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. Matthew 23:27
What does this mean?
Dead bodies were unclean.
If a Jew came in contact with a dead body
He was unclean for seven days.
This was a big deal.
God required purity from His people.
Moral and ceremonial.
This set them apart.
It reminded them that sin causes separation.
It underscored their need for God’s grace.
Every spring, houses and walls were whitewashed.
But especially tombs
This was to make them easy to see.
That way someone didn’t accidentally
Come in contact with them
And become unclean through carelessness.
Jesus says the Pharisees are whitewashed tombs
They should be warning people to stay away.
Everyone they came in contact with was defiled.
Do we influence those around us to godliness or compromise?
Do we challenge those we come in contact with to be more like Christ or culture?
Do we model Christ or our own standard in the situations we face?
God is holy and calls us to be holy.
What difference would it have made if the Pharisees,
The whitewashed tombs,
Spent as much effort
Cultivating genuine holiness as they did
Covering their unholiness?
Are we cultivating or covering?