What We Value Most

16“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.’ 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18You 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.’19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.(Matthew 23:16-22) 

Thoughts: Blind guides are not trustworthy.  The Pharisees thought they saw and understood but they were confused (foolish) and blind. 
    Here Jesus rebukes them for valuing gold over worship.  They were willing to swear by the gold but not by the Temple as the steadfast valuable thing to swear by.  This is one of the problem of our day- we are so materialistic that we think the gold makes the church- not that the church itself is golden.  We tend to value the best stuff of earth more than the best stuff of God.  God is the maker both of gold and the Temple.  Jesus is trying to help people to value the house of God more than they do.  We who believe in Jesus need to hear His teachings on this.  

Prayer: Let me see clearly what you value, O God.  Give me grace that my values would be more and more in line with yours.