Matthew 23:16,17
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.’ You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?”
Jesus is calling the priests blind. These are supposed to be the most enlightened of the day. They are the ones guiding the people. An earlier verse says that when they find a convert they make him twice the son of hell as themselves. How frightening, a son of hell. He’s not only saying that they produce a sons of hell, but they are sons of hell. They are assisting the wrong side.
This is interesting because they are using the scriptures, God’s holy Word. They are misinterpreting it. Jesus gives an example of it. In the swearing, they are giving value to the gold, not the temple which sanctifies it. They have lost their awe of God. They don’t fear Him, but are greedy over the gold.
Our sin can blind us as well. We need to be in the Word and sensitive to what it says and how the Holy Spirit speaks to us. That is fearing God. Leaving room for Him to guide and speak to us.
Hebrews 4:12 says this about the bible, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The first claim is that it is living and active. Amazing. That’s because it’s God’s Word. Jesus illustrates this in the parable of the sower. Luke 8:8a says, “And yet other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as much.” That’s a miracle. When we read His Word with an open heart He brings it to life and it guides us, comforts us and sometimes convicts us. It’s when we yield to it is when it changes us for the good.
The second claim is that is is sharper than a two edged sword. It says it can divide between soul and spirit. The Holy Spirit is like a surgeon who uses the scalpel with skill. All this work is in the spirit. That’s God’s specialty. We have very little understanding there. He knows the evil parts of us that He can cut out or pin point.
Unfortunately we don’t always heed His voice. If don’t at all we may not be a christian. We might be a prodigal.
When we don’t follow the bible or the Holy Spirit we are hurting ourselves. We can also wrongly influence others. This is like the priests being blind guides. They bring others down the wrong paths. We have to be careful not to do that. James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” If we are misleading people that’s a problem. We can be judged more strictly. 2 Corinthians 13:5 tells us to examine ourselves. Be sure we are on the right way. Be sure our advice is sound.
Thank You, Lord, that Your Word guides us and comforts us. Help us to yield to it and the Holy Spirit. Help us to examine ourselves to verify that we are sound.
