Hypocrisy is an inconsistency.
Hypocrisy is the discrepancy between what appears and what is.
Between the way things seem and the way they are.
The Pharisees appeared to be righteous on the outside, but in reality they were
wicked.
Hypocrisy is a deliberate deception.
Hypocrisy is deliberately appearing to be what we are not.
It is not accidental, but purposeful.
Hypocrisy is a charade. Appearance does not match reality.
But how could the disciples possibly be tempted to be hypocritical, like the Pharisees?
The answer, I believe, is that the form of hypocrisy which would be tempting for
the disciples was different from the form of hypocrisy which characterized the
Pharisees.
For the Pharisees they were hypocritical so that they could receive the praise of men.
But for the disciples, the motivation to be hypocritical would have been to avoid the persecution of those who hated true righteousness, who would reject and crucify Jesus, the Messiah, and who would also persecute and kill many of His disciples.
The hypocrisy of the disciples was likely to be trying to appear not to be righteous, in order to avoid the persecution
Verse 2-3-HYPOCRISY, HIDING THE TRUTH, IS FUTILE, BECAUSE THE TRUTH CANNOT AND WILL NOT BE CONCEALED FOR LONG.
Trying to conceal the truth is something like attempting to conceal a pregnancy: sooner or later it will be obvious to all.
Verse 4-7-While on the one hand the disciples’ fear should be of God, the greater emphasis of Jesus’ words falls on the faith which the disciples should have in Him.
The One who is to be feared is also the One who has a deep love and intimate concern for His disciples.
He knows and cares about the sparrows, which have little value to man.
He also knows the very hairs of a man’s head.
The disciple need not fear (as man does) for He is of great worth to God, who cares for Him.
Nothing, then, will happen to the disciple, even death, outside of God’s infinite knowledge, love, and care. And since God has the keys, as it were, of heaven and hell, death can only usher the disciple into His presence. What need, then, to fear men, and to try to be a hypocrite?
Verse 8-10-At first appearance this text seems to be warning the disciple that he might lose his salvation by denying the Savior, by his hypocrisy.
This is not the case, however. There are several reasons why this cannot be the case.
(1) Man’s salvation is not based upon his works, or his faithfulness, but on Christ’s shed blood and His faithfulness.
(2) The Scriptures consistently teach that man did not choose God but that He has chosen man, and that the one who is saved is eternally secure.
(3) In our text, there is a definite change from the second person (“you”) to
the third person (“whoever,” “him,” “everyone”).
(4) The unpardonable sin, referred to in verse 10, is elsewhere clearly a sin
which an unbeliever commits, which terminates any further opportunity to be
saved.
It is therefore not the disciples who are in view here, but those who would
respond to their message for salvation. I believe that Jesus is saying, just as
the apostles preached in the Book of Acts (2:38-41), and the epistles teach
(Romans 10:9-10), that in order to be saved one must publicly identify himself
with Christ, which, as I understand it, was by profession and by baptism, which
usually happened together.
But what does this have to do with the disciples? Why would our Lord teach His
disciples not to be hypocritical by referring to the requirements God has for man’s salvation?
Very simply. How can the disciples call upon men to publicly profess their faith in Christ for salvation if they are, at the same time, trying to conceal their own faith?
In times of persecution, such as the early days of the church, a decision to trust in Christ was most unpopular, and could lead to persecution by some and rejection by one’s family. The disciples must not waver in their boldness, for they must set and example for those who would come to faith.
Verse 11-12-The Lord is speaking to His disciples about their rejection by their Jewish brethren. They are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, they are brought before the Jewish powers that be. The Book of Acts records just such instances. After Peter and John had publicly and boldly proclaimed Jesus as the Christ, as Israel’s Messiah (Acts 3), they were arrested by the Jewish
authorities:
First, the Lord’s words made it clear to His disciples that they would suffer
rejection and persecution for their faith in Him. Jesus did not say to them, “If
you are brought before synagogues.…” but “When you are brought before synagogues … ” Persecution was coming.
Second, the Lord’s words to His disciples cautioned them not to think or to
worry about their defense ahead of time. While Jesus was telling His disciples
ahead of time that they would be persecuted and resisted for their proclamation
of the gospel, He did not mean for them to worry about this, or to spend time
thinking up ways to defend themselves.
For one thing, this would not be profitable for they would not know, in advance, what the circumstances were, to be able to make a proper defense.
For another, they would be inclined or tempted, in their defense, to be hypocritical—not to be as bold and forthright as they should be.
And for yet another, the more they thought about the dangers which lay ahead, and their reaction to them, the more they would be tempted to avoid the confrontation altogether by simply “backing off” in their proclamation of the gospel.
Boldly Telling the Gospel:
We see a number of examples of this in the Book of Acts. Peter and John, when
arrested, boldly preached the gospel as their defense (Acts 4). Stephen, when
arrested and charged before the crowd, powerfully preached the gospel as his
defense (Acts 6 & 7). So, too, with Paul (cf. Acts 22).
We must begin by observing that our Lord is not dealing with hypocrisy in its broadest form, but as it particularly confronts the disciples, which is a hypocrisy which consciously or unconsciously affects the proclamation of the gospel, of which they were to be proclaimers.
Hypocrisy, in this context, is very “leaven-like” in that even a touch of hypocrisy can greatly corrupt the gospel.
It was the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, which put on a pious appearance, but had a godless and wicked heart, which caused them to pervert the message of the Old Testament to a gospel of works, rather than of faith, a gospel which looked for a very different kind of Messiah.
Thus, the Pharisees, who thought they were leading men to eternal life were actually turning men away from it (Luke 11:52).
