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LUKE’S GOSPEL…NO PLACE FOR HYPOCRITES – 53

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LUKE’S GOSPEL…NO PLACE FOR HYPOCRITES – 53

“While all the people were listening, Jesus said to his disciples, “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭20‬:‭45‬-‭47‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus had nothing but mercy for sinners but nothing but judgment for hypocrites.

According to Jesus, what is a hypocrite?

“According to Jesus, a hypocrite is a “play-actor” (derived from the Greek hypokrites) who wears a mask, pretending to be righteous to gain human recognition while their heart remains distant from God. Key behaviors include practicing religious duties publicly to be seen, enforcing strict rules on others that they do not follow themselves, and judging others’ minor sins while ignoring their own greater faults.

Key Characteristics of Hypocrites According to Jesus:

  • “Whitewashed Tombs”: Outwardly appearing righteous, but inwardly full of lawlessness, filth, and spiritual death (Matthew 23:27-28).
  • “Blind Guides”: They focus on trivial traditions while neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness.
  • “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”: Appearing harmless or righteous but having selfish or destructive motives.
  • The “Log” and the “Speck”: Focusing on the small faults (specks) of others while ignoring massive personal flaws (logs). 

Jesus reserved his strongest condemnation for religious the leaders (Pharisees and Scribes) who used piety to manipulate others and boost their own reputation.” (Sourced from Google AI, quoting from gotquestions.org)

There is no record of any altercation between Jesus and “sinners”…yet the gospels are full of accounts of clashes between the Him and the religious leaders. They actively sought or created opportunities to trap Him in His words or deeds, to force Him to speak or act against Moses, from whom they claimed their authority. They challenged His authority to interpret Moses on a higher and more spiritual level than they claimed to understand. They hated the mercy He showed to sinners while they ruthlessly applied the law without mercy.

Jesus came from the Father to correct the misrepresentations about the Father that His people had gathered over the centuries, and to exemplify and fulfil God’s law which mirrored the true character He revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai.

“Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭33‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭34‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Holy love…this is God’s true nature in perfect balance. The Pharisees tried to protect and represent God’s holiness by heartlessly pursuing strict observance of the law…which they themselves failed to mirror…while neglecting to show His love which was His covenant faithfulness, His “chesed”, to His covenant people. Their ruthless nitpicking, especially their attacks on Jesus and His disciples, clearly exposed their own failure to understand the true nature of the God they claimed to serve.

For Jesus, the law meant the expression of the full nature of God in His requirements and in His never-ending mercy towards His erring people. To the Pharisees, the law was the strict standard by which to measure and find fault with people so that their superior outward behaviour could cover the rottenness of their own hearts.

Jesus saw right through them. He preferred the company of those who knew themselves and related to Him without facade or pretence. They received mercy while the Pharisees deserved judgment.

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – WATCH OUT FOR PHONIES

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WATCH OUT FOR PHONIES

38 As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” Mark 12:38-40

God is never fooled by public opinion and accolades. The religion scholars of Jesus’ day were the Ph.D.’s (I suppose), of our day; the experts because of their so-called learning. They were held in high esteem and basked in the elevated position their learning afforded them. Jesus’ warning must have come as a shock to His disciples because they looked up to the educated ones as the ones with knowledge, therefore they were superior.

Once again Jesus approached the matter from a kingdom perspective. The man who questioned Him about the greatest commandment may have had intellectual insight but how did his life match his words? As for the rest, they were way off base. Their attitudes and behaviour cancelled out any knowledge, understanding or insight they may have had regarding the ways of God. Jesus summarised their behaviour in one sentence, “They devour widows’ houses and, for a show, make lengthy prayers.”

In the debates and conversations Jesus had with people, He clearly revealed God’s attitude to those who set themselves up above others. He put His own disposition in a nutshell – “I am gentle and humble in heart” – and He mirrored it in His life and ministry. To the Father, a gentle and humble attitude far outweighs any “knowledge” a person might have. The Apostle Paul said, “Knowledge puffs up but love builds up.”

Jesus was constantly pulling people back to reality. Never allow people to impress you by their words and actions. Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. If I have knowledge, how do I apply it to my own life first? Of what value is my knowledge to me first before I try to impart it to anyone else? Knowledge is not intended to give me position or prestige or to elevate me above other people. It is a trust that I must steward. I will give an account of my stewardship of knowledge as much as any tangible assets God has given me for the benefit of other people. Jesus warned, “Watch out for phonies. You can recognise them by the way they exploit those who are defenseless against them.”

A Timely Warning

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A TIMELY WARNING

As He taught, Jesus said, ‘Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.’ (Mark 12: 38-40).

Jesus issued a warning which it would be well for Christian leaders to heed today. What was the problem? Was it wrong for the religious leaders to be treated with respect? No, everyone should be treated with respect regardless of their station in life. What these men were demanding was preferential treatment because they thought they were better than everyone else.

They had elevated themselves to privileged positions in society because they felt they deserved it. They were the custodians of the Torah, the Law of Moses, upon which the rest of Scripture was based. They had to ensure that the people adhered to the yoke of the rabbis with authority – s’mikhah. They were, in a sense, the watchdogs of the law, which would have meant that they, too, were under its authority, a fact they conveniently forgot.

Jesus did not have a problem with their function as far as it was fulfilled in the spirit of Torah, applying the law as God intended – with mercy and compassion, but these men has carried their position to extremes. They thought that their “learning” had made them a cut above everyone else. They expected the riffraff – the ordinary people whom they despised, especially the ones they regarded as “sinners” – to defer to them because they deserved it.

Jesus warned His disciples to watch out for them. These men had power. Many of them were part of the ruling party and the ruling authority in Israel and were hand-in-glove with the Romans. Fall foul of them and they would act ruthlessly as they were soon to find out. But Jesus’ warning was not so much to stay in their good books as it was not to be like them.

Jesus was not afraid of them. He used the weapon of truth to expose their hypocrisy and to stand up to their accusations and their intimidation. With masterful insight, He stripped away their actions to expose their motives. They were utterly self-absorbed. They did not use their learning or position to benefit the people. They used the people to benefit themselves. They wanted the admiration and accolades and they demanded it by preening and strutting like peacocks among the people.

Their attitude was contrary to the attitude of a true servant of God. Jesus insisted, time and again as He taught His disciples, that true greatness came from stepping down, not climbing up. Every time He caught the disciples bickering over positions in His coming kingdom, He took the opportunity to teach them about leadership. Greatness, like happiness is the result of something, not the goal to be sought at all costs.

Happiness is the outcome of a life lived for doing the right thing. Jesus congratulated those who gave themselves away to serve the needs of others, which brings a sense of peace and wellbeing because it is the right thing to do. Happiness follows selfless service just as night follows day. In the same way, greatness is the result of humble and self-forgetful service in the kingdom of God. Take Mother Teresa as a human example. She did not seek greatness but the world honoured her as a great woman because of her mercy and compassion to the dying beggars of Calcutta.

The religious leaders demanded to be treated as though they were great where, in fact their attitude and behaviour were despicable. They expected others to serve them instead of serving others. Their self-awareness was so great that it blew their egos out of all proportion.

What is the antidote to pathological self-awareness? We all suffer from its effects because we inherited it from Adam. The writer to the Hebrews gives us the answer:

. . . Fixing our eyes on Jesus . . . (Heb. 12: 2).

Paul put it like this:

And we all who, with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3: 18).

Whether we achieve greatness or not is not our business. Our task is to view ourselves realistically as God sees us; sons and daughters of God, yes; holy and beloved, yes; but not self-made or any better than others. Before God we all stand on level ground.

How reprehensible it is that some spiritual leaders in the church today have not heeded Jesus’ words. Unlisted phone numbers; unreachable to those in need; demanding preferential treatment; a cut above everyone else in the church – this is not the spirit of Jesus but the spirit of the Pharisees and their punishment will be great.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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