What can be said of folks who have no integrity? When the good one does is held in suspicion, because of known ulterior motives in the past, how much trust can one give folks, whose hearts are unclean or impure? When one has lost his innocence, he has also lost the goodwill of others, and the road back to regaining one’s good name, can be long and difficult. Jesus once told his disciples that out of one’s own heart proceeded all kinds of evil: sexual immorality, murder, wicked ideas, theft, false testimony, slander… (Matthew 15:19-20). These are the things that defile one’s heart and destroy one’s integrity, and such things are what defiled the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day; they were defiled, because their hearts were defiled.
As he continued to denounce the scribes and Pharisees, as they stood listening to him in the Temple,[1] Jesus pronounced a fifth woe upon them: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess” (Matthew 23:25). In other words, the outside of the cup and platter answered to their self-righteous behavior and conduct, a persona which the scribes and Pharisees wanted folks to see. Nevertheless, within, vis-à-vis within their hearts, the Jewish authorities were full of evil intent, preying upon others, so they could greedily achieve the end of their plans, believing the end justified the means!
Thus, in the context of the previous woes, teaching (Matthew 23:13), doing good (Matthew 23:14), converting pagans (Matthew 23:15), and religious devotion (Matthew 23:17) the scribes and Pharisees had done all for ulterior motives. Everything was done without faith (Matthew 23:13), under the pretense of building up their own name (Matthew 23:14), that they might sit among the movers and shakers of this world, and cause its political power to serve their interests (Matthew 23:15), and according to their own religious values (Matthew 23:17). Ultimately, they made a great outward show of righteousness, but their hearts spoiled everything they said and did, because everything they did and said was done through greed and self-indulgence. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was done out of devotion to God, or out of committing themselves to behave and speak, according to his word. For all their efforts, they remained unclean, because everything was done under the guise that the end justified the means (Matthew 23:25)!
Sadly, I must wonder about today’s Christian ministries. How much, of what we see preached and done in Jesus’ Name, is actually nothing more than a clean cup? How much of the administrative expenses have robbed widows and orphans, the weak, whom we should be caring for. Too many go hungry and homeless for our outreach ministries to be truly righteous. Consider for a moment, how many of these folks live, elaborate homes, private airplanes, some with private air strips. Who pays for all of this? When folks give their offerings to the Lord, letting such self-indulgent folks handle those funds, how faithful are they, when the poor still go hungry and the homeless still sleep in the streets?
God is not a miser. He created a world that has enough for everyone, more than enough! Yet, greed and abuse of funds (extortion and fraud), which Christians give their leaders, testify to the world that there is little difference between us and the religious leaders Jesus condemned here in Matthew 23.
Keep in mind that Jesus was tempted in three ways, first, to spend his ministry entirely upon ensuring the poor had enough, but men also need God’s word for living (Matthew 4:3-4). Secondly, just because Jesus was sent by God didn’t mean he had carte blanche authority to do anything he wished (Matthew 4:5-7),[2] for all things had to be done, according to the will of God; signs and wonders were done to glorify God, not to appease or justify religious authority (Matthew 12:38-39). Finally, Jesus was tempted to use political power to accomplish the goals of his Father (Matthew 4:8-10), but political force and laws cannot be used to fulfill the will of God for men’s salvation. If laws could be effective in ridding mankind of sin, Jesus died in vain (Galatians 2:21), because God already had, in place, a nation whose laws were the best in the world (Galatians 3:21). Yet, many Christians, today, are not known for what they believe, but for their politics, and whom they wish to place in power to accomplish their goals, which should be done through the Gospel, not through politics.
Jesus said that, first we need to be right in our hearts, then the outward things we do would be clean, vis-à-vis if our hearts are right with the Lord, we’ll have integrity (Matthew 23:26).
[1] According to Luke’s narrative, the scribes and Pharisees began to urge him on, provoking him to speak about many things, hoping to entangle him in his words so that they might have something to publicly accuse him of evil and arrest him (Luke 11:53-54).
[2] Jesus claimed he could do nothing of himself, but only what he saw the Father doing (John 5:19, 30; 8:28).
Leave a Reply