“Look, your house is left to you desolate.”
Matthew 23:38 (NIV)
We have this flighty notion - perhaps received from our Sunday School teachers - that Jesus is kind and never said a harsh Word to anyone. Matthew 23, on the other hand, is full of harsh Words, for our Lord delivers seven woes and then calls them snakes and vipers. And do you notice that in 6 of the woes He calls them hypocrites? Now our Lord speaks truth, not lies, and He speaks truth in love, not in malice, so we should cut our Sunday School teachers some slack for they are dealing with kids full of malice. If we want to receive this truth from our Lord we would do well to get our definition of a hypocrite from this passage. The world loves to call us hypocrites when we don’t support the latest fantasy they espouse - and it really is the pot calling the kettle black. But our Lord is serious and He is no hypocrite nor are we to be, and so when He calls them hypocrites and then describes the actions that go with the label, He is providing for us a simple way to self examine. If you are wondering why bother - why take the time and energy to examine my life for hypocrisy? Friend consider the cost of hypocrisy - their house will be left desolate. Our families and our communities pay the price. Our Lord wept for Jerusalem, for they will reap what their leaders sowed. Weep for our families for they will reap what their parents sowed. Amos and the other minor prophets are all dealing with hypocrisy in the people of God and their message is that your family and your community will be destroyed if you don’t turn from hypocrisy and seek God in truth. Religious activity without a righteous life is hypocrisy and is an affront to our righteous God, bringing His punishment. The terrible truth is that by living this lie before God we are condemning our children.
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