“Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.”
This is
a snapshot of religious hypocrisy. These
synagogue leaders conspired to murder The Messiah; a clear violation of a
commandment contained in the law on which they claim to base their lives… While
violating this command they insist on practicing ceremonial “cleanness”, refusing
to enter the palace so they can eat their Passover meal… If their duplicity wasn’t
so lethal, it would be laughable.
This illustrates
what Jesus meant when He accused them of straining out a gnat while swallowing
a camel, or called them whitewashed tombs, clean on the outside but contaminated
on the inside. This hypocrisy draws severe reprimands from the Son of God, and
it is rampant in our culture today.
As
Christians, when we read about these Jewish leaders or see them depicted in
movies, we feel contempt for them. But if we just glance in the mirror, we’ll see
disturbing similarities.
Do we embrace
commands we agree with, demanding others do the same, yet disregard any command
we find inconvenient? How many times do we
sit in church and judge people for judging people, or gossip about people gossiping,
or refuse to love those who refuse to love others?… The quicksand of hypocrisy consistently
proves disastrous, yet we continually “cherry pick” commands that fit our
preferences and ignore those that don’t.
This
morning’s message is not to drug dealers and prostitutes but to the
church. Don’t pick and choose the
commands of God that suit you… If you’re a Believer, act like one- all of the
time. Ignoring scripture and
rationalization is not an acceptable reaction to what God calls sin. The only response that is biblical is
“Confession and repentance”.
Because
He loves you, God has offered amazing grace. If you have accepted that gift, then
be holy… not so you will be saved, but because you have been.
If you
don’t think you need His grace – then reject God’s offer and make your own way. Be hot or cold, but don’t be two-faced. Choose this day whom you will serve… and then dive
in.
“Godliness is more easily
feigned in words than in actions” - Jonathan Edwards
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