Verse of the day: Matthew 23:25-26
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
For you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they
are full of extortion and excess. 26 You blind Pharisee, cleanse first
that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean
also.
The one observation that stands out strongly in
Jesus’ rebuke of the scribes and Pharisees is that God is far more interested
in our inner being than our outer appearance. I am a firm believer that we give
God our very best; however, too often, I have seen God’s children looked down
on people who visited the local church who were not dressed in what was, in
their opinion, “their very best” for corporate worship. Yet, some of the best
dressed in the church building were some of the vilest from within because of
secret sin or open hypocrisy that they were themselves blind to. Jesus used the
Pharisees own tradition of washing their cups and plates before eating on them
to make a comparison to their hypocrisy. The Pharisees would not eat or drink
anything unless their cups and plates were washed and cleansed, yet the food and
drink they put in those cups and plates were often gain by way of their own
corruption, deceit, and cheating of the widows and the poor. A picture of whom
they themselves were. They prayed lengthy prayers publicly, took the seats of
honor in the assembly; their phylacteries that were usually small, tied around
their forehead or arm, were usually bigger than most in order to give the
impression that they loved God’s law more than most, and the tassels on the end
of their robes were made large to indicate their dedication to God, which in
reality was superficial at best and even nonexistent. Yet, in all of this they
were hypocrites because their heart was far from God and their morals were
corrupt, their behavior ungodly and wicked. In verse 27, Jesus compares them to
whitewashed tombs. The idea behind whitewashing the tombs is that these tombs
were beautiful on the outside, but inside they were filled with dead bodies
that were unclean, decaying and filled with dead men’s bones. Could Jesus make
any clearer the fact that God despised outward hypocrisy and was far more
interested in what was inside of a person? The Apostle Paul, in writing to
Timothy, warns him of what people will be like in these last days. 2 Timothy 3
tells us that men will be lovers of self, covetous, boaster, proud, disobedient
to parents, unholy, and the list goes on. In verse 5 of that same chapter, the
Apostle warns that there will be people who are religious, showing outward dedication
by their rituals and keeping of traditions, but within they have not real power
because there is no reverence or fear of God. There is no pure worship of the
Lord. Jesus is not the inward source of the outward product. Though they know
the Word of God, and have memorized the Scriptures, can explain the principles,
they themselves lack the application to their own lives, and even twist the
teaching to benefit them or justify their own sinful actions and behavior. We
have already noted in this series of messages that God is far more interested
in our hearts than the facades we create to make ourselves appear more
religious and dedicated to the Lord (1 Sam 16:7). In Luke 16:15, Jesus clearly
states that those things which are highly esteemed by men are detestable to
God, because He sees the heart. In John 2:23-25, it tells us that many believed
in Jesus’ Name, because of what they saw Him do, but Jesus would not commit
Himself to them because He knew what was in man. He knew that their belief in
His Name was selfishly motivated by what they thought they could gain by
believing in Him. Their motivation and the intentions of their heart were not
pure. The bottom line is that when we accepted Jesus as our Savior, He began
the process of changing us from within. His desire is to change our hearts and
minds so that our change would come from within (Rom 12:1-2). He changes us
from within so that we desire true change, and do our best to truly love Jesus
by obeying His commands. When this happens, it will eventually show outwardly,
and genuinely. We must choose to take a step back and ask God to examine our
lives, and our hearts, and show us if we are just going through the motions, or
still entertaining certain pet sins that we are critical of others for, and
which keep us from truly maturing in Christ. Ask Him to not only show us, but
truly cleanse us, and change us (Ps 51:10; Heb 10:16-22).
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