Weightier Matters

Matthew 23:16-24
Key Verse 23:23

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

1. Look at verses 16-19. What were people swearing and making their oaths by? Why were the Scribes and Pharisees “blind fools” for doing this?
2. Look at verses 20-22. How is Jesus trying to correct the Pharisees in these verses, what do you think the Pharisees were ultimately blind to?
3. Look at verse 23. What were the scribes and Pharisees doing with their garden herbs? What does this reveal about them?
   1. What were the religious leaders neglecting, even while tithing their garden herbs? How could they have missed these things?
4. Why do you think Jesus says that “justice”, “mercy” and “faithfulness” are weightier matters of the law?
   1. What relationship does justice, mercy, and faithfulness have with the law and the commands of the bible?
   2. How can we figure out which matters in our lives and service to God are weightier, so we can be heavenly minded?
5. Look at verse 24. What does Jesus’ expression mean? How does this passage express Jesus’ warning of “woe” to the religious leaders?
   1. What kinds of side effects and consequences might this incorrect way of thinking have possibly had on their theology and way of life?
   2. Personal reflection: In what ways might we be blind? How can we learn to see with a right spiritual perspective?