A CASE OF THE WOES
Matthew 23:23-26 NKJV
23 “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. 24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “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. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
Jesus is on a roll in this chapter, and the scribes and Pharisees are catching His apparent disdain for their behavior. Eight times in this chapter, Jesus says woe to these groups. And the theme is Jesus being upset with the fact that the scribes and Pharisees are more outward-oriented. They are more concerned with looking right to other people on the outside than in having a heart that is right before God.
In our verses for today, Jesus addresses the fact that the scribes and Pharisees are very intent on tithing everything that comes their way. The tithe is the first ten percent, and these religious leaders would tithe the spices that they had. So of all their mint and anise and cummin, they would give ten percent in an offering. Evidently, they were very precise in this practice. But. But they completely skipped over what was more important to God: justice, mercy, and faith. So they had the outside right but missed putting an emphasis on the inside things. Mercy, justice, and faith are not always visible. And to the scribes and Pharisees, only what was visible was valuable. And because of missing the most important aspects of their walk with God, Jesus declared woe to them.
Woe meant to openly brand as disgraceful. Jesus was not at all happy with these religious leaders because they would tell people what to do, but then not do it themselves. It was disgraceful how they used God as a way of promoting and exalting themselves instead of serving the people and helping them grow.
Jesus pronounced woe on the scribes and Pharisees for being very particular in their washing of cups and dishes. They would go to great lengths to have clean cups and dishes, but once again, they missed the main point. Jesus said on the inside, they were full of extortion and self-indulgence. I can only imagine that Jesus was getting some looks as He preached this message. He just publicly denounced the leaders of the nation for their ungodly living. Jesus declared that they were to clean the inside first. The heart is where you start. And then clean the outside. Jesus is not making a case for filthy eating utensils but rather a case for placing the effort and emphasis on the inside condition of the heart.
APPLICATION
Jesus was the one who had every right to speak this way to the rulers of Israel. These rulers were supposed to be the examples, but instead they were leading people the wrong way.
I am not in a position to speak to religious leaders as Jesus did. For one, I am not perfect. So instead of me looking to blast the hypocrisy and religious postering, I need to work on my heart first. All of us must understand that the most important thing is not how we look to others outwardly but how we look to God inwardly. Inside first is the place to start.
PRAYER
Lord, may I live to please only You. Show me areas of my heart that I need to focus on and thank You for forgiving and cleansing me.