OUR FATHER WHOSE KINGDOM IS A KINGDOM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Lord Jesus, in Matthew chapter 23 verses 27 - 28, drew on a metaphor to describe and expose the nature of the religious leaders who were leading Israel at that time;

27 “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. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Jesus represented the hypocricy of presenting a fascade of purity in public while concurrently living an unclean and predatory life, as tombs that were painted white and made to look aesthetically pleasing but were concealing the remains of corpses and decay.

The indictment here pointed at the deliberate efforts of the scribes and Pharisees to give the impression to their communities that they were ardent followers of all the laws and worthy to be honored and followed but all the while, they were involved in lawless skulldugery.

Have mercy on us O God.

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