What the Bible says about Neglecting Weightier Matters of the Law
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Justice, mercy, and faith—or fidelity, faithfulness. The word faith may be somewhat misleading because most tend to think of it in terms of "confidence" or "trust." Jesus uses it in the sense of being faithful, trustworthy, or loyal.
Most people never think of these things in terms of law. Why are they weightier matters of law? The weightiest matter of law is love, and of course, there we cannot forget about sin. Yet justice, mercy, and faithfulness are also matters of law because a person must have a basis—a guide, a standard—from which to judge, to make an evaluation, so he knows whether to be faithful, merciful, or just in his dealing with other people. Why? Because the law is the basis of right and wrong, whether to do or not to do.
People suppose that mercy is not a matter of law. Oh, yes, it is! If the law is done away, there is no basis for mercy—or for kindness or generosity, for that matter. When we must make a judgment, we cannot know whether to be merciful or not unless the law provides us with the foundation.
When we begin to think deeply about these seemingly vague terms, we find that they are directly attached to the law of God. God's law—His instruction, which defines right and wrong—is not contained exclusively in the Ten Commandments. It is not contained just in the five books of the Pentateuch. It is contained in all 66 books; it is everywhere in the Bible.
All of our lives we have been taught, to a greater or lesser extent, to put biblical things into nice, neat, little boxes. We say, "This was for the Jews; that was for the Gentiles. This is for the Christians; that was for Judaism. This is for the Old Testament; that is for the New Testament. This is Old Covenant; that is New Covenant." But Scripture it is not like that!
The Bible was not written like other books. The Old Testament was written primarily with the Christian church and the New Covenant in mind, but it was done within the historical context of ancient Israel. We sometimes have trouble relating to archaic situations, but if we meditate on what troubles us, asking God for guidance, we will see modern applications of the principles contained in the context.
The New Covenant laws, principles, illustrations, and examples are everywhere, intertwined with what we ordinarily think of as "Old Covenant territory." It must be this way because the New Covenant involves the spirit, or intent, of God's law. Sin, righteousness, and love are stated, defined, illustrated, and exemplified throughout the Bible.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part Seventeen)Related Topics: Faithfulness | Fidelity | Neglecting Weightier Matters of the Law | Weightier Matters of the Law
Jesus was "grieved" by their hardness or coldness of heart. He was incensed at their hypocrisy in considering their manmade rules to be more important than doing good for a person in need. By healing him, Jesus demonstrated that love, mercy, compassion, and justice trump tradition. This is righteous anger. What are the differences between righteous and sinful anger?
Righteous anger is unselfish while sinful anger is often selfish. Sinful anger occurs when our desires, our needs, our ambitions, or our demands are not met. Sinful anger always focuses on satisfying the self.
Righteous anger is restrained while sinful anger is often uncontrolled. Uncontrolled anger will cause us to say and do things we are sorry for later, things we would never would have said or done had we been in control. Uncontrolled anger leads to sin.
Righteous anger targets sinful acts or unjust situations while sinful anger frequently targets people. In Mark 3, Jesus was angry at the Pharisees' sin and their lack of compassion. Sinful anger lashes out against the people themselves.
Righteous anger seeks to remedy wrong while sinful anger retaliates. Righteous anger contains no malice or resentment, yet sinful anger desires to hurt or to get even with others. People often say, "I don't get mad, I get even." They may not show a passionate outburst of anger but nurse a grudge that takes root and produces bitterness, hatred, and vengeance.
Clyde Finklea
The Wrath of ManRelated Topics: Anger | Anger, Godly | Anger, Ungodly | Hardness of Hearts | Neglecting Weightier Matters of the Law | The Wrath of Man | Weightier Matters of the Law
One way that some are distracted is by misapplying the concept of watching. In Luke 21:36, Jesus says, “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” There are those who believe that this verse instructs us to watch world events and prophecy. Because of that, they spend much time on those subjects, believing that they are properly preparing for the return of our Savior to this earth.
However, when Christ talks about watching, it is all about spiritual preparation, not physical preparation. Why would He change the meaning of “watch” in this one place? The answer is that He does not. Rather, people have added their own private interpretation (II Peter 1:20) that distracts from the imperative of our Lord's warning.
In Luke 21:36, the word “watch” is the Greek word agrupneo, which appears only four times in the New Testament, twice from Christ and twice from Paul. Here are the other three occurrences of agrupneo (it is in bold in the verses that follow):
Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. (Mark 13:33)
Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—(Ephesians 6:18)
Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. (Hebrews 13:17)
The subject in these three verses is spiritual. Luke 21:36 is no different. Those who misapply Luke 21:36 can become distracted, spending time on the less important and neglecting what is required. It is much like the principle of misplaced priorities that Jesus illustrates in Matthew 23:23: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”
Yes, we should be aware of world events and prophecy, but our greatest energies should be devoted to the far weightier matter of spiritual preparation. What if we died tonight? What value would it be if, after countless hours spent in intensive study year after year, we were right about world events and prophecy but because of inattention we were wrong about the true state of our character (Revelation 3:17)?
If a person were a sentry posted to watch for the enemy from the south, and all his preparations were for an attack from the south, an attack from the north would catch him just as unprepared as those who prepared not at all. For watching to have its benefit, we have to be watching the right thing.
That is the problem with being overly attentive to prophecy: There are many different interpretations from which to choose. At best, all are wrong but one. If we believe one of the many wrong ones, we will be looking in the wrong direction and be blindsided. All the time and effort spent would be for naught, or even worse, if it caused an individual to neglect watching his spiritual condition. It is vital to focus on the latter rather than the former.
Pat Higgins
Watch What?