New: 30 January 2025
The weightier
Matters of the Law
Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Matthew 23:23
Question
What are the 'weightier provisions of the law'?
Context
Matthew 23 is one of the toughest speeches Jesus ever gave. His stern rebukes towards some of the religious leaders of His time remind us of the courage of the Hebrew prophets like Amos, Micah or Isaiah, who were unafraid to 'speaking truth to power.' It was needed then; it is needed today. Among a number of wrongs of the religious practices and the motives behind them, Jesus addressed the issue of tithing, yet spoke of the 'weightier provisions [or matters] of the law,' the Torah (Matthew 23:23). Why so? Aren't all the provisions of the biblical Law equally important? Are some laws more important (weightier) than others, or are, perhaps, some sins worse than others? Why would these religious leaders 'receive greater condemnation' (v 14)?
Answer
Reading Matthew 23 exposes that many things were wrong among some of the religious elite in the days of Jesus on earth—and He was not afraid to speak out against them. His heavier choice of words (e.g., 23:33) reminded of John the Baptist's words (3:7). John, like Amos, Micah or Isaiah before him, was unafraid of 'speaking truth to power.' Jesus, too, stood in the tradition of the Hebrew prophets; that's why some people considered Him to have bee one of them (16:14). The hearers of Jesus' words addressed to the religious elite would've also had the dramatic incident in the Temple in mind, when Jesus overturned the tables and rebuked the abusive trade in the Temple with the words of Isaiah and Jeremiah (21:13). The place of God's habitation was supposed to be a house of prayer (Isaiah 56:7), not a robbers' den (Jeremiah 7:11). Abusing the House of God for selfish gain is unacceptable, just as using the Name of God in vain is a grave sin.
Throughout His life, the scribes and Pharisees challenged Jesus on a number of issues, both theologically (interpretation of the Law) and practically (application of the Law). One cannot have a proper application unless one has an accurate interpretation. Having disputes over different interpretations and applications of the Law, however, was not uncommon in those days, just as it is a reality today, be it in religion, politics or philosophy. But there's something more Jesus was after: the motive behind the practice. External appearance is simply not sufficient to please the God who sees the heart of man (Matthew 23:27-28). Jesus had taught early on in His ministry on the importance of genuine religious practice with a pure motive and right attitude (6:1-34). His teaching in Matthew 6 appears to have been friendly instructions, yet Matthew 23 was a stern rebuke.
The scribes and Pharisees were the religious elite in terms of teaching God's people (the Sadducees were the Temple priests). To be fair to them, not all of them were hypocrites and blind men.* Jesus affirmed to His Jewish disciples that these religious leaders held the 'chair of Moses' (Matthew 23:2), that is, the seat of teaching God's Law; and whatever it is that they taught them from the Jewish Law, they were to 'do and observe' (v 3a). After all, it was the Word of God. The content remained valid and authoritative, despite the hypocritical leaders lacking morality in their personal lives. Jesus' problem with them was their hypocrisy: not doing what they taught others, placing burdens of additional religious practices on others which they themselves were unwilling to carry and doing things for the honour and praise of men (vv 3b-10). The 'greatest' leaders are supposed to be humble servant-leaders (vv 11-12), not exploiting others (v 14). They were a hindrance to people entering God's kingdom (v 13) as 'blind guides' (v 16), having the importance of religious practice wrong in terms of priorities and emphases: the Temple, not the gold in it, was important; the altar, not the sacrifice was crucial; and God Himself should be central in religious worship (vv 16-22). Nobody should take the place of God (vv 8-10) in a quest to receive honour (vv 5-7), as honour comes through humility (vv 11-12); this is what the Word taught (Proverbs 18:12). Jesus set the priorities right.
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*see John 3:1; 19:39; Luke 13:31; 23:50-52; Acts 5:33-39; 22:3
Whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I say to you that unless your rightouesness surpasses that of the scribes and Parisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:19-20
Tithing is good and important, but has to be done right, especially with regard to other commandments. Tithing the tiny herbs is good and right, but not at the expense or neglect of the 'weightier provisions of the Law,' which are 'justice and mercy and faithfulness' or 'faith' (23:23). The hypocritical leaders were majoring on the minor issues at the neglect of the major issues. Tithing, as other religious duty, becomes futile if we treat people badly and unjustly, or exploit them within the context of religious practice (cf., Matthew 15:1-20). People who do all the above wrong and teach others so will receive 'greater condemnation' (23:14). The Law must be interpreted accurately and applied properly by those who themselves apply it as examples to those they teach (5:17-20; cf., James 3:1; 1 Timothy 1:5-8). Jesus did not negate the validity of the Torah, but the authority of those who taught it without living up to its standards. We are not to major on the minor and neglect what is fundamentally important.
Conclusion
The 'weightier matters of the Law' are justice, mercy and faithfulness/faith, and they relate to how we treat others and how we practice our religion. While all laws in God's Word are important, how we teach and practice them and how we treat other people is 'weightier' because religious practice with false motives and wrong priorities is fake. Failing in this will have serious consequences. Don't major on the minor. Jesus placed emphasis on the moral aspects of the law and the heart attitude over religious practice or ritual. The 'what' (content) and 'how' (application) of religion are important, but the 'why' (motive) even more so.
A plain example of a weightier matter of the Law is the incident when Jesus healed a sick person during the day of rest (Shabbat), during which time no work was supposed to be done. The question put to Jesus was, 'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?' (Matthew 12:10). In response Jesus used an argument based on Jewish interpretation applying the principle of a weightier matter: when a sheep's life is in danger you rescue it by work (pulling it out of a ditch) even on Shabbat (v 11). Hence, 'Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?' (v 12). Placing the saving of life above the law to not work, and assigning more value to a human than to an animal, Jesus' conclusion was: 'Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath' (v 12). It is good to heal people and rescue animals, therefore it is lawful. The weightier matter overrides the other. This was a common legal principle in interpreting Jewish law. When, for example, circumcision (cutting is work) fell on Shabbat, what were they to do? To keep one law (circumcision) they must violate another (Shabbat). Circumcision, which was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, was considered the weightier matter of the Law and it was therefore legitimate for it to override Shabbat laws. Think of it, in modern terms, of an ambulance having the right to responsibly violate traffic laws (red lights, speed limits etc.) to get to the accident site or the hospital on time in order to save life.
Jesus' foundational understanding of Shabbat was that the day of rest was made for man, and not the other way round: that man was made for Shabbat (Mark 2:27). In other words, the provisions of the Law are to benefit humans; humans were not created just to keep laws even to their own detriment. This would be a fundamentally false understanding and wrong handling of God's Law, and would expose the hardness of heart contrary to God's heart and intention to bless people (see Mark 3:1-5). You don't enforce laws that damage people; you apply the Law of life to give life to people for whom the Law and its benefits was given. The Shabbat rest as God intended should bring wholeness, and healing is part of that. That's why the Jewish greeting before the Sabbath celebrations is 'Shabbat Shalom' (peace, wholeness, welfare, healing, provision). The sanctity of life comes from the biblical understanding that humans were created in God's image. The God who created humans in His image and gave life sanctity, gave a law to protect and preserve the sanctity of life.