27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’”
Hypocrisy knows no limit. For the seventh and eighth time, Jesus calls out a woe against the scribes and Pharisees, again calling them hypocrites. This popular word is used today to identify those whose life does not match their talk. Yet who of us can use that term to describe others without condemning ourselves to the same accusation? Jesus, however, used the term freely, letting loose a torrent of criticism against and disdain for those religious leaders. What a terrible thing to come under the ominous cloud of judgment.
It is important at this point to recognize that, “God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). His woes here must be construed as the harshest possible warning to a group of people who refused to listen to the more gentle approach. This is the shock treatment (see 1 Cor 5 for an example of this in the church).
The seventh woe likens their blatant attitudes to a tomb. It may look nice on the outside, but the inside is rotten and stinks, full of decay. That describes well the inner lives of the scribes and Pharisees. None of us has this unique insight to judge another man’s heart. But Jesus, being perfectly man and perfectly God, does in fact know the inner thoughts of humans (John 2:24). So His assessment of the religious leaders was right on.
The eighth and final woe focuses on the disingenuous honor they paid to the prophets. The Pharisees and scribes boasted of their own courage and loyalty, and even made a parade of their exalting righteous men. Yet the Lord was not fooled. All the religious talk, speaking well of godly people, honoring others – does not take the place of that inner life that is built on character and a loving response to the Lord. The evil of their forefathers was well established—and the Pharisees and scribes made sure to let all know that they themselves would never have allowed such evil to take place. Yet, they had already had it in their minds to kill Jesus! Even on the supposition that Jesus was only a prophet, their own actions and words condemned them.
Lord, since You warn people so strongly against hypocrisy, help me avoid that attitude and re-occupy myself with living for Christ and for others.
0 Comments