Dirty Dishes

 

Does anyone like to eat on dirty dishes? We go to great lengths to make sure our dishes are clean before we eat from them. Sometimes, even after washing them, they still do not pass our standards, so we wash them again. Dirty dishes are a quick way for a restaurant to get a bad review. 

 

It isn’t the bottom of the plate I am concerned with. Frankly, the underside of the plate does not even concern me; it is the part that touches the food that I want to be spotless. The same is true of a cup. Some people have fancy china that is reserved for those most special occasions, and when they take out the expensive dishes, they make sure they look pristine. 

 

Jesus once told the Pharisees that they were like dishes—dirty dishes. The outside of the cup was clean, but the inside looked as if it hadn’t been washed. It matters not how pristine or polished the outside of a glass is, if the inside is dirty, no one wants to use it. I don’t care if you spend an hour cleaning the bottom of the plate if you don’t clean the part that holds my food. 

 

Jesus said it like this: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean (Matthew 23:25-26).”

But He wasn’t finished. He also said they were like whitewashed tombs. A fresh coat of paint on the outside does not change what is stored on the inside. In Israel many people buried their loved ones by putting them in tombs, which were basically caves. At Passover people would come from around the world to celebrate, and if they accidentally entered a tomb, they would be defiled and unable to celebrate. To help prevent this, people gave their tombs an annual whitewashing.   

 

No matter how much you try to dress it up, when the cups are filled with dirt and the tombs are filled with decay, the whole things becomes uninviting. A lot of people think that as long as the outside looks right then they are ok. They put on their Sunday best, they carry their Bible, they raise their hands, and even shout an occasional Amen, but their hearts are far from God. 

 

Jesus saw right through their disguise. They may have cleaned the outside of the cup and painted the tomb, but Jesus could see their heart. He sees yours too. Are you trying to trick people into thinking you are right with God? Is it all an act, or have you given God your heart?