Jesus continues to condemn the Scribes and Pharisees as the Blind Guides of Israel.
Mat 23:16 "Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, "'Whoever swears by the Sanctuary it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Sanctuary, is bound by the oath.'
Mat 23:17 "Blind fools! Why, which is greater? --the gold, or the Sanctuary which has made the gold holy?
Mat 23:18 And you say, "'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering lying on it is bound by the oath.'
Mat 23:19 "You are blind! Why, which is greater? --the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy?
Mat 23:20 He who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything on it;
Mat 23:21 he who swears by the Sanctuary swears both by it and by Him who dwells in it;
Mat 23:22 and he who swears by Heaven swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
Introduction.
These Blind Guides were the same persons, the Scribes and Pharisees, as before, though not named, who pretended to be "guides of the blind", Rom_2:19 but were themselves blind, and so very unfit to be guides of others; they were as they were born, ignorant of divine things, of God in Christ, of the true Messiah, of the true meaning of the Scripture. J. Gill
Mat 23:16 "Alas for you, you blind guides, who say, "'Whoever swears by the Sanctuary it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Sanctuary, is bound by the oath.'
Notes
"Alas for you, you blind guides, who say,....
Unless you can see and understand clearly how can you guide others. It takes someone who is diligent in study and prayer, who is willing to give himself to it, to be able to counsel and guide others into spiritual understanding of the Scriptures and the times in which we live and how we should live.
The Pharisees prided themselves as being a guide to those in darkness but they were themselves in darkness and lost.
..., who say, "'Whoever swears by the Sanctuary it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the Sanctuary, is bound by the oath.'
Compare Mat 5:33 "Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, 'THOU SHALL NOT SWEAR FALSELY, BUT SHALL PERFORM THY VOWS TO THE LORD.'
Mat 5:34 But I tell you not to swear at all; neither by Heaven, for it is God's throne;
Mat 5:35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool under His feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the City of the Great King.
Mat 5:36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37 But let your language be, 'Yes, yes,' or 'No, no.' Anything in excess of this comes from the Evil one.
Woe unto you, ye blind guides — Striking expression this of the ruinous effects of erroneous teaching. Our Lord, here and in some following verses, condemns the subtle distinctions they made as to the sanctity of oaths - distinctions invented only to promote their own avaricious purposes.
which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing — He has incurred no debt.
but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple — meaning not the gold that adorned the temple itself, but the Corban, set apart for sacred uses (see on Mat_15:5).
he is a debtor! — that is, it is no longer his own, even though the necessities of the parent might require it. We know who the successors of these men are.
but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty — It should have been rendered, “he is a debtor,” as in Mat_23:16.JFB
Mat 23:17 "Blind fools! Why, which is greater? --the gold, or the Sanctuary which has made the gold holy?
notes
The temple that sanctifies the gold - To sanctify is to make holy. The gold had no holiness but what it derived from the temple. If in any other place, it would be no more holy than any other gold. It was foolish, then, to suppose that that was more holy than the temple, from which it received all the sanctity which it possessed. Barnes
Similar to Jesus, Lauryn is saying that when those who are ignorant lead others the damage is multiplied — there's more trouble for everyone
Mat 23:18 And you say, "'Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering lying on it is bound by the oath.'
Notes
And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing,.... These are again the words or savings of the scribes and Pharisees, and express their sentiments and practice: it was usual with them to swear by the altar; and this was reckoned either no sin at all, or such an oath was not accounted binding on a man; he might break, or keep it as he thought fit: of this kind of swearing, we have the following instances. One said to another (r),
"swear to me that thou wilt not discover me, and he swore to him; by what did he swear? says R. Jose bar Chanina, במזבח הפנימי, "by the innermost altar".'
But whosoever swears by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty: of perjury, if he does not make good his oath; he is bound to perform it, it is obligatory; whatever he swore should be a gift for the altar, he was indispensably obliged to bring it; for whatever he swore by "Korban", or the gift, could never be put to any other use.
Mat 23:19 "You are blind! Why, which is greater? --the offering, or the altar which makes the offering holy?[which sanctifies the gift]
Notes
The altar that sanctifies the gift - The altar, dedicated to God, gave all the value or holiness to the offering, and must therefore be the greatest or of the most importance. If, therefore, either bound to the fulfillment of an oath, it must be the altar.
Mat 23:20 He who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything on it;
Mat 23:21 he who swears by the Sanctuary swears both by it and by Him who dwells in it;
Notes
Him that dwells therein - That is, God. The temple was His house, His dwelling. In the first, or Solomon’s temple, he dwelt between the cherubims in the most holy place. He manifested himself there by a visible symbol, in the form of a cloud resting on the mercy-seat, 1Ki_8:10, 1Ki_8:13; Psa_80:1. Barnes Notes
Mat 23:22 and he who swears by Heaven swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.
Notes
The throne of God - Heaven is His throne,
Mat 5:34 But I tell you not to swear at all; neither by Heaven, for it is God's throne;
Mat 5:35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool under His feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the City of the Great King.
It is so called as being the place where He sits in glory. Jesus says, here, that all who swear at all do, in fact, swear by God, or the oath is good for nothing. To swear by an altar, a gift, or a temple is of no force unless it be meant to appeal to God himself. The essential thing in an oath is calling God to witness our sincerity. If a real oath is taken, therefore, God is appealed to. If not it is foolish and wicked to swear by anything else.
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" The awful words come again and again, like the refrain of a dirge of intense sadness. It was this hypocrisy that was killing their souls. God requires truth in the inward parts; he searches the hearts; he knows all things; he is the God of truth; he hates falsehood. These men were acting a part; their whole life was a lie; they appeared only for the appearance of piety; they had no wish to be really holy.
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