Strain at a Gnat

The Savior condemned the scribes and Pharisees with these words: “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess” (Matthew 23:24-25). We see this clearly in John’s description of how they brought Jesus to Pilate: “Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover" (John 18:28). Here they were trying to kill Jesus—they were in the act of attempting to get the Romans to murder Jesus for them—and they were worried about being “unclean” for the Passover by entering the Roman hall of judgment. Apparently, they thought going in there would defile them but didn’t think twice about putting an innocent man to death. They were indeed straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel. We see this again in this verse: “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away” (John 19:31). They were worried about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, and so they told Pilate to kill He who gave them the Sabbath faster. What hypocrisy!

                A couple of other passages highlight the incoherent thinking of these scribes and pharisees who thought they could put a stop to Jesus and His work. After He had raised Lazarus from the dead, “then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles” (John 11:47). They could not deny that Lazarus had truly been raised from the dead, but instead of letting such a miracle enter their hearts they thought they could destroy the evidence: “But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death; Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus” (John 12:10-11). It did not occur to them that if Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead once, He could certainly do it again! Their inability to see a miracle for what it was again was shown when Peter and John healed the lame man at the temple. Luke recorded, “And all the people saw him walking and praising God: And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering” (Acts 3:9-11). This was a miracle that could not be denied—all the people there at the temple knew this man had been unable to walk and could then walk. The Jewish leaders arrested Peter and John, and instead of letting the power of this incredible miracle touch their hearts, they were concerned only with how to put a stop to this movement. “Beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.” They commanded Peter and John “not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” Much to the dismay of these chief priests and elders they had to let the two apostles go “finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done” (Acts 4:14-21). All they could think about was preserving their own power, and they couldn’t see the grandeur of the miracle which all the people at the temple that day understood so easily. They were indeed “blind guides,” and their example should stand as a warning to us against hypocrisy and jealousy.