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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build
tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say,
‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part
with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against
yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go
ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!”
Matthew 23:29-32
This ends
today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today is the last devotion in a series of
eight based on woeful behaviors Jesus connected to the Jewish religious leaders
of His time. Up to now, we have read about how the Pharisees and teachers of
the law had led others away from salvation in Jesus, taken advantage of widows,
placed more emphasis on material things than holy ones, surrendered following
broader ways of righteousness in exchange while concentrating on minute details
of the law, and putting on a false external appearance when they were really
wicked, greedy, and self indulgent on the inside. Over and over again, we read
Jesus calling the Pharisees and teachers of the paw “blind” and “hypocrites”
because they wore spiritual blinders, unable to see they were dead inside, and
requiring their followers to be obedient to the Lord when they weren’t willing
to be so themselves.
In the end translation, Jesus shows us how
we’re supposed to be by showing us how not to live while exposing the sinful,
woeful behavior of the Jewish religious authorities.
In today’s final devotion, we find Jesus
pointing out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and teachers of the law one more
time before moving onto a summary condemnation we will cover tomorrow. Look at
the reproachful words of our Savior here:
“Woe
to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for
the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had
lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in
shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves that you
are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and
complete what your ancestors started!” Matthew 23:29-32
What was the hypocritical behavior
highlighted here?
First, it’s important to remember the role
of the prophets in Old Testament times.
These men were nothing less than special
messengers, hand-selected by none other than God Himself to be spokespeople. Go
back to Moses and you can see there was a procession of important leaders (Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, etc) who communicated the very words of God,
acting as His mouthpiece while providing the Israelites words of direction and
guidance or foretelling of things to come. These men were held in the highest
esteem by the Lord who commissioned them to serve Him.
And yet, not everyone held these prophets
in high esteem for as we read in today’s scripture passage, they were murdered
by the very people they were tasked to communicate with, those who were the
descendants of the Pharisees and teachers of the law Jesus was addressing.
How do we know this?
Because the Pharisees and teachers of the
law admitted it through their own words, words quoted by Jesus:
“If
we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with
them in shedding the blood of the prophets.”
On one hand, the Jewish religious leaders
were looking as if they wanted to honor the former prophets, building them
tombs and decorating their graves, but inside they were contemplating how to
murder Jesus, the greatest Prophet ever sent by the very God they claimed to serve.
This is why Jesus closed by saying:
“Go ahead, then, and
complete what your ancestors started!”
He fully knew what dwelled in the hearts of
His adversaries and understood He was in His final days before they would see
that He was put to death. In the end, the Pharisees and teachers of the law
would be no better than their ancestors. As the old saying goes, “The apple
doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Unfortunately today, there are people who
had ancestors who committed sinful acts and then rather than conscientiously
choose to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, they carry them on.
Wickedness gives birth to more wickedness, resulting in perpetuating waves of
transgression, sometimes of the severest forms.
Through His words, Jesus is encouraging us
to learn from the woeful behaviors of those we are following and not to repeat
those mistakes in our own lives. If we allow Him to be our guide in everything
we do, we can ensure that we will be able to fully meet His expectations.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com
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