Jesus told the crowd:

23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel!

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.”

Matthew 23:23-26 - World English Bible

In Matthew 23:15-16, Jesus condemned the Pharisees and scribes in a series of woes. Here, he continued his rant over their concern for right action. The scribes and Pharisees created a system of rulings and customs to help urban Jews to keep the Law. Since city dwellers feel more comfortable living in a more regulated environment, such a lifestyle might strike someone from the country like Jesus as constrictive. Again, using extreme language in Matthew, he focused on tithing spices (!) to complain about their obsessive drive on detail (straining the gnat) and their inability to see the larger picture of mercy (swallowing the camel).

Jesus carried his critique over to their spirituality. Such focus on minutia tended to smother the virtue of compassion. Take, for example, personal preparation for a community meal, like the washing of cups and plates. The mention of such customs only occurred in the gospels (here and Mark 7:3-8), but ritual baths were common at the time. Bathing “washed away” the pollution of daily life among the unclean (Gentiles) and prepared the person for a communal meal that focused on the presence of God. Could such washings of cups and plates merely be extensions of the ritual bath? We don't know. But, certainly such practices, if used, would emphasize behavior over intention. Thus, Jesus criticized such obsession; he viewed the kosher as interior (the heart) as well as the exterior (the acts).

Intention and action are both important to a spiritual life. We cannot emphasize one over the other. If we do, we will become as unbalanced as the scribes and the Pharisees Jesus criticized.

How have you balanced your faith life this week?