Actors
Which is better to focus on, what shows to the world or what is going on inside?
“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.’ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.’ How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean. - Matthew 23:13-26
Jesus is trying to teach his disciples to focus on what matters more, the deeper meaning and purpose of what we do.
It is hard to ignore what we see, though.
We see someone dressed elegantly, and we believe that person has traits we admire. We believe he or she must be smart, successful, capable, or astute. But they could be deceptive, cunning, deceitful, and misleading.
It could be an act, a way the person wants us to see them.
The hypocrisy Jesus condemns is that type of deceit. What we see on the outside should reflect what is inside, and vice versa.
The truth should lay bare on the surface, not be hidden away.
If I act differently than who I really am, am I not trying to deceive others?
We are all actors in some way. We pretend, sometimes to fool and sometimes to try to train ourselves to be different.
But the cup needs to be clean on the inside. It needs to be worthy of what it holds, so the experience of drinking from it remains pure.
This is the message Jesus wants us to gain from this.
Be who we are within, and honor all that is good, all that comes from God.
If we can do that, what people will see is real and true, and the burden of pretending will be gone.
More to come...