Matthew 23:16 Commentary and Bible Study

With hypocrisy comes spiritual blindness. The hypocrite spends so much time focusing on the externals, which he wants others to see, that he loses track of the real value of things. He constantly plays down the importance of what is unseen in the heart, for that is what he is trying to keep out of sight, lest his hypocrisy be exposed. In time he forgets his own act of deceit and he ceases to take account of the thoughts and intents of the heart. But with this goes the true understanding of things. The real value of things cannot be understood from externals alone, for ‘it is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing’ (John 6:63). The instructor of God’s people must, above all, be one who appreciates the true value of things, for otherwise he cannot be a spiritual teacher. ‘The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost’ (Romans 14:17). The true scribe is concerned about what has true value, intrinsic significance. The externals which God has given to his people are shadows and symbols, but what has real value is what is enduring. When this world passes away, all external symbols will pass away with it, and only the spiritual realities will survive. We ought to realise this, and attach abiding significance to them alone. If the scribes and Pharisees had done this, they would not have made the error that they did. In an effort to utter a convincing oath, they sought to swear by something great. Christ teaches his disciples not to swear at all, but to let their bare word carry its own integrity. There are times when an oath is appropriate, but the scribes resorted to oaths much too frequently, and unnecessarily. These oaths became for them a means of covering over their lack on honesty, and were seen as useful in convincing others that they spoke the truth, though often they did not. But what did they choose to swear by? By their choices they showed their foolishness of their topsy turvy thinking. The idea of an oath is that a greater authority is called upon to lend weight to the speaker’s authority and integrity. If they were going to swear at all, they ought to have sworn by what had greatest value. How did the scribes evaluate the things around them which they chose to sear by? Foolishly, they ascribed more weight to the gold of the temple than to the temple itself. How could they think like that? Because they were no longer in the habit of going behind the externals to what gave the externals their significance. In the first two examples Christ takes the thinking only one step back; later, he will go further. The temple was more important than the gold within it; but the one who inhabited the temple was far more important than the external temple made with hands, yet the scribes reasoned the other way round. They would not have attributed significance to the gold if they had understood the spiritual nature of God, and that he can only be worshipped by spiritual means.Christ calls them blind guides. In these everyday matters the scribes betrayed their blindness and their wrong ways of thinking. They were guides to the nations, teachers of what had true value and significance, but by their actions they showed themselves to be completely ignorant. How can a blind guide be of help to anyone else. The illustration is extremely telling, and Christ has already used it: ‘Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch’ (Matthew 15:14).