Matthew 23:27 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead mens bones, and of all uncleanness. “Whited sepulchers”... “Tombs” were regularly whitewashed to make them stand out. Accidentally touching or stepping on a grave caused ceremonial uncleanness (Num. 19:16). A freshly white-washed tomb would be brilliantly white and clean looking and sometimes spectacularly ornate. But the inside was full of defilement and decay. Contrast Jesus’ words here and in Luke 11:44. Once a year, about the fifteenth of the month of Adar, the Jews painted their tombs with whitewash to denote where the dead bodies were. Jesus, in this statement, was accusing these scribes and Pharisees to be dead inwardly, but whitewashed on the outside. Probably, from the worlds point of view (the outside), they were super religious, but it was all on the outside. Inside there were dead mens bones. They were covering up their lust of the flesh with this whitewash. To whitewash something today means, to attempt to cover up something very evil. In our society today, we see this in preachers who lead two lives one for the public to view, and another private life that cannot stand up under the light. It is explained in verse 28.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 00:24:28 +0000
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