John 10:12-13

It is a general rule of thumb that nobody loves a baby like their own Momma and Daddy. We tend to be more protective, more sacrificial as well as much more long suffering with our own than someone we would perhaps hire to watch them. How much more so the Creator of all towards His children – the One who fashioned and formed us within our mother’s womb? We are told in Isaiah:

15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! 16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. Isaiah 49:15-16 (NIV)

In our verses for today our Lord sights an example of an unfaithful shepherd – a shepherd who cares nothing for the sheep he is paid to watch. Jesus came down the hardest in Scripture on the religious leaders of His day - who claimed to be righteous shepherds but their walk proved them differently. They were, in fact, anything but. White washed tombs is how our Savior described them, dead men walking around in flowing robes leading the sheep down the same path of destruction they trod. These unfaithful men cared more for their outward pompous display and honor than cleaning the inside of their own cups. Regarding them, Jesus states forth many woes found in the gospel of Matthew and to which we should be red flagged as well – making sure they are not descriptive terms used of us:

• They do not practice what they preach: 2 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4 They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Matt 23:2-4 (NIV)
• They do everything for men to see and honor: 5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' Matt 23:5-7 (NIV)
• They shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces: 13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Matt 23:13 (NIV)
• They are hypocrites: 15 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. Matt 23:15 (NIV)
• They are blind guides, blind fools, and blind men: 16 "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? Matt 23:16-19 (NIV)
• They are greedy and self-indulgent: You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Matt 23:25-26 (NIV)
• They are whitewashed tombs: You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. Matt 23:27-28 (NIV)

“Sin is the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.” John Bunyan

It is distressing to be sure for leaders in our churches to neither teach nor practice the Truth found in God’s Word. All of Scripture is a “paraklesis” – an exhortation, an encouragement, a comfort profitable for teaching and correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good and profitable work. We do ourselves a great disfavor to sit under someone who does not esteem God’s Word as Truth and seeks neither to put it into practice nor write it upon his heart what he finds written upon its pages. Sadly, there seems to be quite a famine of God’s Word in our land. Biblical illiteracy is rampant and we have no one to blame but the person we see looking back at us in our mirrors. Scripture exhorts us:

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15 (NIV)

“If you wish to know God, you must know his Word. If you wish to perceive His power,
you must see how He works by his Word. If you wish to know His purpose before it comes to pass, you can only discover it by His Word.” C.H. Spurgeon

“When God calls you to do something, He provides the strength and wisdom you need to get it done. Therefore, you can step out in faith without fear or dread.” Michael Youssef