The Jewish people did not eat pigs and camels. They were unclean animals as specified in the book of Leviticus. Jesus spoke of a hypocrisy in His day of making sure there were no gnats in the food, while at the same time they were chewing away on unclean camels. The point? Every directive of the scripture is not of the same magnitude. They did the easy things, but neglected to be promoters of “justice, mercy and faithfulness.” According to Jesus, restorative justice and compassionate mercy are the bigger concerns of the Bible. To our Lord, this is what faithfulness to the covenant looks like.
”Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices–mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” Matt 23:23-24 (NIV)
