“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15
Do y
ou remember the story of Little Red Riding Hood? She was the little girl who was asked by her mother to take some treats to her grandmother who lived in the woods. The walk to grandma’s was long and hard, and soon she was met by a wolf. The wolf asked kindly where Little Red Riding Hood was going, and Little Red Riding Hood told him. That gave the wolf an idea.
When the girl arrived at grandma’s, she gently knocked on the door. She was surprised when the door opened and there was the wolf wearing grandma’s apron, pretending to be her grandmother. Little Red Riding Hood had been tricked.
It was evil of the wolf to try to fool the girl into thinking he was her grandmother. But the wolf was wearing a disguise. He was making it look like he was her grandmother. He wanted to fool Little Red Riding Hood so he could harm her.
Jesus tells us about someone who also dresses up to disguise himself. It is a much shorter story, but it has the same meaning. Jesus said: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Jesus was warning us about something far more evil than just a wolf or scary creature. He was telling us that we should carefully watch for false teachers who try to lead us away from the Good Shepherd. Any person or anything that would take us away from Jesus is a false teacher. We can easily be fooled by them. False teachers could be in the music we listen to or hiding on the Internet. They could be in the clothes rack of a department store or on our television sets, or cell phones. They could even come to us as a so-called friend who wants to lead us away from the Good Shepherd. These are all wolves that come to us in sheep’s clothing.
Jesus said: “My sheep listen to my voice” (John 10:27). That means we should not listen to other voices that might cause us to do wrong. We only want to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. Jesus knows what is best for us. He has our interests at heart. He will never deceive us or lead us down the wrong path. Let’s remember Jesus’ warning for us. Let’s watch out for those who would come to us disguised as sheep. Jesus gave us that important warning because he loves us.
Dearest Lord God, teach us to heed your warnings about false teachers. May we always be on our guard watching against anyone who would make us stray away from your paths. Guard and protect us along the way. In the name of the Good Shepherd who truly cares for his sheep. Amen.
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