renew your wonders: 28 August 2024

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.

The scribes and Pharisees did not have the kind of hypocrisy common to well meaning beginners, but rather that of the dangerously corrupt. A beginner is sometimes embarrassed by his lack of progress and fears it might cause scandal to others. But he is actually still attempting to make progress is the area in which the problem subsists. But the scribes and the Pharisees were manufacturing an outward appearance to conceal a problematic interior which they had no desire to rectify. In fact, they had deluded themselves enough that they didn't believe anything needed to be fix. But at the same time they knew it wouldn't be good for their marketing if others were privy to their true intentions.

Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,

but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.

The hypocrisy of the corrupt is dangerous to a degree that the facade beginners sometimes show is not. Which is not to say we should ever accept being two-faced or disingenuous. But it becomes a much greater problem if it conceals something within us that we don't plan to work together with the Lord to change. If we are concealed unrepentant sin by presenting a good appearance to others we make it more likely that those hidden things will spread like an infection to those who our appearance draws to us. The more they buy the truth of our appearance the more likely they will be to lower their defenses and internalize even those things which we don't explicitly say or teach. This must have been one of the reasons that Paul not only taught, but insisted on acting as an example of his own teaching, even when he was free to do otherwise.

For we did not act in a disorderly way among you,

nor did we eat food received free from anyone.

On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked,

so as not to burden any of you.

Not that we do not have the right.

Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you,

so that you might imitate us.

If the scribes and the Pharisees were prototypical hypocrites then Paul was the archetypal anti-hypocrite. He worked diligently to ensure conformity between what he said and what he did. And he was willing to own up to his own failures and liabilities, going as far as to say, "that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost" (see First Timothy 1:15). We get the sense that he wasn't just saying that to sound pious, much less because of some lack of self-esteem. He seemed genuinely aware that even he, Paul, was still far from what he could and was meant to become. This made him a trustworthy voice when he addressed hypocrisy in others.

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy (see Galatians 2:11-13).

It would be easy to ignore such criticism from a Pharisee. But from someone like Paul, with such a high level of introspective awareness, who knew he was still a work in progress and acted accordingly, it was hard to dismiss.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You build the tombs of the prophets

and adorn the memorials of the righteous

The scribes and the Pharisees actually shared in the same motivation that led to the shedding of the blood of the prophets. This was the motivation that would cause them to conspire to seek the death of Jesus himself, whom the prophets had foretold. It was as though the scribes and the Pharisees were subconsciously aware of the violence in their hearts and desired to conceal it with these outward acts of devotion. It almost seemed like a case of, 'The lady doth protest too much, methinks' as if they said, 'Kill prophets? Who us? No, of course not. Look at the lovely tombs we built.'

But it was not the scribes and the Pharisees alone who were guilty of condemning Jesus. Every person was in some way complicit. Every time we willing decide to sin we continue to share in this complicity. It is for this reason that we too, and not only people of a distant age, must be self-aware enough to notice when our acts of piety and devotion are really designed to deaden the voice of conscience calling us to conversion. External acts of piety can be great and meaningful. But we must keep watch to ensure our inner motivation is pure.

The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it? (see Jeremiah 17:9)

Only Jesus can give us the grace to change our hearts and align our inner motivation with our externally visible actions. But he longs to give us this and every other grace if only we ask him for it.

May the Lord of peace himself

give you peace at all times and in every way.

The Lord be with all of you.