White washed
And washed white:
Don’t make them synonyms
And think you are right.
Look again
With a closer eye
And you will see the difference:
Come on, you must try.
Two were a praying
To Almighty God:
One was extremely boastful,
The other, not at all.
One was different,
This had to be known,
Only his kind you must understand
Was in his zone.
He paid his tithes
And also gave alms,
There was absolutely no doubt
He was a godly man.
He merited salvation,
He was so good
And he kept the Mosaic law
Like he should.
He notified God
Re the good he did
As though God did not know
What he hid.
And to look at him
He was really clean,
So white washed on the outside
He actually gleamed.
The other one
Smote on his chest
But unlike the religious Pharisee
He was a pest.
A societal nuisance
Mostly to the Jews
As he yearly exacted from them
More than their dues.
Summed up in a word,
Publican to be exact
But meaning he was a tax collector
Of dubious extract.
He had been merciless
In his tax demands
But for mercy he had pleaded
As a sinner man.
He bowed his head
As he cried out to God
And thence he found satisfaction:
The other, none at all.
He was washed white
Unlike white washed
And all his many sinful infractions
Immediately quashed.
The other, white washed,
Was self-deluded
Thus, could not access righteousness
Which is imputed.
He did his own washing
Which was outward only
Just like the white washed tombs
Used to bury.
A form of godliness
But denying its power,
Somewhat like the first skyscraper
Or Babel’s tower.
Washed from inside
Spreads to the outside
But just white washed outside
Many sins hide.
A definite 'coverup'
Or 'swept under the mat'
And when self-deceit settles in,
It’s a deadly trap.
However, washed white
Is a daily routine
That’s enabled by the Holy Spirit
Who constantly cleans.
Stewart Russell © April 16, 2026
