Matthew 23:27-32 NRSVue

²⁷“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of uncleanness. ²⁸So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

²⁹“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous, ³⁰and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. ³²Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors.

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Reflection on Matthew 23:27-32

Inspiration from 2025-08-27 Daily Prayer

In his castigations of the scribes and Pharisees Jesus tries to jolt them out of their blindness to their own hypocrisy and sins. When we look at our world today we see that very little has changed over the centuries in terms of evil deeds and pride and self-seeking. We are all sinners and there is a darkness in the heart of humankind. Jesus told us that it is out of the human heart that evil deeds come.

We pray for our world and for a change of heart and especially for our leaders, both political and religious. And we pray also for God’s mercy on ourselves.

Further reflection

Sometimes I’m struck by the forced smiles on the faces of the ‘great and good’. These people are busy projecting an image which is far from the truth. But is the image which I project to others the real me?

When making decisions, we wonder ‘What would the neighbours say?’ But does it really matter? There is only One whose opinion really matters. God knows the truth. We must respect and love our neighbours without letting them distort our lives as true disciples.