Double standards.
‘…You are like tombs that are painted white…’ Matthew 23:27 NCV
When you read about the life of Jesus in the first four books of the New Testament- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John- you often come across a group of people called the Pharisees. They were a powerful group of Jewish religious leaders. They didn’t believe Jesus was the Son of God, instead they were convinced He was a devious impostor. They followed Jesus around everywhere, constantly trying to trick Him, so they could arrest Him. But their questioning of Jesus suddenly came to an end one day when Jesus asked them a question they were unable to answer. After that they were too scared to ask any more! Read about it in Matthew 22:41-46.
Jesus wasn’t impressed with their behaviour at all. He said to them, ‘Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You are like tombs that are painted white. Outside, those tombs look fine, but inside, they are full of the bones of dead people and all kinds of unclean things.’ (Matthew 23:27 NCV)
How sad! The Bible tells us that, ‘…People look at the outside of a person, but the Lord looks at the heart…’ (1 Samuel 16:7 NCV) Jesus knew that the Pharisees made themselves look great to people watching, but inside their thoughts and attitudes were all wrong. Jesus let the Pharisees know they were getting it wrong, big time, with their double standards! Don’t you make the same mistake!
SoulFood: 2 Kings 24-25, Luke 1:11-25, Ps 73:17-28, Pr 13:20
