Woe To You Scribes And Pharisees - Part 13

Woe To You Scribes And Pharisees - Part 13

The Living and The Dead

Matthew 23:27

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

I can remember a friend telling me about his visit to an apple orchard. While he was there, the farmer took the opportunity to teach him some lessons about the Bible. The Bible talks a lot about fruit trees so lessons abound there. He talked about roots, soil, water, about trees that look healthy but aren’t and even about pruning and planting.

But, the lesson that had the biggest impact came when the farmer told him to pick an apple for himself. There were a few laying on the ground so he spotted the brightest, shiniest apple of the lot and bent over to pick it up. When he turned it over, it shocked him. The bright and shiny apple looked good on the surface, but it was hiding an ugly, rotten mess underneath. It looked healthy and nutritious but it was actually spoiled and full of decay.

A whitewashed tomb is exactly what it sounds like. It is hiding death. Whitewash makes something look pretty and clean on the surface while hiding what’s under it. It makes a tomb look like it’s fresh and full of life when it’s not. It’s a tomb. It contains dead people.

Spiritual life is an amazing thing. It’s impossible to hide. When someone is spiritually alive, you know it by the way they talk, act, walk, pray and breathe. Spiritually dead people, however, are easily hidden. They can look just like the living, but they never bear fruit.

How do we know the spiritually living from the spiritually dead? Jesus told us:

John 13:35

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Life breeds more life, spiritually alive believers bear good fruit. Spiritual deadness is nothing but rot and decay beneath a shiny surface. It is the mortal enemy of the spirit-filled church.