Matthew 23:1-24
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (vv. 13, 14, 15, 23) So many times I have likened myself to the Pharisees, especially in the area where they were distrusting this would-be Messiah as a faker or a scam artist. So if I often identify with the Pharisees, I need to read these passages carefully where Jesus challenges their hypocrisy and ask myself if I am being hypocritical in my words vs. my actions? Message to myself, just that…
And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. (v. 9) This verse has been in Scriptural texts for two thousand years – how did we come to the point where we refer to priests as “Father”??!!
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. (v. 23) I often wonder if we as a church are doing enough for “justice and mercy and faithfulness”. From our $421,147 church budget we allocated only $16,634 (3.9%) in 2021 for our Mission Committee. And a very large chunk of that Mission Committee budget goes to missionaries that we support, of which much of that (I would think) covers living expenses and evangelistic activities. I am not criticizing the Mission Committee or the missionaries, but I wonder how much of what we give actually feeds down to the poor and needy. And while we do what we can for needy Hispanic families through our Avanza ministry, the conditions in which these families live is sad compared to our own lifestyles. And it’s not just an issue for our church – it’s also an issue for us as individuals and us as a nation. I don’t have answers, but wouldn’t it be great if we could tithe our church budget or our own incomes for pure need-based activities? Where to go from here…??
See also: September 21 / Matt. 23:1-12; September 22 / Matt. 23:13-24