Tuesday 29 Aug 2023

August 29: Matthew 23:23-26

Key Verse: Matthew 23:24
You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

Devotion:
I love the descriptive nature of some languages and Jesus was using some descriptive terms here. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees were supposed to be the ones who were teaching the people how to behave like God had asked them to. Instead they were focusing on the letter of the law from the prophets and ignoring the worldly laws of justice and mercy.

In our modern law system there is always room for justice and mercy which is why we have judges who should be the ones to discern what has happened and provide justice to all. The teachers and Pharisees were ignoring the people and demanding the giving of one tenth of everything. What happens when there is a family who cannot afford to give one tenth whilst the others around them are all giving just enough because that is what the law says. Where is justice and mercy in that?

Jesus wanted people to think more about the people around them and to express love to their neighbours instead of simply doing what was written down. If you are just doing what God said to do then you may not be doing what He wants you to do. Jesus came to show us how important love and mercy are. Without love and mercy we do not have a society in which Christians can thrive.

Jesus came to show us how to be different from the world. Without thinking we do tend to express what is in our hearts and minds and the people around us may have a very different view of what we are than what we say we are. Jesus wants us to focus on what we are thinking and feeling so we can aim to be more like Him than like the Pharisees described here. We have to balance what we know God asked for and what we know is a life living with Christ. Love and mercy need to be at the centre of our lives!

Points to Ponder:
Do you always try to follow the law?

How close is your heart to the law Jesus is talking about here?