Day 286, Year 1

The Way of Purification of Life

“You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.” (Matthew 23:26 NASB)

Societies, cultures, friends, families, and education can all nurture sinfulness in human beings. Out of human weakness, it is certainly easier to present a clean façade before others than to be cleansed both inside and out. One of the challenges of different religions is how to bring about life transformation, including inner cleansing, in addition to the attraction of external elements, such as rituals, attire, religious artwork, and religious sites. Often, exterior things are easily done, decorated, and even faked. On the contrary, inner changes in religious people are much more difficult to achieve. The preceding verse of today mentions the extortion and self-indulgence of the Pharisees and scribes, etc. It can be seen that they were strict with others, but slack with themselves. Unfortunately, they have misdirected their focus on whom to be rigorous or lenient with.

The message of today’s verse, clearly, is not about cleaning cups and dishes, but the way of purifying lives. Jesus’ meaning of cleaning the inside of the cup and dish is responding to the previous verse. Hypocrites indulge themselves so much that all sorts of corruption arise. The word “self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25), akrasia in Greek, also means “lack of self-control, incontinence, intemperance, or excess.” Contrarily, when believers take our problems seriously, we will pursue self-control rather than self-indulgence. If not, for example, what more wisdom or understanding do believers need to learn? Nonetheless, we need not be overly nervous or anxious, as we simply have to follow Jesus’ guidance to deal with the filth and sinfulness in our lives step by step, resolving the problems at their roots.

Moreover, hypocrites are somewhat clever in robbing, often understanding the things others desire, then using them to lure others and making unjust requests of them. They are skilled at understanding the minds of others and make good use of their weaknesses for their own benefit. In other words, they closely monitor others and lure them into traps so as to seek personal gain. Therefore, we believers need to be mindful of what we desire, how others may lure us, and how others want to control us. Meanwhile, we are not demanding toward others in normal situations, but hope and pray that Jesus will bless others through us. When the eyes of our hearts are opened, and we see the filth and sinfulness in us, we should ask the Lord Jesus for advice and cleanse our inner lives step by step. When we are clean on the inside, the outside will naturally follow. We no longer have to be nervous or worry about when we will be exposed.

Reflection questions:

1) Do you think that you can follow the guidance of the Lord Jesus in dealing with your own problems and, step by step, actively seek the cleansing at the root of your life?

2) Could you rely on the Lord Jesus to bless others, while being able to expose their attempts to manipulate you, if any?