By Leonard Lauriault
When Jesus peeled the hide off the Jewish leaders in Matthew 23, he described them as white-washed tombs – beautiful on the outside
(appearing to be righteous), but full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean on the inside (Matthew 23: 27, 28).
Just before that, he told them to clean the cup on the inside first and the outside also would become clean in the process (Matthew 23: 25, 26).
On another occasion, Jesus told his listeners to watch out for wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7: 15). God’s people – the Jews before
Christ and Christians now – have been called the sheep of God’s flock (Psalm 100: 3; 23: 1, 2; 1 Peter 2: 25). Hence, the term “wolves in
sheep’s clothing” refers to those who look like sheep (have the appearance of righteousness) but aren’t sheep. In this account, Jesus
was talking about false teachers whose intent was to lead people away from the truth only to devour them for their own pleasure (Acts 20:
28-31; 2 Peter 2: 1-3, 13-15, 18-22; Jude 4).
There are others, though, without such savage motives that walk like sheep, talk like sheep, and look like sheep without truly being sheep because they’ve been misled to believe that they’re sheep when they’re really not.
Jesus is called the Lamb of God who came to take away our sins (John 1: 29; 1 Peter 1: 18-21). Jesus’ purpose as the sacrificial lamb was prophesied and typified (demonstrated by example) throughout the OldTestament (Genesis 22: 6-8; Isaiah 53: 5-9). Christian’s are to be clothed with Christ (Romans 13: 14). Hence, if we’re the sheep of God’s pasture and clothed with the Lamb of God, we’d truly be sheep in sheep’s clothing [I wonder what species the animals were that lost their skin to clothe Adam and Eve (Genesis 3: 31). Could they have been sheep as a picture (type) of Jesus? It’s highly likely that Abel’s sacrifice was a sheep because he tended flocks, probably of sheep and/or goats (Genesis 4: 4).]