Anchor My Faith

Like Whitewashed Tombs

Scripture: Matthew 23:27-28

In the last lesson, Jesus used a hyperbole to illustrate another area of hypocrisy on the part of the scribes and Pharisees and delivered his memorable punch line, saying, “You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!” In this lesson we will look at the eighth woe, which relates to appearances.

^{Mt 23:27} “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. ²⁸ So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

As I think about how to write this lesson, two words come to mind: form and heart. Going back to Exodus 3:12, God told Moses that he would be with him as he brought the people out of Egypt. In Exodus 3:18, Moses was to go to the king of Egypt and request that he let the people go a three-day journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord. Eventually they left Egypt and for years to come, God taught them “form” in respect to how they were to sacrifice and worship God. Unfortunately, they allowed form to become more important than worshiping God. The external form became more important than a clean heart of belief and worship.

During our study of the Sermon on the Mount we saw this imbalance in terms of outward behavior and the condition of the heart. For example, to them murder and adultery were external in their thinking and were evil, but Jesus showed them that both were the result of what was happening with in the heart. To be angry with some one could turn into murder and lustful thoughts left unchecked could play out in the act of adultery. Outward behavior, including what we say, is simply an expression of what the heart contains.

Examples of hypocrisy in this section outline examples where the focus has been on the external without the internal to compliment it. We are no different than they. We can easily spend much time and money pursuing something in the world but are not willing to extend such resources in pursuing God and learning from his word and applying it to our lives. We are more willing to choose that which is seen verses that of the Spirit that is unseen. It seems more desirable to have the things of the world than to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit.

In the example before us Jesus uses the metaphor of whitewashed tombs to represent the lives of the scribes and Pharisees. In the days of Jesus, their tombs could outwardly be very beautiful. It is no different today. One can walk through a cemetery and look at the headstones and realize they are being used to make a statement about the family of the deceased, but no matter how much was spent for the marker (tomb in our study), within the grave there was nothing but death and decay; like the hearts of these scribes and Pharisees. Their tombs were whitewashed to clearly identify them to those passing by, since people would be rendered unclean for seven days through any contact with them. As people learned from these scribes and Pharisees, they likewise were becoming unclean by not being taught the truths from God.

 Conclusion

Are our live like whitewashed tombs in that we display a good outward appearance but within our hearts there is spiritual death and all forms of evil, or have we come to Jesus in humble belief and been born spiritually and have eternal life and seek to be transformed into the image of God’s Son? Does our outward form (behavior) reflect a growing heart of love, worship and praise?