18 And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. (Matthew 23)
To be sure, the altars of the Old Testament are far different to whatever we would refer to as an altar in worship today. But there are touchpoints worth mentioning, the most of which is coming before the throne of God, humbly worshiping Him, seeking Him, and submitting to Him. In this passage, these religious people were making too much of "the altar", putting more stock in it than in God Himself. But Jesus presumed that people would and should "come to the altar" in worship, bowing before the Lord. If not, something is wrong. There was, and still is, abuse and neglect. We can put too much in "the place", and too little in the meaningfulness of being willing to come before Him without shame or restraint. The neglect of the altar is pride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KShVx3jtvI
No comments:
Post a Comment