The Lord said to
me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)
Hypocrites!
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| The Perfect Master |
Matthew 23:23-31 (NLT) 23
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.
Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb
gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy,
and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.
24 Blind guides! You strain your water so you won’t accidentally swallow a
gnat, but you swallow a camel! 25 “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious
law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside
of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and
self-indulgence! 26 You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and
the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. 27 “What sorrow awaits
you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead
people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. 28 Outwardly you look like righteous
people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.
Hypocrites! For you build tombs for the prophets your ancestors killed, and you
decorate the monuments of the godly people your ancestors destroyed. 30 Then
you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would never have
joined them in killing the prophets.’ 31 “But in saying that, you testify
against yourselves that you are indeed the descendants of those who murdered
the prophets.
Hypocrite is a word used by many
as an excuse to steer clear of the church. A hypocrite is one who puts on a
mask and feigns himself to be what he is not; a dissembler in religion. Our
Lord severely rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Mat 6:2,
5, 16). "The hypocrite's hope shall perish" (Job 8:13). The Hebrew
word here rendered "hypocrite" rather means the "godless"
or "profane," as it is rendered in Jer. 23:11, i.e., polluted with
crimes. Its not a very pretty picture.
It is interesting to hear Jesus
with clear tones of rebuke as He addresses the “religious” leaders of His day
with the pharisaic practice of meticulously tithing all their possessions. They
went so far as to carry the practice down to the smallest spices from plants:
mint, dill, and cummin. While meticulously following the Law in this area (Lev.
27:30), they failed to manifest the justice, mercy, and faithfulness demanded
by the Law. They were majoring on minors, straining at a gnat, while minoring
on majors, swallowing a camel. In the New King James Version, Jesus uses the
word “hypocrite” FIVE times in nine verses of Matt 23:23-31 signifying His
displeasure.
Marvin Williams, Our Daily Bread fame, wrote; “One night a
clergyman was walking to church when a thief pulled a gun on him and demanded
his money or his life. When he reached in his pocket to hand over his wallet,
the robber saw his clerical collar and said: “I see you are a priest. Never
mind, you can go.” The clergyman, surprised by the robber’s unexpected act of
piety, offered him a candy bar. The robber said, “No thank you. I don’t eat candy
during Lent.”
The man had given up candy as a
supposed sacrifice for Lent, but his lifestyle of stealing showed his real
character!
“According to the
writer of Proverbs, conduct is the best indicator of character. If someone says
he is a godly person, his words can only be proven by consistent actions Even a child is known by his deeds, whether
what he does is pure and right. —Proverbs 20:11. This was true
of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day as well. He condemned the Pharisees and
exposed their sham for professing godliness but denying that profession with
sin in their lives (Matt. 23:13-36). Appearances and words are deceiving;
behavior is the best judge of character. As followers of Jesus, we demonstrate
our love for Him by what we do, not just by what we say. May our devotion to
God, because of His love for us, be revealed in our actions today! Conduct is the best proof of
character.
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