Jesus is known to use some extravagant images to drive home his message. He speaks of a camel passing through the eye of a needle to speak of the difficulty of a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven (Mt 19:23). Here, he compares the Pharisees’ scrupulosity about minor matters to the neglect of more important ones with “straining out the gnat and swallowing the camel.” Gnats may refer to mosquitoes or other insects. The Pharisees “strain out the gnat” (v 24), that is, they strain what they drink through a cloth for fear that they may swallow some unclean insect. This is an example of their meticulous observance of self-imposed ceremonial trifles. But doing so, they swallow the camel, which is not only huge but also one of the unclean animals forbidden by the Law (Lv 11:4). To swallow the camel is a hyperbole of neglecting one’s chief duties. The obedience of the Pharisees is noteworthy. Not only do they pay taxes to the state, but also consciously tithe themselves for the support of the poor and the Temple. But even the Jewish pious practices of justice, mercy, and fidelity are directed to something more central: condemnation of unfairness, mercy towards all, and fidelity to one’s religion as practiced in one’s fidelity towards one’s fellow human beings. Scrupulous legalism does not give “justice” to the lowly or to God. God wants to encounter human beings in freedom and in ever-changing situations in life.

Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”