Woe it is Holy Wednesday!
- T.J. Lucas
- 6 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The Seven-Fold Mirror 🪞
If living through our world has taught me anything, it’s that we repeat history. We are still being lied to, manipulated, and pinned against each other. We shout "Save us" then "Crucify him" because we’ve been fed a version of God that is used to control us when Jesus came to set us free. Review these 7 woes in Matt. 23 and compare them to the 7 last phrases of Christ on Good Friday. Remember 7 is a number of divine completion!
1. The Gatekeepers (v. 13): "You shut the door of the kingdom... in people’s faces." The Mirror: Cancel culture that chooses shaming and excluding people over actually reaching or healing them.
2. The Clones (v. 15): "You... win a single convert... only to make them a child of hell." The Mirror: Leaders who want you to be a carbon copy of them instead of the unique, purpose-filled person God made you to be.
3. The Loophole Lawyers (v. 16): "Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing...’" The Mirror: Playing games with the truth. Using technicalities and "spin" to hide a lack of integrity.
4. The Spice-Counters (v. 23): "You give a tenth of your spices... But you have neglected... justice, mercy and faithfulness." The Mirror: Getting loud about minor rules and preferences while ignoring the people in your own community who are suffering.
5. The Cup (v. 25): "You clean the outside of the cup... but inside they are full of greed." The Mirror: Polishing the "external" you—the job, the social media, the reputation—while the "internal" you is rotting and unattended because you're too busy surviving to find God in the stillness.
6. The Whitewash (v. 27): "You are like whitewashed tombs... beautiful on the outside but... full of dead bones." The Mirror: Success stories and "perfect" reputations built on top of toxic, dying relationships.
7. The Blamers (v. 29): "You build tombs for the prophets... and say, ‘If we had lived then, we wouldn't have done that.’" The Mirror: Acting like we’re better than people in the past while repeating the exact same patterns of hate today.
Wednesday is the "Woe." Friday is the "Word."
Stop being a pawn. This Friday, let’s choose surrender. I am preaching on Jesus' final word, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" so let us commit our spirits today.
Join us for the last 7 phrases of Christ:
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