Strong Words

Matthew 23: 13--22

Woe To You

¹³ “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. ¹⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Jesus speaks harshly to the Pharisees about their hypocrisy, and make us shudder as we apply these admonitions  to ourselves. We can so easily find fault in or condemn others while failing go see that we are as guilty as they. We pray then, for a true and honest picture of ourselves and our actions and for open ears to hear the advice and criticisms of others that might give us a better picture of ourselves than we are capable of seeing or admitting.

Bro. Rene

Dear God help me to avoid hypocrisy and be willing to listen to the observations others make about my behavior. Amen.