You hypocrites!
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Tue, 27 Aug 2019 16:00:03 +0000
Gospel Reading: Mt 23:27-32
JESUS said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. Even so, on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’ Thus you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets; now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”
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Jesus accuses the Pharisees of being hypocrites. They are self-righteous and ostentatious, they teach people false religious beliefs, and they try to trap Jesus. They are hypocrites who would correct the defects of others while failing to detect the monstrous and, therefore, more evident failures on their part. Jesus exhorts his listeners, especially those who aim to be teachers and leaders, to examine themselves and to take great efforts to correct themselves.
Hypocrisy rears its ugly head when there is discrepancy and contradiction between the inner and the outer person, between hearts and lips, between words and deeds. Only when the person acts consistently can he truly be authentic. Otherwise, he is only role-playing or stage-acting. God, who knows what lies in the human heart, cannot be deceived.
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2017” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: books@stpauls.ph; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.