Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. [But] these you should have done, without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”
Jesus continues His denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees by exposing a serious disorder in their religious priorities. They carefully tithe even small herbs such as mint, dill, and cumin, yet they neglect what Jesus calls “the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity” (v. 23).
The Law of Moses required the people to give a tenth of the produce of the land to God (Leviticus 27:30; Deuteronomy 14:22–23). Later Jewish practice extended this careful tithing even to very small herbs. Jesus does not condemn such observance. He explicitly says, “these you should have done, without neglecting the others” (v. 23). The problem is that lesser requirements had been given greater practical importance than the greater demands of God’s law. Careful obedience to smaller matters had become disconnected from the greater demands of justice, mercy, and fidelity.
Jesus calls these “the weightier things of the law” because they express more directly the kind of life God desires. Judgment here carries the sense of justice: treating others rightly and giving them what is due. Mercy is compassionate concern for those in need. Fidelity means faithfulness to God and to the obligations that flow from belonging to Him. Jesus is not saying that lesser commands may be ignored. He is teaching that religious observance must be properly ordered. The lesser duties should serve, not replace, the greater moral demands of the Law.
Jesus makes the point vivid with an exaggerated image: “Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!” (v. 24). Both the gnat and the camel were considered unclean animals under the dietary laws (Leviticus 11:4, 41–43). A person might strain a beverage so as not to swallow a tiny insect accidentally. Jesus pictures someone being extraordinarily careful to avoid the smallest impurity while somehow swallowing an entire camel. The absurdity reveals the spiritual problem: great attention is given to minor matters while far more serious obligations are ignored.
Jesus then turns from tithing to ritual cleansing. “You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence” (v. 25). The washing of cups and dishes was part of Jewish concern for ritual purity. Jesus takes this familiar practice and turns it into an image of the person. A cup may appear clean on the outside while remaining dirty within. In the same way, a person may appear outwardly religious while the interior life is corrupted by greed, selfishness, or lack of self-control. Jesus therefore commands, “cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean” (v. 26).
The point is not that outward conduct is unimportant. Jesus says the opposite. The outside should be clean, but genuine outward righteousness must flow from an interior life that has first been put in right order. What a person does outwardly should express what is truly present within. Jesus’ warning still applies today because religious practices can be performed outwardly without reflecting a true conversion of heart. A person can pray, worship, give, fast, or observe religious duties while still resisting the conversion of the heart. Christ calls for something deeper: an interior conversion in which we allow God to cleanse the heart so that our outward actions may become truthful expressions of faith, mercy, justice, and love. The central question is therefore not simply whether we appear religious, but whether our hearts are being changed by God. Jesus begins with the inside because that is where true conversion takes root.
Lord Jesus, cleanse our hearts from selfishness, pride, and sin. Teach us to practice justice, mercy, and fidelity, so that our outward lives may faithfully reflect the love of God within us. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Notes on Matthew 23:23–26.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. 48.
- Casciaro, Jose Maria, gen. ed. The Navarre Bible: New Testament, Expanded Edition. Dublin: Four Courts Press; New York: Scepter Publishers, 2008. 127–128.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990. 666–667, para. 135.
- Mitch, Curtis, and Edward Sri. The Gospel of Matthew. Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2010. 296–297.
- Aguilar Chiu, Jose Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018. 956.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid, OP, and Donald Senior, CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. Third Fully Revised Edition. London: T&T Clark, 2022. 1221.
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