Woes in Matthew (part 4)

Matthew 23:16-22

Woe to you, blind guides! You say, “If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the god on the temple, he is bound by his oath.” You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold scared? You also say, “ If anyone swears by the alter, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.” You blind men! Which is grater, the gifts, or the alter that makes the gifts sacred? Therefore, he who swears by the alter swears by it and by everything on it. And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

Jesus used the word ‘blind’ three times in this passage; more than in any other woe. Matthew 15:14 says, “Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

We are all blind to some of our own faults; this is true. Sometimes we teach our blindness with no words being said; we teach it with actions and attitudes. If you are racist, your words and action toward others will show through. If you are not careful, you pass that attitude to your kids (generations and generations after you) by your actions and words. If you are an unforgiving person with grudges, are you not teaching your children to be unforgiving, too? Thus, leading your children to be blind to God’s healing power, too?  (and many more examples)

A verses comes to mind:

Matthew 5:34 Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes for the evil one.

The leader made false and deceptive oaths. Some were binding and some were not. They did not want to misuse the name of the Lord so they created an elaborate system of making promises while leaving a loop hole open if need be to meet their needs at the time.

I also thought about the fact that since Jesus died on the cross for our sins, we are God’s temple. In the Old Testament, they had to go to a temple. After Jesus, we are the temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? … for God’s temple is sacred and you are that temple.”

I also read a parallel that in the Old Testament, there was a physical alter to go to that was an established meeting pace between God and man. In the New Testament, Jesus becomes our alter that we can go to meet with God and since Jesus is in our heart, we can pretty much go there to meet God any time we want not just once a year or once a week.

I love the way the Old Testament points to the New Testament. My understanding of Christ and what He did for us is so much richer and fuller because I study the Old Testament. It is beautiful how they fit together and are inseparable! To fully understand the New you must be a student of the Old.