Matthew 23:25-26

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean." In my opinion, this passage is the epitome of the human dilemma in relation to the sin of man and his consequential separation from God. It is one of the most recognizable quotes of Scripture known within the Christian church, yet it undoubtedly haunts the spiritual walk of each and every follower of Jesus. For me, this verse has recently become a cornerstone in my personal relationship with Christ and perhaps the greatest warning of Scripture that I adhere to today. Of course, the metaphor Jesus is using with the cup and plate are symbolic of the state of our hearts, minds and spirits. The outside of the cup could be better defined as our mask, the object most used to cloak who we really are underneath. As is custom with Jesus though, He always goes after the heart and uses this imagery to make a profound point that we cannot continue to knowingly live in a state of sin yet present ourselves publicly as "worthy of the lamb who was slain" (Revelation 5:12). It is not consistent with the proclamations of Scripture and it certainly is not what the apostle Paul meant when he said, "Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness" (Romans 6:13). We must be willing to address the state of our flesh if we are bold enough to proclaim that we have been "washed in the blood of the lamb" (Revelation 7:14) and willing to accept the consequences of our actions if we truly believe the absolute truth of Scripture and are willing to apply it in our private lives. One of the things I love most about Jesus is that when he drives home a point, He does so on more than one occasion in order to emphasize its importance from God's perspective. The gospel of Matthew records such an instance. Here, Jesus addresses this conflict of inward versus outward purity once again. "And he called the people to him and said to them, 'Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person... Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander'" (Matthew 15:10-11,17-19). Do you notice the list at the end of that passage? It is a compilation of sinful actions AND thoughts. Therefore, we are not exempt from breaking God's law if we do not act on our thoughts. It is clear that Christ is not just concerned with outward manifestations, but more importantly the root of the problem that begins within the spiritual battlefield of the mind, infiltrating the heart, and taking captive the soul. He clearly stated his point within the following passages: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire" (Matthew 5:21-22). "You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:27-28). "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, 'Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King'" (Matthew 5:33-35). "You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, 'Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you'" (Matthew 5:38-42). You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, 'Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you'" (Matthew 5:43-44). Based upon these direct teachings from Jesus Christ, there is no room for doubt that the inward workings of our flesh are absolutely the sins we must address in order to live for righteousness unto our God and Father. But how do we accomplish this? 1 Peter 2:24 answers this question plainly: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." How simple a truth from God, yet emphatically convicting! The whole solution is fairly simple in logic yet astronomical in spiritual scale and measure. Nonetheless, we must be willing to die to ourselves in order to experience a true and God-honoring personal relationship with Jesus Christ. A friend and counselor pointed out that absolute truth to me two weeks ago in a counseling session, and frankly it shook me to the core. You see, for years I was under the influence that a habitual sin addiction I had long suffered from was contained and compartmentalized from the rest of my life. Which meant in order to obtain true victory over that particular sin, I simply needed to put parameters in place that safeguarded against it, therefore containing the sin and destroying it. But the problem never stopped and ironically it morphed into a greater sin that spiraled me down into the pit of hell itself and almost killed me and those I love most. I have come to understand the reason why now through the storm of personal injury against God and others. Love of self that equates to love of sin is the method that Satan uses most effectively to destroy our relationship with God and others. Left untreated, it will corrupt your thoughts and actions far beyond the scope and scale of any particular habitual sin you are most bent against, this I know firsthand. It will bind itself to fabric of your being and manifest itself within a myriad of greater issues, typically pride and selfishness. Meaning the road to restoration begins with the spiritual discipline of humility, brokenness over sin and genuine repentance to God and all those you have sinned against. I have learned the hard way that not addressing the root issue of sin in my life (love of self) is truly the leading cause of death for all of us and the ultimate point of Jesus' admonition in Matthew 23:25-26. No doubt you can feasibly continue to focus solely on trying to solve the outward sin issues in your life but if you do not address the inward self, you are merely inviting Satan and his demons a first class ticket into your life. The danger and warning are admonished in Scripture: "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation" (Matthew 12:43-45). Rest assured though that God is in control and will never allow us to face a trial alone. For if we trust in Him and allow his Holy Spirit access to our hearts and minds through fervent prayer and time spent studying God's Word for the purpose of Biblical application, He will transform us from the inside out as He is doing to me and will make us stronger than ever before, because we are choosing to build our foundation of faith upon Him and that rock cannot be shaken. "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it" (Matthew 7:24-27).

Matthew 23:23-24

"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. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!" I love how God reveals a passage of Scripture that previously you skimmed over but suddenly are taken back by, as if you never read it before. This is one of those passages for me because Jesus is addressing a number of issues by taking a concept that practically all Christians are aware of (tithing), but adding a dimension that transcends our preconceived notions. Leviticus 27:30 begins our understanding of what Scripture defines on this topic: "Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord's; it is holy to the Lord." Here, God is directly addressing the discipline of giving back to Himself a portion of the monetary blessings He has bestowed on us, specifically the first fruits of our labor (Deuteronomy 26:1-4). This is critical for it provides the earthly provision needed to support the ministry of the local church, as it did for the priests and Levites of the nation of Israel. Scripture also defines within the Old Testament that the minimum value of a tithe is a tenth (Leviticus 27:32), although one should not feel limited to give by that amount. For as the apostle Paul exhorts, "The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (1 Corinthians 9:6-7). The issue of tithing is truly paramount to the Christian faith. For if we think about it, God grants us incredible grace and mercy by providing for all our needs, of which we should not worry or stress about in the slightest. Jesus specifically addressed this point in Matthew 6:27. "And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?" The beauty of Christ's message though is the cause and effect principle of trusting God's promises and our obedience of applying those truths in our lives according to His will. "Therefore do not be anxious saying, 'What shall we eat?' or ' What shall we drink' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:31-33). Tithing is simply a measure of our obedience (and indirectly our attitude as well) that God's sufficiency is greater than all we could desire. By applying the principle of tithing in our lives, we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and he consequently blesses that obedience beyond measure. What then is the critical point that Jesus is making in Matthew 23:23-24? Tithing is indeed an important work in the life of a Christian and cannot be ignored nor neglected. Rather, Jesus is addressing a heart issue that supersedes an observance of a religious law. He is not abolishing the necessity of tithing, but rather elevating the importance of all righteous living with the principle issue of tithing. In other words, consistency of Biblical application was the scribes and Pharisees greatest flaw and one we have willingly inherited into our spiritual lives. James 1:22 states this plainly: "But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." If we choose to focus on various parts of Scripture while neglecting the importance of Scripture as a whole, we fall victim to Jesus' admonition to the scribes and Pharisees. No verse of God's Word is devalued by another verse, for "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). I love the context of Matthew 23:23-24 because it drives a stake directly into the condition of our hearts. The issue of tithing is simply a Scriptural law Jesus uses to make a finer point, but also a concept that can be broadened in context to expand our understanding. For if we as Christians begin to offer our lives (not just our monetary possessions) to God as a tithe offering, remembering that we are submitting unto Him our first-fruits (which can include our time, our resources, our attention, our services, our thoughts and our attitudes), we will begin to comprehend how Jesus speaks intimately to each one of us His solemn convictions. It is as if He is saying, "You obediently apply My Word (i.e. tithe) on specific issues that are passionate to your heart down to the finest detail, but you fail to recognize that you are consciously neglecting the entire truth of My Word that has the power to free you from the chains of Pharisaism." For example, Deuteronomy 15:7-11 is a perfect illustration of Christ's point: "If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’" One should not only give a tenth of their monetary possessions to the church as a tithe offering, but should also meet the needs of others as God wills it and provides "blessing" opportunities (emphasizing Christ's point of neglecting the weightier matters of the law). Note though that helping others in need should not supersede or replace our tithe obligations, lest we diminish God's Word against itself. Both are equally important and must be applied in our daily lives. In a deep study of a highly sensitive "religious" issue, we cannot allow our hearts and minds to be weighed down by frustration and hopelessness because we continually fall short of the mark. God promises infinite and immeasurable blessings for those who do His will and will meet us if we humble ourselves and submit to His authority and instruction. Look no further that Malachi 3:6-12 for a immeasurable promise of God's incredible grace and mercy for those who trust in Him and fulfill His commands: "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts." God challenges us directly to put him to the test and see for ourselves if He is not faithful. The question is simple and undoubtedly convicting though. Will you and I tithe all that we are and all that we have according to His Word and allow His Holy Spirit to shower down blessings of righteousness that are more valuable in the sight of God than gold and precious jewels? He does not promise earthly riches for our trust and obedience, but rather "a peace of God which surpasses all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). The decision is ultimately ours on how we choose to obey His commands, but Christ's warning cannot be ignored: "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many" (Matthew 7:13). Choose your path wisely!