16 “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.’ 17 You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.’ 19 You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
Blind guides they were, Jesus intoned! Then He called them fools (see Matthew 5:22, only Jesus can justly call someone a fool)! This third woe increased the intensity of His judgment on the scribes and Pharisees. Hyperbolic statements (that is, using exaggerated symbolisms) were used to convey the severity of their callous offense against God. Jesus’ attitude toward them can only be conveyed with a series of “Woes.” In other words, “If you knew what was coming, you would avoid it at all costs!”
The temple in Jesus day was not the original which was built by Solomon according to the instructions of the Lord. That one was destroyed during the Babylonian invasions of 605 B.C. and the following years. After the exile, the Jewish reconstruction of the temple did not achieve the glory of the first temple (see Haggai 2). However, the current one was a renovation which resulted in one of the larger constructions of the 1st century. The Jews gloried in their temple with great pride and it was central to life and religion for them.
Yet, greed that so characterizes our own times was evident then as well, as seen in Jesus’ accusations about their oaths. In earlier times, one took an oath by saying, “As surely as the Lord lives…” to indicate the unquestioned certainty of his promise (see Num 14:21, 1 Sam 14:39). To break that oath would be tantamount to blasphemy because it meant the oath-maker had little regard for God’s existence. To the Jews of Jesus’ day, that oath had morphed into swearing by the temple, where the temple was put in place of God. However, Jesus accused them of replacing even that with what they saw as the ultimate reality—money! The acquisition of gold and silver was more important to them than the existence of God! Not God, not even His dwelling place, but the money people brought to support the religious leaders – that is what was of ultimate value to them! The bottom line for them was “money,” not God.
Lord, in a world of greed, help me resist the lure of what satisfies my sinful heart. I want to fix my eyes only on You, the author and finisher of faith.
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