Whitewashed Tombs

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matthew 23:27-28 NKJV

Once a year, around Easter, when there was a large influx of pilgrims to Jerusalem, the tombs were whitewashed, covered with lime or chalk mixed with water. At that time, a tomb could be found in a pit, a cave, an unused cistern, or, in the case of the wealthy, in a rock carved out of the ground. Jesus is referring to the tombs of the poor, which were located in the fields or on the side of the road. The whitewashing served primarily to mark the tomb and thus protect travelers, especially pilgrims from other cities, from potential contamination, which would have made it impossible for them to participate in the Passover celebration (Numbers 19:13-16). So, the reason why the whitewashing was done just before Passover was that the large crowds of people who came to Jerusalem from all over the country for Passover would see the tombs that were adjacent to the roads and scattered in various places, and thus would not step on them or accidentally touch them so as not to become contaminated. Under the sun, it must have been impressive to see all the white tombs shining, making what contained death appear beautiful.

The controversy with the scribes and Pharisees began in the previous chapter with a question aimed at Jesus to test him on what was the greatest commandment in the Law. With the words of the verses quoted, Jesus emphasizes that the scribes and Pharisees were hypocrites, in that they appeared greatly virtuous in their scrupulous regulations, but in reality they contaminated people with their behavior and teaching that was not in accordance with the Scriptures. In fact, their mission was to convert the Gentiles to their traditions, to their religious system of rules and practices, and not to God. Therefore, the excessive outward display of the scribes and Pharisees was simply a sign not of their devotion but of their contamination. So much so that Jesus uses the exclamation, “Woe to you.” It is a cry of pain and terror, steeped in anguish and indignation, and at the same time a warning that Jesus uses eight times in this chapter, this being the seventh. The Lord is not deceived by people's religiosity, nor by their theological training. While people judge and can be deceived by appearances, God searches the hearts and penetrates all thoughts and sees hidden iniquity. When we do not live according to His Will, we put our law before His.

I hope we do not fall into the same error, setting ourselves above others. The word “hypocrites” meant “an interpreter, an actor.” The term refers to a person who acts and speaks under false pretenses, that is, one who pretends to be other than what he is: an ambiguous person who professes opinions he does not hold, only to hide his true thoughts or feelings. The hypocrite is a person who is inwardly alien to what he professes religiously. The apostle Paul reminded the young servant: “Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5). Let us humbly accept this warning and keep it in mind, so that we may conform to God's will without any hypocrisy. It is useless to appear righteous, because every inconsistency is exposed by Jesus. In increasingly difficult times, even in the church there is a danger of feeding the leaven of the Pharisees, and as Paul warned, “having a form of godliness but denying its power,” and then exhorted, “turn away from them” (2 Timothy 3:5). Walking in God's will is important for us and for those to whom we bear witness. Remember that whitewashing distances them from us and consequently from God.

Weekly Bible reading plan #18

April 28, 1 Kings 3-5; Luke 20:1-26

April 29, 1 Kings 6-7; Luke 20:27-47

April 30, 1 Kings 8-9; Luke 21:1-19

May 1, 1 Kings 10-11; Luke 21:20-38

May 2, 1 Kings 12-13; Luke 22:1-30

May 3, 1 Kings 14-15; Luke 22:31-46

May 4, 1 Kings 16-18; Luke 22:47-71