John Stanko

This week, let's look at the third woe Jesus listed in his sermon found in Matthew 23, and he had more in the way of explanation for this one than for any of the others:

“Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it" (Matthew 23:16-22).

Jesus attempted to show the leaders that they were majoring in minors by emphasizing and teaching principles that seemed spiritual but were not. What does this tell us about God's expectations for leaders in and out of the church?

1. God is the source of authoritative teaching on what is right and what is wrong. That source was embodied in Jesus, whom the leaders were contradicting and rejecting.
2. God holds all leaders everywhere accountable to obey His words and commands. The prophets did not only address Israel but rather all the surrounding nations.
3. Teachers and leaders must be able to learn principles and then properly apply them to real-life situations that are not specifically addressed by those principles. For example, some aspects of modern life are not specifically mentioned in the Bible. God expects His leaders to address those modern aspects with ancient and timeless guidelines from His Word.
4. Jesus labeled the leaders blind (three times in this passage) and had said earlier in Matthew's gospel, "Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit" (Matthew 15:14). If leaders cannot see where they are going for themselves, they cannot lead others to a good place.

Leaders must constantly study to improve their discernment and gather wisdom, so the Jewish leaders were correct in gathering and studying regularly, but their blindness caused them to study the wrong things and/or come to the wrong conclusions. This points out the importance for all leaders to challenge their "starting points" to ensure they are starting from the right logical point. For example, the Jewish leaders' "starting point" was that God would never heal on the Sabbath. When Jesus healed, they logically concluded from an incorrect starting point that He was not from God and had to be executed. In this third woe, the leaders were doing the same thing: starting at the wrong point and then traveling down the wrong path that led to erroneous conclusions. Their conclusions were logical but were flawed because of their incorrect assumption.

Do you challenge your starting points to ensure you are starting your logic and leadership from the correct place? Are you growing and learning how to apply past experiences and ancient wisdom to daily problems you face? Who do you have in your circle of influence who challenges your thinking, starting points, assumptions, and conclusions? Are you willing and able to change your starting points so that you don't lead people astray?