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[Jesus said,] ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean’ (Matthew 23:27).

Read Matthew 23:27–39

In the middle of the acreage where I grew up, there was a little white building next to a large red one. Both buildings were used significantly during the summer when our spring chickens would arrive on the postal truck, chirping away at the top of their voices. My father would take us kids out to the white building, where, after unloading the crates of chicks, we would get them settled into their new life.

Throughout the summer, before they moved from their little white house to the large red one, the chicks spent their days scratching through the henyard, digging for insects and worms. Then, when the day was over, they would retreat into the white house for the evening.

In there, they would sleep, yes, but with 350 of them, they would also deposit plenty of … er … you know … fertiliser.

It is for this reason that I, to this day, dislike chickens because it was the kids’ job to get out the shovel and dispose of said fertiliser.

One summer after the chicks had moved, my father said we were going to paint the white house, but he asked us to muck it out first. Unwilling (and unwanting) to shovel any more fertiliser, I painted the outside first. Unfortunately, as the summer sun came up, an overwhelming stench arose from the unmucked chickenhouse, and what would have been an easier job before the painting was now a trial at best. It was one thing to whitewash the outside but another thing to clean out the shed first.

So Jesus puts it to the hypocritical Pharisees and teachers of the law. What good does it do to make the outside nice and shiny if the inside is full of … fertiliser. Woe to our contemporary Western culture and, in some ways, Christian culture, which has made the visible surface seem beautiful but failed to clean up and clean out the rubbish inside. I could enumerate the ways in which our social media culture has influenced (an ironic word, don’t you think?) the organised religions. Instead, I’ll pose the question to you today.

If Jesus were to inspect Christianity, what things do you think he would say were whitewashed tombs? What kinds of things are we called to clean up and clean out so that God’s holy presence can continue to inhabit the body of Christ?

Jesus, speaker of truth, open my eyes to the beauty of a temple cleaned both inside and out. Give me the strength to be part of change. Amen.

Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

[Jesus said,] ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness’ (Matthew 23:23a).

Read Matthew 23:13–26

It’s incredibly difficult to read Jesus’s litany of ‘woes’ without feeling a squeeze of discomfort that I, too, can sometimes be a little teacher-of-the-law-ish. Throughout chapter 23 of Matthew, there are seven woes, ranging from generalised hypocrisy to full-out ignorance of humanity by these leaders of the religion.

As a Christian, despite my best attempts to be faithful to God’s law and the beautiful order of how that word holds things together, I sometimes point to the wrong things and proclaim to God:

But look! See my sacrifice! See the minty goodness of my time spent volunteering and note my diligent attempts not to be a dill. Full disclosure here: I don’t have a realistic understanding of what cumin does, but … come on over to my side and pat me on the back for all the good things that I do so that other people will see what a good person I am.

Woe to the Pharisees. Woe to me.

At times, I am more impressed by these little things than presenting myself as a living sacrifice to God, poured out by his good and pleasing will, for the benefit of these beautiful people around me. Jesus points me and Christian communities back to Micah 6:8: ‘What does the Lord require of me but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?’

These things are much more difficult, requiring perseverance and often pain. But woe to us, not just that we don’t do them, but that we miss out on the blessings of being part of God’s work in this world of administering justice and mercy and finding faithfulness.

The good news is this: the seven woes that Jesus speaks can be turned into words of wonder. He actually gives us the communal blueprint for joy rather than woe. As you read through this passage again, focus instead on the latter halves of Jesus’ statements and ponder how they might change your perspective on the life of your community.

From woe to wonder!

Heavenly Father, thank you for your wonderful gifts to me. Help me to live a life of wonder and assistance to others. Amen.

Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

[The teachers of the law and the Pharisees] tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them (Matthew 23:4).

Read Matthew 22:41–23:12

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Hippocratic oath before. Some of you may have uttered it as a physician, and it is often distilled down to this: first, do no harm.

Our extraordinary doctors and nurses, who dedicate their lives to easing pain and suffering, are bound by this oath. This means not purposefully causing additional pain and suffering to the individual. It means doing everything in one’s power to release the victim from the grip of disease or tragedy and bring them a restored life.

Jesus might have intended the oath to be instilled in the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, also. Firstly, do no harm and do not burden your people.

Especially if you, yourself, do not fully intend to follow your own advice. As we all know, this is hypocrisy at its core.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees dreamt up long lists of rules and regulations, statutes, and sub-statutes that the people had to follow to gain righteousness. They loved being the bearers of bad news – put the Ten Commandments on your doorjambs; sew the correct tassels into your clothes; do this and do that; be humble. Yet they were unable to locate the bone of humility inside themselves. They loved the place of honour at banquets, and they loved being greeted with honorifics in the streets. ‘Rabbi!’ people would call out.

This passage reads as though Jesus implies that the teachers of the law and Pharisees have taken a Hypocritic oath: ‘Firstly, everybody else must be humble and burdened, but I’m too good for that.’ What does this have to do with the 21st century?

Jesus speaks to me by saying, ‘Don’t saddle anyone, anywhere, at any time, with rules and regulations about how to get Jesus to love you. Jesus’ love is not coerced by good works. And don’t suggest, “If you’re a good person, then Jesus will like you”, or “You have to go to church, read your Bible daily, and pray morning, noon and night to get God’s attention.”’ These are burdensome rules that I don’t even impose on myself because I know that God’s power in Jesus, through his death and resurrection, is the only source of righteousness known to God. Thus, I need not pretend that these apply to everyone else.

I don’t need a Hypocritic oath. Just the hope in the promises (oaths) of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the beauty of living life within the boundaries of your commands, assured of your promise of grace through your Son, Jesus. Amen.

Reid Matthias is the school pastor at St Andrews Lutheran College in Tallebudgera, Queensland. Reid is married to Christine, who, together with their three incredible daughters, Elsa, Josephine and Greta, have created a Spotify channel (A 13) where they have recorded music. Reid has recently published his seventh novel, A Miserable Antagonist, and maintains the blog ireid.blogspot.com