Matthew 23:23

Our verse today is Jesus talking. The title of chapter 23 is “Jesus criticizes the Relious Leaders”. Those leaders had been standing around listening to Jesus in order to trap Him. Jesus had already silenced the Sadduces with a reply to their question. So the Pharisees were ready for a turn.

At the beginning of chapter 23, Jesus tells the crowds of people, “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the Law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but DON’T follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.” -Matthew 23:2-3

While Jesus was just like God (because He is God) kind, loving, merciful, grace-filled, and more.. He was also trying to teach the people about truth. The Pharisees were ignoring justice, mercy, and faith. They were trying to uphold even the tiniest laws without seeing the BIG picture of how God wanted His people treated. I pray we never get caught up in the law that we forget about being merciful. That’s such an important part of our Christian life.