hypocricy

Hypocrites

Jesus condemned the scribes and Pharisees because they pretended to be servants of God, but were actually agents of Satan. Jesus used the word hypocrites eight times in Matthew 23 to describe their behavior. He said, “woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in” (Matthew 23:13). When Jesus said, “ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men,” he was basically saying that the scribes and Pharisees were closing the door to salvation. Because of them, no one was getting saved. Jesus went on to say, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15). In other words, the scribes and Pharisees were winning souls for the devil and his kingdom rather than for God.

The Greek word Jesus used that is translated hypocrite, hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace´) refers to a stage player, “an actor under an assumed character” (G5973). The word hypokrites is derived from the word hupokrinomai (hoop-ok-rin´-om-ahee) which means to decide (speak or act) under a false part (G5971). You could say that a hypocrite is a false believer, someone that calls himself a Christian, but is actually not saved. One of the characteristics of the scribes and Pharisees was that their behavior appeared to be consistent with the Mosaic Law. They seemed to be doing everything the law said they were supposed to. Jesus said of these men, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye ar full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27-28). The implication being that the scribes and Pharisees were intentionally deceiving people into thinking they were model citizens.

On a previous occasion, the scribes and Pharisees had brought a woman to Jesus that they said was “taken in adultery” (John 8:3). John’s account of this incident suggests that the woman’s accusers had caught her in the act (John 8:4). After hearing their accusation, John said, “But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lift up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:6-7). The problem with the situation Jesus was dealing with was that only the woman was brought to him for judgment. According to the reference note on John 8:3, “The incident was staged to trap Jesus (v.6), and provision had been made for the man to escape. The woman’s accusers must have been especially eager to humiliate her, since they could have kept her in private custody while they spoke to Jesus.” The scribes and Pharisees apparently thought Jesus would be willing to condemn the woman based only on their testimony.

When Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her,” he knew these men were guilty of breaking one or more of the Ten Commandments. His strategy was to get them to see that they were no better than the woman they were asking him to punish. John said, “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst” (John 8:9). No one knows for sure what Jesus wrote on the ground, but I’ve heard it suggested that Jesus wrote the Ten Commandments or perhaps, the specific commandments that each of the scribes and Pharisees had broken. Of course, they were all guilty of some crime and may have even committed adultery themselves. Therefore, Jesus’ strategy was effective in exposing their hypocrisy and getting them to realize that they also deserved to be stoned.

Secret service

Jesus didn’t mean for the life of a Christian to be complicated or difficult to figure out. There were really only three things involved in maintaining a right relationship with God: giving, praying, and fasting. For each of these activities, there was expected to be a reward or you could even say payment from God in return. Jesus made it clear that there would be no spiritual reward given for activities that were done publicly. With regards to giving to the poor, Jesus said, “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). One of the reasons Jesus cautioned his followers against doing these things publicly was because there were many hypocrites in the synagogues that were making a show of their supposed good works (Matthew 6:2). Instead of making a big deal out of it, Jesus said, “But when thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:3-4).

At the core of Jesus’ teaching was the conflict between an individual’s public and private life. Often times, the person that made a spectacle of giving to the poor was privately committing sins against God. Jesus referred to these people as hypocrites. The Greek word translated hypocrites, hupokrites (hoop-ok-ree-tace´) means “an actor under an assumed character (stage player)” (5273). There was a lack of authenticity in their behavior. Hupokrites is derived from the word hupokrinomai (hoop-ok-rin´-om-ahee) which goes even farther to say that such a person had decided to speak or act under a false part, there was a conscious decision to pretend to be something that one was not (5271). Jesus instructed his disciples:

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily, I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:5-6).

The Greek word translated secret, kruptos (kroop-tos´) refers to something that is concealed or private (2927), but at the root of this word is the idea of an intentional effort to hide something or cover it up, to keep it a secret (2928). Rather than making a show of their good behavior, Jesus was telling his followers to do everything they could to keep it from being found out. The primary reason for this, Jesus said, was because God sees what we do in secret (Matthew 6:6). God is hidden from our view; we are not aware of his activities. He is constantly doing good things on our behalf and he wants us to do the same.

The law of love

Jesus’ teaching provided a sharp contrast to the laws of Moses which were intended to keep the Jews from defiling themselves and preventing them from entering the temple in order to worship God. Perhaps the most controversial statement Jesus made was directed at the multitude of followers that flocked to him for healing of their diseases. He told these believers, “But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you” (Luke 6:27). This clear direction was probably intended to thin the crowd and impressed upon the people that sought fellowship with Jesus that his way of living was not about an easy way of life, but actually involved the hardest choice that anyone would ever have to make. Jesus didn’t say, forgive your enemies, or forget about the wrongs that they have committed against you, but he commanded his followers to love their enemies in the same way that God loved them.

The Greek word Jesus used that is translated love is agapao. The Greek word agape, which describes the attitude of God toward his Son (26), is derived from the word agapao. Agapao expresses love in a social or moral sense and is sometimes translated as “beloved” in reference to believers (25). Within Jesus’ explanation of this agapao type of love is what is sometimes referred to as the golden rule, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Luke 6:31). Afterward, Jesus stated, “For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them” (Luke 6:32). Jesus was telling his disciples that they had to live a completely different way if they wanted to be members of God’s kingdom. The first criteria for gaining access to God’s kingdom was a genuine love for all of mankind.

Digging deeper into his law of love, it could be seen that a principle of sowing and reaping or reciprocity was the basis of Jesus’ new way of life. Jesus told his disciples, “Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom, For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:36-38). Comparing his followers to the religious hypocrites that had condemned him for breaking the sabbath, Jesus’ warned his disciples against judging others (Luke 6:42) and told them, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” (Luke 6:45).

After defining his remarkable law of love, Jesus encouraged his disciples with an example of what they could expect if they chose to follow his difficult teaching. He said:

Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: he is like a man which built a house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon the rock. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great. (Luke 6:47-49)

Mercy

One of God’s primary objectives in sending his son Jesus to live on earth was to give his people a chance to see him face to face and understand what he was really like. For hundreds of years the Jews had been performing rituals to try and make themselves more like God, but they had completely missed the point of why they were doing it: so they could have a personal relationship with the God who created them. In addition to performing many miracles, Jesus did other things that provided evidence to the Jews that he was equal with God. In particular, Jesus showed them that he was Lord over everything in creation, including the demons that possessed his people (Luke 4:35). The religious leaders known as the Pharisees often criticized Jesus because he didn’t follow their rules and were offended because Jesus refused to stop performing miracles on the sabbath, a day in which they claimed no activity that could be considered work, including carrying your bed across town (Mark 2:11), could take place.

In order to demonstrate that he was Lord even of the sabbath, it says in Matthew 12:1, “At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were a hungred and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat.” The Greek word translated hungred, peinao (pi – nah’ – o) is derived from the root word peno, which means to toil or work for daily subsistence (3993). Jesus’ disciples were starving and literally had no food available to them besides the corn in the field they were walking through. Rather than seeing that Jesus was taking care of the needs of his disciples, when the Pharisees saw what he was doing, “they said unto him, “Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day” (Matthew 12:2). Jesus explained to the Pharisees that his disciples were not breaking the sabbath because they were doing what was necessary to sustain their lives. As an example, Jesus asked them, “What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?” (Matthew 12:11).

Jesus’ rhetorical question was intended to show the Pharisees the absurdity of their remark that Jesus’ disciples were breaking the law by pulling ears of corn from the stalks as they walked through the corn field. In order to convict them of their own sin, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless” (Matthew 12:7). In other words, Jesus was stating that the Pharisees were misrepresenting God by condemning the innocent according to his laws. Jesus’ quoted the prophet Hosea who was told by God to, “Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD” (Hosea 1:2). The central theme of Hosea’s prophecy was God’s mercy and his enduring love for his people in spite of their infidelity to him. After drawing the Pharisees attention to God’s mercy, Jesus went into their synagogue and healed a man with a withered hand (Matthew 12:13). As a result, it says in Matthew 12:14, “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.”