Matthew 23 Make Sure the Inside of the Cup is Clean!
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25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Jesus finally gets to the heart of the matter. He calls the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, "hypocrites". He says earlier in verse 3, "So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." Jesus is saying that though what they teach may be okay, don't look at their lifestyle because it doesn't match what they teach.
Then, Jesus uses the metaphor of a "cup" and a "dish". He says although the outside of the cup might look clean, the inside is unclean, which he characterizes as greed and self-indulgence. It reminds me of a verse in the Old Testament in 1 Samuel 16:7 when the Lord says to Samuel when picking King David as the next king of Israel, "For the Lord sees what man does not see. For though man looks at the outside, God looks at the heart."
You see, you might fool some people by looking good on the outside, but God looks at the heart. We can't fool God. Jesus is saying, "True beauty starts on the inside and then surfaces on the outside."
Before we get too judgmental of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, I think there is a part of us that wants to look clean and shiny on the outside, while inside we may full of guilt and shame, or hurting and depressed. One can only keep an image on the outside only so long. Eventually what is going on the inside will manifest itself in some behavior.
As Jesus says in Luke 6:45, "A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart."
Someone has said, "It's an inside job!" I think in the end though we may fool some of the people, some of the time. We can't fool all the of the people all of the time. Eventually our true character emerges, especially as we are pressured on all sides.
What does the inside of your cup look like? Does it match what you portray on the outside? It takes a lot of work to keep up an image on the outside that doesn't match what is really going on in the inside. But if Christ is in our heart, he purifies us from the inside out. As we allow Christ to dwell in us richly through his Word, our character is developed and we become the type of person whose actions match their words. And this is probably the most important factor which will determine if the world will listen to what we have to say.
As someone has said, "We have to earn the right to share the gospel!"
25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Jesus finally gets to the heart of the matter. He calls the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, "hypocrites". He says earlier in verse 3, "So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." Jesus is saying that though what they teach may be okay, don't look at their lifestyle because it doesn't match what they teach.
Then, Jesus uses the metaphor of a "cup" and a "dish". He says although the outside of the cup might look clean, the inside is unclean, which he characterizes as greed and self-indulgence. It reminds me of a verse in the Old Testament in 1 Samuel 16:7 when the Lord says to Samuel when picking King David as the next king of Israel, "For the Lord sees what man does not see. For though man looks at the outside, God looks at the heart."
You see, you might fool some people by looking good on the outside, but God looks at the heart. We can't fool God. Jesus is saying, "True beauty starts on the inside and then surfaces on the outside."
Before we get too judgmental of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, I think there is a part of us that wants to look clean and shiny on the outside, while inside we may full of guilt and shame, or hurting and depressed. One can only keep an image on the outside only so long. Eventually what is going on the inside will manifest itself in some behavior.
As Jesus says in Luke 6:45, "A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart."
Someone has said, "It's an inside job!" I think in the end though we may fool some of the people, some of the time. We can't fool all the of the people all of the time. Eventually our true character emerges, especially as we are pressured on all sides.
What does the inside of your cup look like? Does it match what you portray on the outside? It takes a lot of work to keep up an image on the outside that doesn't match what is really going on in the inside. But if Christ is in our heart, he purifies us from the inside out. As we allow Christ to dwell in us richly through his Word, our character is developed and we become the type of person whose actions match their words. And this is probably the most important factor which will determine if the world will listen to what we have to say.
As someone has said, "We have to earn the right to share the gospel!"
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