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.” Matthew 23:27.  While visiting Paris a few years ago, we decided to make a trek to the cemetery where Jim Morrison, of the Doors, was buried.  It was a huge place, and a gorgeous early Spring, Parisian day.  We passed tomb after tomb, most were neatly maintained, some even had little rooms which held chairs, presumably so visitors could sit and visit with the deceased.

As lovely as the surroundings were on the exterior, it was still a place that held corpses within.  Jesus pulled no punches when he told a gathering of  Pharisees that they were hypocrites and liars.  They professed one thing on the outside; learned, religious, white-washed scholars, but on the inside they were nothing more than unclean, dead bones. Yuck!  No matter how nice we make ourselves and our churches look outwardly, if we don’t have the life and joy of Christ within, we’re dead.  "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Ephesians 5:14.