“Woe
to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Matthew 23:27-28
Matthew 23 [25.] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also.
Matthew 23 [27.] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
Matthew 23 [29.] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and decorate the tombs of the righteous, and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna? Therefore behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city; that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zachariah son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar. Most certainly I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Meaning:
In the previous woe Jesus said the scribes and Pharisees cleaned the outside of the cup while the inside was “full of extortion and unrighteousness” (Matthew 23:25-26). Now he uses an even stronger picture to make the same point: the difference between how they looked on the outside and what they were on the inside.
- “you are like whitened tombs”
In Israel tombs were often painted with whitewash. According to the law, “Whoever in the open field touches ... a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days” (Numbers 19:16). Graves were whitened so that people, especially the many pilgrims coming to Jerusalem for the feasts, could see them and avoid becoming unclean by accident. Jesus spoke these words during the Passover week, when freshly whitened tombs would have shone in the spring sunshine around the city.
- “which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones”
A whitewashed tomb looked clean and bright, but inside was decay and death. In the same way, the religious leaders looked holy, with their prayers, fasting, tithes and careful observance, but inside they were spiritually dead. In Luke’s account Jesus said they were “like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it” (Luke 11:44). People who followed them were defiled without realizing it.
- “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men”
People judge by what they can see, but God sees the heart. When Samuel was looking for a king, Yahweh told him, “man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Isaiah’s words applied to these leaders: “These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8).
- “but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity”
Hypocrisy is acting a part, pretending to be what one is not. Iniquity is lawlessness. Though they were experts in the law and claimed to keep it perfectly, in their hearts they were lawless. Later the apostle Paul used a similar picture when he called the high priest a “whitewashed wall” (Acts 23:3). Paul also warned of people “holding a form of godliness, but having denied its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).
The Significance of Matthew 23:27-28
- God desires truth within
Religion that stops at the surface cannot please God. David prayed, “Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts” (Psalm 51:6). God is not interested in a beautiful outward show if the heart is unchanged.
- A new heart
No one can clean the inside by effort alone. David asked, “Create in me a clean heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10), and God promised, “I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26). True righteousness begins with the inner change that God gives.
Cross-References:
Luke 11:44: “you are like hidden graves.” Luke’s account.
1 Samuel 16:7: “Yahweh looks at the heart.” God sees beyond appearances.
Acts 23:3: “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall!” A similar picture of hypocrisy.
Conclusion: Jesus compared the scribes and Pharisees to tombs painted white: beautiful outside, but full of dead bones inside. They looked righteous to others while their hearts were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. God looks at the heart, and the only remedy is the new and clean heart that he alone can give.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible