THE WEIGHTIER MATTERS: JESUS' PRINCIPLE
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. The Weightier Matters
Matthew 23:23
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Luke 11:42
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
a) These verses are centered around something that Jesus said to the religious leaders of his community.
2. Jesus’ Principle
a) Jesus was not criticizing their attention to tithing of kitchen garden herbs. In fact, he said they were right to have done this. The problem was that they were giving far too much weight to its importance, and were, on the other hand, disregarding things to which they should have given much more weight. They were not putting first things first.
b) Jesus was criticizing their lack of justice and loving kindness. This meant that they were being hypocrites, making a great show of scrupulous attention to their offerings to God, yet violating the higher ethics in their dealings with their fellow man.
c) The principle here is obvious: one should give to each matter the proper weight of importance due to it. One should consider how weighty, in God's mind, something is, and then give it that weight in one's life. In this way, one will find that well adjusted "balance" that we all seek, but which seems so hard to achieve.
The End ...
1. The Weightier MattersMatthew 23:23
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Luke 11:42
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
a) These verses are centered around something that Jesus said to the religious leaders of his community.
2. Jesus’ Principle
a) Jesus was not criticizing their attention to tithing of kitchen garden herbs. In fact, he said they were right to have done this. The problem was that they were giving far too much weight to its importance, and were, on the other hand, disregarding things to which they should have given much more weight. They were not putting first things first.
b) Jesus was criticizing their lack of justice and loving kindness. This meant that they were being hypocrites, making a great show of scrupulous attention to their offerings to God, yet violating the higher ethics in their dealings with their fellow man.
c) The principle here is obvious: one should give to each matter the proper weight of importance due to it. One should consider how weighty, in God's mind, something is, and then give it that weight in one's life. In this way, one will find that well adjusted "balance" that we all seek, but which seems so hard to achieve.
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