This post was last updated on November 21, 2025

Day 283, Year 1

Straining Out a Gnat

“You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:24 NASB)

If the faith of believers can activate miracles from God, then the remarkable thing about the Pharisees, etc., at that time was that they could set God aside and perform miracles with solely human power. Upon reading today’s verse, readers may be surprised by the miracle of “swallowing a camel,” or at least their marvelous abilities, performed by the Pharisees, etc. It appears that some people in today’s society are similarly in favor of this direction. Some advocate that mastering tiny or precise technologies is a way to acquire wealth and power in the world. In the same way, the Pharisees, etc., at that time had this skill of paying attention to the minute details of the commandments and ordinances, believing that the law they expounded would make salvation easier for common Israelites. However, Jesus made it clear that the requirement for entering the kingdom of heaven was not as they understood or interpreted it. In fact, throughout history, many people have created their own formulas for entering God’s kingdom, but only the Lord’s teaching is the way for salvation.

In today’s verse, Jesus uses the metaphor of “gnat” and “camel.” This exaggeration might have been laughed off at the time. In my opinion, Jesus is indeed a humorous teacher who conveys heavenly truths in a profound manner. Some people think that Jesus was very reserved and always kept a straight face, but this is actually a misunderstanding. The early believers depicted Jesus as full of joy by divine anointing due to His love for righteousness and hate of evil (Hebrews 1:9). And thus, dining with the Lord should be a pleasant experience for all of us. Nonetheless, it must be added that some people have created a “Jesus” in their own imagination that is very different from the Bible, while they also claim to believe in Him. Therefore, we believers need to find out whether we believe in the Jesus of the Bible or not. One thing is for sure, the Jesus that merely created or projected by people cannot save anyone into heaven.

Apart from that, do these words of Jesus suggest that there is no need to filter out the “gnat” when we eat or drink? According to the Lord’s words, we can indeed consume harmless little insects as an extra source of protein in our daily living. Yet, it is a warning to those who are affluent and picky eaters. Readers may also ponder why some believers pay great attention to material things but are indifferent toward spiritual matters. No matter how we believe in Jesus, if we do not properly tackle the mindset of putting the cart before the horse, but only believe in Jesus with proper priority, we are likely just deceiving ourselves into thinking we are believing in Jesus.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you find Jesus humorous and joyful? If so, would you want to learn humorous wisdom from Him?

2) Are you afraid of having small insects that are harmless in your food or drink? Why?