Gospel 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!”
Reflection:
Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees, “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.”
Here, Jesus uses an analogy that every Jew would have understood. Leading into Jerusalem, tombs were build into the hillsides and cliffs along the roadway.
Any Jew traveling who brushed against a tomb would be considered defiled. If that person were on their way to a religious feast or observance of a Holy Day, they would have been prohibited from taking part until they had gone through a lengthy purification process.
Prior to holy days such as Passover, these tombs were whitewashed. Beautiful and gleaming in the sun, they stood out so as to be more easily avoided by pilgrims coming to worship.
Like the whitewashed tombs, the lives of the scribes and Pharisees looked beautiful on the outside. But, Jesus saw that on the inside they were filled with judgement of others for violation of petty rules that they themselves did not obey.
Today’s gospel calls us to ask ourselves: What tombs do we brush against as we travel along our spiritual pilgrimage of life, and what does Jesus Christ see when He looks into us?
Am I the same on the inside as I appear on the outside?
“You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.” Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774) Irish Writer