. This is a metaphor about the appearance of holiness, and how one's appearance in a religious sense is purveyed before others. But it is the "inside of the cup" that is important. Jesus is speaking of humility and repentance, the need to be willing to give up those things within us that have to go when confronted by the realities of the kingdom: those "weightier" matters of justice and mercy and faith. For those of us that come from Christian denominations where ancient liturgical practices continue to be treasured, my study bible has a special note: "These warnings are especially important to Orthodox Christians. This historical Church has maintained the ancient liturgical obligations, beautiful holy objects, specific rituals which externally guard righteousness, and imposing tradition handed down through God-fearing fathers. These rites can be performed, invoked, defended and passed on without ever being taken by faith to heart; or they can be helps, safeguards and doorways into the true life of Christ in us, which transforms us from glory to glory." But I think they apply to all of us, regardless of which church we follow or liturgical tradition or form we observe. It is my opinion that any form (or indeed just about anything or practice we call "good") can become a source of idolatry, rather than the spiritual help it was designed to be and to protect -- if it is used for appearance' sake and we don't open that door and let this spiritual relationship blossom and grow in our hearts. The reality of faith, in the end, is about that transforming power of the Spirit that is to help us to grow in justice and mercy and faith. For that we need good stewards, who point us to a true Teacher, who love their spiritual flock and are not predators.

Jesus does not condemn the external practice of tradition; rather he condemns those who emphasize only form, and not the whole object of all the beautiful forms of practice (including charitable giving) we may embrace in the first place: the cultivation within us of relationship to God and all that this would mean in us and in our lives. To paraphrase a note in my study bible: The "weightier matters" are of trust and obedience to God in "justice and mercy and faith." We engage in a relationship to our Creator, through all of the things we do to enforce and strengthen our spiritual lives and worship practice, including personal prayer, in order to effect a transformational powerful reality that works with us and within us in relationship. It is the neglect of this relationship that Jesus is criticizing. Blind guides cannot draw people closer to God.

If anything, our focus on Advent draws us to one great example of the reason for the coming of this Light into the world, God made manifest to us, the Son in this form as human being. The great powerful metaphor here is that God not only draws us closer to this relationship, but in making manifest the Son in the world, God comes to us. Grace will always reach to us, and has given us a human being to cement and build that relationship. There could be no greater concrete manifestation of this desire than the birth of the baby into the world that will become the man we know from the gospels as Jesus. We are given an example and a Teacher to draw us to this reality of the "weightier matters" and what, before all form, is more important -- this relationship to God in the heart. We are given this man, the Divine manifest in human form, to teach us about appearance and its secondary importance to the matters of faith in the heart. He died the death of an execution reserved for the worst criminals. He was not credentialed, and was in confrontation with religious authority. He did not seek high office for himself. Yet, he straightforwardly presented himself to us as Son. An awe-invoking thing to ponder, as we count the days of Advent; an act of grace so far-reaching that its ongoing effects, I say, are far too great for us ever to know in full. We must remain humble, and take his words to heart, in the midst of all the celebration.