The last thing I want to hear from the Lord is “Woe to you,” while at the same time, He is calling me a hypocrite. We need to examine His words to the scribes and Pharisees to make sure we don’t fit in the same category as these religious leaders.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
“You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and of the plate, so that the outside also may become clean” (Matthew 23.25-26).
Religious hypocrites are actors who pretend to be clean on the outside, but their inner self is seriously flawed.
The nature of greed is not being satisfied with what we have. Greedy people want more, and like an addiction, they need more and more to be satisfied.
I could point to a prominent person in the news who claims that he needs more than $6 million a year to supply his wants. The truth is, I need to look at myself and ask what I want today but really don’t need.
I am hypocritical to the extent that I pretend to be religious, but on the inside, I am calculating how I can gain more of what I want for myself.
A root cause of idolatry is self-indulgence. When we make our needs and desires the most significant priority of our lives, it will lead us to idolatry.
Idolatry is the attempt to manipulate God for Him to give us what we want. We may claim to worship God, but in truth, we are treating Him like an idol that could be manipulated for our benefit.
The hypocrisy of this situation is revealed by how we deceive ourselves and other people, appearing religious, when actually we’re pursuing self-indulgent greedy desires, and using God to get them.
Who is Unclean?
Jesus sarcastically told the religious leaders that they strained out a gnat from their wine so as not to be unclean, while at the same time, they swallowed a camel (Matthew 23.24).
His next illustration describes the uncleanliness that comes from touching a dead body.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of uncleanness.
“So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23.27-28).
Tombs in the first century were whitewashed, not to make them attractive, but to alert people that the dead lurked within. People who touched a tomb would become unclean and would have to go through ritual cleanliness.
Jesus told religious people that they may look good, but they lacked life in their inner being.
The Jewish people were distinguished among other nations as the people of the law. They heard the law, observed it, and were thus God’s people because He had given them the law and they were living by it.
When Jesus said their inside condition was lawless, he was putting them on the same plane as the Gentiles who surrounded them.
I am sure the religious authorities were offended by being told that their inner self was dead and lawless. But more importantly, I need to look at myself and ask: What claims do I make about following God that, in actuality, I resist in thoughts and attitudes?
In my morning prayer time, I asked God to show me my inner self, to reveal to me how I am greedy, self-indulgent, and lawless. He gave me some thoughts to pray about and some things to act upon. I’d encourage you to do the same.
Let’s see what God will do with us as we open our hearts to His penetrating gaze.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 