"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone." (Matthew 23:23)
Human beings tend to maintain a narrow focus on various matters. It is easy for some people to allow a select criteria set to guide them; they decide to view everything through a certain set of lenses.
The Pharisees and scribes were not much different. The New Testament reveals that they focused-- down to the last detail--on preserving the law of Moses and the traditions that developed around that law. Their hyper-vigilance about the law led them to overemphasize the more minor actions while neglecting those that were more significant. Because they focused on, and perfectly accomplished, the minor actions, they felt a sense of pride that led to a false sense of security and satisfaction. They behaved as though being vigilant about not working on the Sabbath, washing their hands before eating, and tithing down to the level of spices would be sufficient to merit God's commendation.
Jesus condemned their myopia. Even if they are more quantifiable and objective, performing these minor acts of obedience is not sufficient to obtain God's commendation. Believers must not neglect the law's weightier matters--justice, mercy, and faith.
The scribes and Pharisees were certainly guilty of such neglect. The Pharisees in particular considered themselves morally superior to their fellow men. This is evidenced by the Pharisee's prayer in Luke 18:11-12 and the attitudes of the Pharisees in John 9. They deemed themselves to be righteous and everyone else to be sinners, despite the fact that they had also sinned and certainly were not maintaining a Godly sense of faith, justice, or mercy. Their condemnation was just.
Nevertheless, this passage also exposes a major fault line within the thoughts of many religious people. They are adamant about performing the weightier matters of the law, concluding that since we are under grace, we need to get the big things right and allow the little things to slide. Others protest the very idea that some matters are weightier than others and stress the need to do all things as God has charged us.
The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle. Jesus taught that some matters are weightier than others. This means that some attitudes/actions have more significance than others. This is evident in the examples given; justice, faith, and mercy are of greater significance than tithing spices. Tithing spices benefited God and His Temple; but practicing justice, mercy, and faith benefits God, His Temple, and all men. Furthermore, faith, justice, and mercy deal with every aspect of a person--his mind, his attitude, and his actions. One cannot easily have faith or show justice and mercy while internally despising God or his brethren. Tithing should flow from a heart full of faith, but a person could tithe without having proper attitudes.
Some matters are more significant than others, but that does not mean that we can let the less significant matters slide and still be pleasing to God. Notice that Jesus did not condemn the scribes or Pharisees for tithing the spices; in fact, He said, "..but these ye ought to have done." The problem was not that the scribes and Pharisees were tithing spices; the problem was that they were tithing spices and neglecting faith, justice, and mercy. It would be a gross perversion of this text to insinuate that if they had performed the weightier matters of the law but had not tithed the spices, Jesus would have justified them. There is no basis for such a claim.
This is not an either-or proposition. The scribes and Pharisees should have accomplished both the weightier matters of the law and the spice tithing. If we serve God as we ought to serve Him, the less weighty matters flow from the weightier. Because we are dedicated to love, humility, faith, and service--the weightier matters of the new covenant (cf. Romans 1:16-17; Romans 6:16-21; Romans 13:8-11; Ephesians 2:1-10; Philippians 2:1-11; Hebrews 11:1, 6; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 Peter 5:6-7)--we will make sure we accomplish God's will in simple, quantifiable, and objective matters, as well as in more substantive and difficult ones. We will assemble to encourage one another (1 Corinthians 14:23; Hebrews 10:25), give as we have prospered, both to the church and to those in need (1 Corinthians 16:1-3; 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:15; Galatians 2:10; 6:10), and do other such things. We will also love our neighbors as ourselves and seek their welfare (Romans 13:8-10; Philippians 2:1-4), and offer ourselves to God as living and holy sacrifices (Romans 12:1).
Jesus' message to-the scribes and Pharisees represents a necessary warning against spiritual myopia--focusing on accomplishing certain elements of God's purposes and neglecting others. We cannot be justified by taking care of less significant, detailed matters while neglecting those that are weightier. Likewise, we cannot be justified in thinking that if we accomplish the weightier matters of God's will, we can ignore those that are less significant. If God commanded it, there's value in doing it. Let us seek to accomplish the whole will of God, and not neglect any aspect of it.
Brother Longhenry has made a valid point. All of God's instructions have a purpose. He placed every passage in the Bible for the purpose of benefiting His creation. At times, Christians get into the habit of deciding for ourselves which of God's laws it's absolutely necessary to accomplish and which we need not worry about. Such thinking is dangerous and spiritually unhealthy.
A perfect example is Bible classes. I've heard members say that the only important and mandatory meeting time is Sunday morning worship; everything else is optional. Is that passage in the Bible? Bible classes are an important part of the God-given church work-edification. Edification is as much a part of the Lord's work as are the five acts of worship. How can His children convince themselves that studying His word is an optional responsibility? Such reasoning seeks to use worldly wisdom to determine which of God commands we MUST follow and which we can neglect-without penalty.
Gospel meetings are also in this category. Gospel meetings are part of the WORK in which the church engages for the purpose of reaching the lost and preparing its members to reach their neighbors, families, and friends. Do you know so much, or are you so strong spiritually that you have no need for further instruction from God's word? If so, please go to the elders and offer to teach; that way, the rest of us can benefit from your full spiritual knowledge. (KMG)