Blind fools

The scribes and Pharisees are so particular about doing what is right.
They’ve got the Bible memorized and have figured out categories for each
action and each sin. They look at the mint that grows like a weed and tithe
a tenth of what they pick. They look at the small seed of dill and cumin
and tithe a tenth of the weight. They’ve learned when and how to make every
sacrifice except one. What they don’t know is about sacrificing themselves
for another.

The interest of the Pharisees and the scribes is so much on the particulars
that they canÂ’t see what is really important. They’ve studied every leaf of
the tree and ignore the roots and trunk. And the question for us today is –
have we become just like the Pharisees and the scribes?


Matthew 23:13-24

[13] "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. [15] 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.

[16] "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.' [17] You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the
sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? [18] 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.' [19] How blind you are! For which is
greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? [20] So whoever
swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; [21] and whoever
swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; [22]
and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who
is seated upon it.

[23] "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 practiced without
neglecting the others. [24] You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but
swallow a camel!