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Matthew 23:23
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”
Most Christians probably have a negative view of the Pharisees, and for good reason. After all, Jesus frequently condemns the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. Today’s passage, for instance, features one of Christ’s many harsh sayings against the Pharisee party (Matt. 23:23). Because of such statements, it can be easy for us to think that we are inherently much better than the Pharisees, that surely we can do better than they did. We are tempted to take Jesus’ admonition that our righteousness must exceed theirs (Matt. 5:20) less seriously than perhaps we ought, since we imagine that their failures set a very low bar for us to clear. In many ways, however, the righteousness of the Pharisees was more exacting than we can imagine.
The party of the Pharisees began during the intertestamental period, that four hundred or so years between the death of the Old Testament prophet Malachi and the advent of John the Baptist. Originally, they were a reform movement. Seeing that the Jewish community had become lax in its commitment to the law of God, the Pharisees strove to live righteous lives. They diligently studied Scripture, seeking to apply and follow it in all of life.
Over time, what perhaps started out with good intentions devolved into an approach to holiness that focused on externals and emphasized a type of legalism. We see an example of these tendencies in Matthew 23:23, where Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for tithing the least of their spices but neglecting the more important matters of justice, mercy, and faithfulness. His example highlights the Pharisees’ misguided approach to living righteously.
Note, however, that Jesus did not tell the Pharisees to stop tithing. Concern for the law is a good thing; the problem was that the Pharisees were only obeying the law selectively. They were highly concerned about relatively obscure matters in the law, but they disregarded the more important things that the commandments pointed to.
It is easy for us to look down on the Pharisees, but how quick are we to pay heed only to the specific parts of the Bible that appeal to us? So often, we forget or ignore the weightier matters of Scripture that call us to greater holiness. In truth, we should pay attention to all that Scripture says, seeking to live righteously by obeying all that God has commanded us (Josh. 22:5).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Keeping the commandments of God does not merit heaven for us, but this does not mean that diligently seeking to obey them is optional. The Lord calls us to obey His law in gratitude for His great salvation. Let us repent where we have not been seeking to follow His law, asking the Holy Spirit to enable our faithfulness.
for further study
- Joshua 1:7
- Ecclesiastes 12:13–14
- John 14:15
- 1 John 5:3
the bible in a year
- Job 33–34
- Acts 13:26–52