Matthew the apostle wrote how Jesus said, “Woe unto you, you blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. You fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift. Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, swears by it, and by him that dwells therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him that sits thereon”, and in chapter twenty-three and verse twenty-three of his book Matthew shared how Jesus talked about, “paying tithes” of spices and “omitting the weightier matters of the law” where we read:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
The verse reads, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, ...”. Matthew began with the words, “woe unto you” which means “which is used an expression of grief or denunciation toward the religious leaders” know as, “scribes” or “men who were learned in the Mosaic law and in the sacred writings as interpreters and teachers” “and Pharisees” which refers to “the sect that seems to have started after the Jewish exile. In addition to Old Testament books the Pharisees recognized in oral tradition a standard of belief and life”, “hypocrites” or “actors, stage players, dissemblers and pretenders”! “for you pay tithe” which means “the scribes and Pharisees give, exact and take a tenth” “of mint” or “a kind of small odoriferous herb with which the Jews used to scatter on the floors of their houses and synagogues” “and anise” which refers to “dill which is used plant used as a spice and for medicine” “and cummin” or “a cultivated plant in Palestine with seeds that have a bitter warm taste and an aromatic flavor”, “and have omitted” which means “sent away, neglected and allowed” “the weightier matters” or “the more burdensome, severe and stern things” “of the law” which means “within the rule producing a state approved of God”. Matthew shared how Jesus noted how the “scribes and Pharisees” were “stage players” because they were extremely careful to “tithe” from their spices, however, they ignored and neglected the more important aspects of the law of God.
The verse continues, “... judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matthew added the word, “judgment” which means “opinion, justice, injustice, right, wrong, condemnation, punishment and damnatory judgment”, “mercy” which refers to “kindness or good will towards the miserable and afflicted along with a desire to help them”, “faith” which means “he conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ”: “these ought you to have done” or “judgment, mercy and faith should have been performed by the scribes and Pharisees”, “and not to leave” which means “and never and in no way to hinder, give up or disregard” “the other undone” or “the tithing of their increase”. Matthew shared how Jesus noted the “weightier matters” of God's law and instructed the “religious leaders” to observe them and not neglect the “tithing” as well.
When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus noted how the “scribes and Pharisees” observed the “little things” in God's law but were negligent to follow the “more important” parts of God's law. Every part of God's law is important, and the ones that relate to other people take precedence and priority. God desires for people to follow Him through a relationship with His Son Jesus, and when they yield their lives to Him, they shall begin to understand God's law was for the benefit of others, and they shall be given the ability to observe to bless Him and others.
Next time we see Matthew write how Jesus tells the scribe and Pharisees how they, “strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
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Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
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