Matthew 23:27-28 27“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28So you also outwardly appear righteous to other people, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
With the next woe, Jesus introduces another image to point out the hypocrisy of the scribe and Pharisees. The image of tombs illustrates again the difference between the outward actions of these Jews and the condition of their inner persons. Behind Jesus’ words here is the Old Testament concept of that a dead body was unclean (Numbers 19:11). Tombs during that time would be whitewashed with a form of lime paint to warn people not to get too close lest they become ceremonially unclean. From the outside, these tombs look clean because of the whiteness, but inside, they were unclean because of the dead bones. From the outside, the tombs looked beautiful, but inside, there was death and decay.
This image describes their spiritual condition of the scribes and Pharisees and too many people today. They look happy, healthy, and whole from the outside because of their acts of piety, but deep down, their hearts are empty. They have tried doing religion and found nothing that makes a significant change to their spiritual search. The problem with the Jewish leaders is that they were blind to their condition. They set off on a path that eventually deceived them into thinking that they were indeed spiritually mature. The answer to this kind of problem is to recognize the conviction of the Holy Spirit and repent in humility. Pride and self seek to replace God. This kind of problem needs to be resolved otherwise hypocrisy and lawlessness will result.
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