“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are
like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full
of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear
righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
(Matthew 23:27-28)
The reason Jesus was
focused on “the crowds and the disciples” in these seven woes is because we
need to know whose example we should be following. And Jesus wanted everyone to
know both then and now that the religious elites of that day were not worthy of
imitation.
As I was
prayer-journaling on this, I realized that there may be people in the church
who know they have unrighteous things inside them they wish weren’t there and
they may feel worried that Jesus’ judgment on the scribes and Pharisees applies
to them. They might even be trying to do the right thing outwardly but struggle
with unrighteous thoughts and feelings inwardly.
My short answer to
this is, that’s not what Jesus is talking about!
In this sixth woe, Jesus
is addressing the blatant hypocrisy of these religious leaders who were not righteous
on the inside at all, but put on the most grandiose expressions of outer
righteousness and it was all just for show. It wasn’t real. They weren’t
seeking to make it real. They liked their “actor” status and didn’t want to
give up their religious awards and accolades for the good news of the kingdom
of heaven.
No born-again
Christian, and no local gathering of believers, will ever be 100% righteous on
the inside. Instead, we “PURSUE righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along
with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart”, while we “Above all, keep
loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
One of the most
comforting Scriptures about growing up in Jesus Christ is, “And we all, with
unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the
same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord
who is the Spirit.”
If we are “BEING”
transformed, keep in step with the Spirit, follow good examples, pursue the “righteousness
of faith” in everything, and be ever so loving and patient with one another as
we all grow up together since that is what the Triune God is like with us!
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
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