Matthew 23:23 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 23:23

Comments

Mint, anise, and cumin were three herbs grown in Israel. The law required Israelites to tithe all the produce of the land (Leviticus 27:30), and the Pharisees thought that they could exceed all other in what they did. They wanted of course, in the area in which they chose to practice their religion, to outdo all others, for to them religion was a matter of show, and of competition – it was something useful to attract the praise of men. But in doing so they gave nothing really costly to the Lord; they did not give him their hearts. And that is the only true measure of love for God, as Christ tells us (Matthew 22:37). We cannot pay off God with small change. How did the Lord regard this performance? He regarded it as something worthless, something false, an insult towards his person. What a pathetic view of him these worshippers had, that they though he could be satisfied with such a farce. The law was given to teach men to consider all they had as belonging to the Lord, not to limit what they gave him. They were indeed to tithe these things, but they were also to give him the refined products of the heart: justice, mercy and faith. These are also required by the law, and they are far more significant than the other. The believer needs to have a scale of values.

Application

What does hypocrisy do to a man’s view of God. It turns God into one who is as petty as the hypocrite himself, who can be easily fooled by a few externals. The hypocrite says to himself, ‘God does not see what is going on in my heart, in my secret thoughts. That is my world, and mine alone. I can keep him out of it. I can present him what I present to other people and he can see no further than that. God is no different to human beings. He has no more knowledge than they do. They can be convinced by a few outward acts that I am a good upstanding man, and so can the Lord.’

But if God can only see our outward acts, how can he renew our souls; how can he give us a new nature, and make us new creatures in Christ? If he cannot see into our hears, then how can he take away our sins, for sin takes place in the heart, not just on the tip of the tongue, or at the end of the fingers. Did he make the body only and not the soul also? Does he who gave us understanding, not have understanding himself? Can we shut him out of his own workmanship?

How much harm the hypocrite does to himself by his hypocrisy! There is a price to be paid for hypocrisy which the hypocrite never considers. He sets up his charade at the expense of any meaningful relationship with the Lord. Even if he was to be successful in deceiving the Lord about what he is, he would have made impossible any true fellowship with God, such as the believer knows who has the Holy Spirit indwelling him, and does not just draw near to God with his body.

How different is the attitude of the genuine believer! He wants to draw near to God and he knows he cannot do so without letting God draw near to him. He wants to come into the presence of God, and the meeting place with God is in his own heart and in his own spirit, for God is a spirit. How can he have fellowship with God while he is hiding the deepest thoughts of his heart from him? But if our deepest thoughts are to be shared with him, then we know that we must acquire holiness, for nothing else is acceptable to him. We cannot alter his tastes, but we must be the ones to change.

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Matthew 23:23 Commentary and Bible Study