Posts
"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.
"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."
- Matthew 23:13-26
Yesterday, we began reading Jesus' final public sermon. He is in the temple at Jerusalem, and it is what we commemorate as Holy Week. He has been through a series of questions from the leadership, and now speaks out Himself in His own criticism of their practices. Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.' But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." Here is the power of leadership, and what happens when it fails to truly lead. Jesus condemns hypocritical practices. The Law was meant to protect the poor -- orphans and widows. But Jesus condemns practices that allow greed to mask itself under certain types of customs, and calls long prayers things that are done only to hide a rapacious nature. He condemns also those who make a show of seeking proselytes, but whose failed leadership only turns out those worse than themselves, who fail to truly live the faith. My study bible says that those who do not love God can hinder others from finding Him as well. Therefore leaders must be held to a higher standard (see James 3:1).
"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it." There was a custom of swearing oaths, and thereby creating obligations. Some Pharisaic customs taught that if one swore by the gold of the temple, one was truly obligated. But swearing by the temple or the altar was not so obligated. Jesus has preached elsewhere against using any kind of oaths at all ("Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’). Jesus' point here is both simple and profound. Their emphasis on the gold or gifts in the temple and on the altar is a blind materialistic one. It's God, ultimately, who sanctifies anything and everything: it's therefore the temple or the altar that gives value -- the worthiness of sanctification -- to the gift, and not the other way around! It is heaven that confers the real value of all things.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" Again, Jesus emphasizes their materialistic outlook. It goes hand in hand with the extensive legalistic point of view of these men and the practices they had developed around the Law. Emphasis on tithing, in such a perspective -- even for these small herbs -- outweighs the matters of real importance which, just as the temple and the altar give meaning, value, and sanctification to the golden gifts upon it, are the true fullness of the Law. Every part of the Law is important, but the true aims of it have gone undone while the minutiae are rigorously observed. What is the true aim and purpose of the practices put into the Law? The weightier matters of justice and mercy and faith. One other aspect of observing the minutiae of the Law, so to speak, would be to put strainers to the mouths of decanters so that one would not accidentally swallow a ritually unclean substance. This is what Jesus refers to when he says they "strain out a gnat and swallow a camel." Their legalistic focus allows for formal observation to great show of piety, but they're missing the whole substance of what the Law was for. These practices are designed to help lead a person to greater faith and commitment to God, but can be observed without ever taking them to heart. The same words apply to all of our faith practices today! Everything depends on where the heart is, what we truly love: the blessings, meanings, and value of what we do are still conferred by God.
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also." Again there is the emphasis on ritual purity, and what it can obscure of the state of the heart. Do we use rituals to convince ourselves and others of our sanctity, and neglect the "weightier matters" of the heart? Do we use them as cover for "extortion and self-indulgence?" Blindness, as Jesus uses it here, describes an inner condition of true ignorance, in which we fail to see what we truly need to "clean."
Jesus' discourse -- here in His final public sermon -- is one that teaches us about the ways in which the practices in the temple are corrupt. This is not a condemnation of the Law nor of the practices in the Law. It is a condemnation of those who use the Law for show, for greed, as cover for their own covetousness of position and rank, and even ways of gaining wealth. The words apply, really, to all of us. They are particularly addressed to religious leadership. To be false in terms of the "weightier matters" of one's inner life, of the practice of mercy and justice and faith, is to teach proselytes to be the same, and worse: it teaches habits which become only more blind and more misleading. Hypocrisy is something we can all watch for in ourselves. But among leadership it is especially poisonous, for they are the ones entrusted to lead the flock, and to teach others to follow them. There are all kinds of ways in which we may practice some form of piety that hides our true inner state of being from ourselves and others. But leadership, in Christ's perspective, is to be held to a higher standard. We can all hide behind the minutiae of some form of "correct" behavior: we can say the right things and make the right gestures. But the "weightier matters" of justice and mercy and faith call for something much more from us. They call for a kind of capability to which we must rise, which God will nurture in us if we allow it. Qualities of leadership thereby are also given true value by God, conferred by heaven, that which the altar truly reaches to. It's there our thinking has to really go when we consider these matters. There is the place where grace must be at work, with our cooperation. That is where true leaders are grown and can nurture others. So let us consider the truly "weightier" matters -- those things of true substance, measured against the weights and measures of holiness, of sanctification. This only happens through a heart activated by love of God, and capable of love of neighbor. Where do you find your sanctification? What builds that which is of true value to God in you? Jesus names the "weightier matters" -- mercy and justice and faith.
