Church bulletin:
Some illustrations in the Bible are meant to amuse us. The lesson is serious but it is conveyed in a humous way. Matt 23:24 is one such example – “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat (a small housefly) and swallow a camel!” I visualise a man with a tea strainer in one hand while forcing a dromedary down his throat with the other. It pictures the person who is fixated with minor and inconsequential issues while ignoring the big issues which really matter. In relation to this, Christ refers to the Pharisees as blind guides. They are blind to what they are like; lost in their own hypocrisy. They are also leading others down the same path.
This illustration relates to what Christ had said in the previous verse. V23, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.” The Pharisees made their own rules and misapplied God’s rules always becoming increasingly narrow. It was never expected that people should tithe on garden herbs. Yet, for them, it was a display of how serious and thorough they were. While they were busy sorting through herbal leaves, matters of consequence – justice, mercy and faith were neglected. For the gnat strainers and camel swallowers, rules are more important than people. It is about measuring up rather than the life, joy, rest and peace we have in Christ.
Consider also what Christ says in the following verse. V25, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.” The Pharisees were concerned with public image, public acknowledgement, the appearance of righteousness which wooed the people. They loved to pray on the street corners and give money in the temple before an audience. Yet inwardly, they were bankrupt. There was no desire for true godliness and no repentance for failure. Giving attention to the minute details of performance may look impressive, less impressive is the lack of concern for the welfare of others and one’s own relationship to God.
I don’t imagine that anyone would choose to swallow gnats. The Jews were actually forbidden from eating insects which did not have joined legs (Lev 11). For this reason, pious Jews would strain their drinking water through cloth due to tiny insects and insect larvae. Perhaps not an unreasonable thing to do in light of God’s law. How many of them, however, neglected the weightier matters of the law. Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” No mention of straining insects from drinking water.
How many people in churches focus on rules, ritual and performance, yet show little interest in their brothers and sisters, never put themselves out, never sacrifice for the greater good. How many people in churches practice outward religion while their inward life is impoverished, and they produce little in terms of spiritual fruit. Effectively, what is big to God is small to them, what is big to them is small to God.
Gnat straining and camel swallowing exists because love for God and people is absent. When we walk in the law of love gnats and camels are put in their rightful place. Love born out of conversion is always principled and concerned with obedience to the will of God, not what is important to us or impresses others.