Help For The Hypocrite

Notice verses 27-28: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”

The Feast of Passover was just around the corner. In order to spruce up the city, all the gravestones and tombs were painted white. This wasn’t just to make thing look nice, it had a much deeper significance. The Pharisees knew that nothing spread ritual impurity as severely as a corpse. Numbers 19:11 says that anyone who touched a dead body was unclean for a week. The Pharisees believed that one could be rendered religiously dirty and thus ostracized from the Passover celebration if even one’s shadow would touch a tombstone. That’s why they were painted white so they could avoid them.

Jesus continues by saying that these hypocrites were actually full of dead men’s bones! This would have greatly offended them. They were so set on avoiding things that would render them contaminated that they missed the whole point! They were not only internally dirty; they were also dead on the inside. What really counts, as far as God is concerned, is what a person is within. It’s possible to look good on the outside and yet in actuality be morally dirty and spiritually dead. When viewed from outward appearances, the hypocrite looks good. He plays the part. The problem is on the inside where wickedness and evil thoughts reign supreme.

Fellow hypocrite, do you need some hope today? Do you want to change? Do you want to insulate yourself from the tendency to focus only on the external? Are you ready to take off your mask and be authentic, perhaps for the first time? Then, focus on what really matters and work on the inner person!

It’s interesting that while Jesus is hard on hypocrites, He never condemns sinners. John 3:17 says that, “The Son did not come into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” In fact, Jesus embraces those who own up to their mistakes and moral failures. We think we need to put on a mask and act religious in order to gain God’s favor. Jesus says, “Take off the mask. Be real. Own up for your rebellion. If you do, I will forgive you.”

Are you playing spiritual charades? Stop it right now. You’re not fooling anyone. People can see your hypocrisy and they’re turned off by it. In fact, there may be some non-Christians who have written off the church and God because of the way you’ve been acting. It’s time to come clean, Christian. It’s time to walk the talk and to live what you say you believe. The way you live your life is important.

If you’re investigating Christianity, and you see imperfect Christians, I encourage you not to make a decision on the basis of the unfinished product -- make your decision on the basis of the person of Christ. He can impact your present by forgiving you for your sins. He can make changes in your life now so that you are not what you used to be. And, he will help you become what you will be by steadily chipping away at your rough spots and changing you from the inside out.