Day Forty-Six: Matthew 21-24

If I asked you to give me an example of hypocrisy, chances are it wouldn’t take you very long to be able to come up with a handful of examples.  In fact, one of the most common ways that people avoid Jesus is by pointing to the hypocrisy of Christians: “There are too many hypocrites in the church.” There may be times when the “Christians” will seem so fake that you wonder if Christianity is real.  When this happens, what do you do?

In Matthew 23, Jesus is speaking to his disciples and the crowd, and warning them about the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, the Pharisees. The Pharisees were the dominant religious and political party in Jewish society during the life of Christ.  And six times in Matthew 23, Jesus calls them hypocrites.

Look at what Jesus says in 23.2-3: “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach.”

Did you get that?  Do as they say, not as they do.  Jesus is saying that the fact of others’ hypocrisy is no excuse to keep you from responding to the truth.  Do what they say when it comes from the Word, not because they are trustworthy, but because the Word is trustworthy. The truth is still true even when we don’t embody it.  

Jesus is saying, “If they don’t obey the commands they teach, be more obedient than them.”  They will be held accountable for the way that they have responded to God’s truth, just as you will be judged in accordance with how you handle the truth given to you.  

Here’s why I think Jesus spends so much time telling non-Pharisees about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees:  Even when others respond unfaithfully, we are still called to respond faithfully.  

Put it another way: when we see others responding with empty words, we should respond, not by being silent, but by truly meaning the words that we say and sing.  

Lord, set me free from hypocrisy.  And set me free from using the hypocrisy of others to avoid you. Amen.