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. (Matthew 23)
It's not just what's in the tomb - a dead body, but what else is in there - decay, dirt, and disease. Noone wants to live there. This takes things a step further than the dirty cup; it is not only dirty, but filled with dirt. Here, the heart is not only full of fake righteousness, but evil activity as well. There is not just hiding of uncleanness, trying to look "clean" to others, but actual active rebellion - thinking, planning, doing, and desiring evil. For the Pharisees, it was planning a rebellion against God and His Son - to reject His rule and do away with Him. For us it is focusing our lives on self-fulfillment; hiding our thoughts and sometimes actions from others, even though we know God sees; we act like He cannot. Elsewhere, Christ wants us to beware hypocisy - it's so easy to fall into it. All we have to do is point the finger judgmentally at others and we are vulnerable to it. May we today, on His day, let Him clean out completely whatever is in our cups, our tombs, our hearts and minds.
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