What does Jesus mean when he accuses the Pharisees of straining out a gnat but then swallowing a camel instead? This is a metaphor or an illustration. The Pharisees did not try to eat a whole camel in one gulp. Gnats are tiny flying insects which can sometimes fly together in clouds. So it would not be unlikely for one such tiny fly to land in a drink. When Jesus is making the comparison, he refers to the panic this would cause - especially for a Pharisee for whom this was not just a matter of hygiene but a much more serious problem. They believed a person became defiled in God's sight by drinking from this cup. And so, maybe understandably, they went to great lengths to strain out the offending creature.
This must have caused great inconvenience in a hot country like Palestine. But Jesus is making a point - at the same time, they are swallowing a camel! This is funny and I am sure that Jesus meant his listeners to see the irony and the humour.
Here is an example of the Jewish religious leaders straining out a gnat while at the same time they were swallowing a camel.
Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.
John 18:28 NIV
This is a staggering example of hypocrisy. The Jewish religious leaders were heavily involved in a plot which was evil and corrupt. They were sentencing an innocent man to death. More than that, they were committing the most despicable offence by plotting to destroy the Son of God and were prepared to collaborate with the Romans, a Gentile race who did not worship Jehovah. But they still had their scruples - they could not enter the palace of the Roman Governor as this was considered unclean and they would be in an unfit state for this important event in the Jewish calendar - the Passover Feast. Their hearts are full of hatred, resentment and anger at this man they called Jesus of Nazareth. They had refused to accept the evidence that they had personally witnessed that he was a man sent from God. They rejected his teaching and denied the miracles and signs that he had performed publicly in their country. But in their minds they could not enter this Gentile palace at this sacred time.
Ironically, the Passover Festival really pointed forward to the death of Jesus the Messiah. Paul, the one-time Pharisee who became a loyal follower of Jesus Christ, recognised the significance of the Passover feast which was instituted to remind the Israelites of their deliverance from the slavery of Egypt (See 1 Corinthians 5:7). Each household had to select a perfect lamb from their flock and they had to kill this wee lamb and paint its blood on the lintol and the doorposts of their homes. This was the sign for the angel to spare the firstborn son when he was passing through Egypt in dreadful judgement. (Exodus 12:1-30)
I used to hear this song when I was young.
I ain't gonna gamble, smoke nor chew
I ain't gonna stand in a cinema queue
I ain't gonna grieve my Lord anymore.
There was a bit of this thinking going on in my early Christian experience - although I want to do justice to the really Godly people who had a huge influence on my spiritual growth. I grew up thinking it was wrong to gamble - but I had no real idea why it was considered sinful. I now know that gambling can be very harmful and addictive. Another example was the cinema or as we called it 'the pictures.' I was taught that this was not a place for a Christian and so before I was married I was never in a cinema. Our home did not have a television either. But although I have to stress that my mother and father lived exemplary Christian lives, there is always the danger in that sort of restrictive teaching that we 'strain out a gnat' but at the same time we are ignoring much more serious sins. Take gambling, for example. There was no national lottery when I was young but there were raffle tickets and other forms of 'gambling' which were condemned. However, the real sin of covetousness was not condemned. My lifetime has witnessed an economic transformation in the churches with which I was associated. Before I was married we lived in a council house and the majority of the members of the Gospel Hall also lived in council houses . There were few cars and our homes had few luxuries compared with today. I am wondering if the evangelical churches in Scotland have indeed 'strained out a gnat' by condemning things that were relatively trivial while at the same time our spiritual values were being eroded by rampant materialism. I could enumerate other camels which we gulp down - jealousy and bitterness, for example.
I am pondering the significance of Paul's instructions to the Corinthians about the way we should keep the Feast (or Festival) of the Passover as Christians.
Therefore let us keep the Festival (of Passover), not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. [1 Corinthians 5: 8 NIV]
The Feast of Passover was accompanied by the Feast of Unleavened Bread when the Israelites made sure that there was no yeast or leaven in their bread. Paul is saying that we should be careful to exclude any form of bitterness or envy or hatred etc from our minds and our lives and we should instead focus on sincerity and truth. This is good advice for us today.
Comments