INTRODUCTION
• In our new series, Hot Topics, we will dig into six tough topics that people inside and outside the church often think about (even if we don't ask about them out loud!):
• If Christians love Jesus, why is there so much hypocrisy in the church?
• How can we trust the Bible?
• What's the relationship between faith and science?
• Is abortion wrong?
• Is Jesus the only way?
• Why is there suffering and evil in the world?
• These are hard questions without easy answers, but Scripture helps us navigate them with wisdom, grace, and intelligence.
• Today's hot topic is one that many of us have had to answer questions about.
• If Christians love Jesus, why is there so much hypocrisy in the church?
• Hypocrisy manifests itself in many ways.
• Hypocrisy rears its ugly head when people who say they love Jesus habitually do not follow in the way they live or treat others.
• You don't have to look very far to meet someone who the church has hurt.
• "In fact, one Barna study among unchurched adults shows that nearly four out of every ten non-churchgoing Americans (37%) said they avoid churches because of negative past experiences in churches or with church people" ("Millions of Unchurched Adults Are Christians Hurt by Churches but Can Be Healed of the Pain," The Barna Group, April 12, 2010, https://www.barna.com/research/millions-of-unchurched-adults-are-christians-hurt-by-churches-but-can-be-healed-of-the-pain/).
• From sexual abuse cover-ups to embezzled funds, the church is not without brokenness and sin.
• This makes sense: the church is, after all, full of imperfect people with the capacity to sin.
• As we exert our free will, we also exert our ability to inflict harm.
• But that sin hurts others.
• Jesus reserved some of his harshest critiques for the religious leaders of his day.
• His words still ring with truth for the modern Christian.
• The passage we will look at today, Matthew 23:1-36 takes place on Tuesday during the final week of Jesus' pre-crucifixion ministry.
• This day has been called the great day of questions.
• Jesus goes right after the religious leaders concerning their hypocrisy. He pulls no punches, hitting them head-on.
• This action took courage on the part of Jesus!
• Whenever we are put into a position to call out hypocrisy, it takes courage and love to call it out, to call it what it is.
• We are just a few days from the crucifixion of Jesus; why is He taking on this subject at this time?
• The work of construction and destruction must go together.
• Before the new house can be built, the old must be torn down.
• Before the nation can be won to the spiritual ideals of the Kingdom of God, the false teachers and worldly motives of the hypocritical leaders of the nation must be uncovered. (Gareth Reese, Life of Christ 3 class notes).
• How does one fall into the trap of hypocrisy?
• What does hypocrisy look like?
• Do you think the religious leaders saw themselves in the mirror as hypocrites?
• Probably not.
• That is no surprise because we can be blind to what we are doing while quickly seeing the faults of others.
• Today we will explore four actions that can lead one to follow the path of hypocrisy and one bad result allowing hypocrisy to mark our lives.
• We will cover a large chunk of Scripture, so hold on to your hat!
Matthew 23:1–4 (NET 2nd ed.)
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat.
3 Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach.
4 They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them.
Matthew 23:13–15 (NET 2nd ed.)
13 “But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.
15 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves!
SERMON
HYPOCRISY HAPPENS WHEN...
I. We are not willing to practice what we preach.
• In verses 1-4 as well as verses 13-15 (verse 14 is not in some bibles because it is not found in some of the most reliable manuscripts).
• The religious leaders were more than willing to tell people how to live, but they did not live the life they tried to get others to live.
• In verse three, Jesus told the crowd to pay attention to what they tell you and do it.
• The context was as far as they taught the Law of Moses, or the Old Testament scriptures, from other teachings from Jesus; this verse did not extend to the Traditions of the Elders, the manmade additions to God's Law.
• Jesus continues by telling the people not to DO what the religious leader do because they did not practice what they preached!
• The leaders piled on manmade Law after manmade Law on the shoulders of the people, while they would not lift a finger to help.
• The phrase "put them on men's shoulders" had reference to loading animals.
• The teachings of the Pharisees were a burden to the people, not a blessing.
• Whenever we add things to God's Word, it becomes a burden.
• God's Word is not a burden.
• By adding to what God commanded, the Pharisees discouraged people from being close to God; they made it impossible for one to develop a relationship with God.
• Their additions were building a religion, not relationships.
• Verse 15 refers to the practice of the Pharisees to convert Jews to come over to their side of how things were done; they were spreading their false view of God's Law, not the word of God.
• The word Hypocrite was used of a stage actor who wore a large mask to cover their true identity while pretending to be another.
• When we are not willing to habitually practice what we preach, hypocrisy creeps into the picture.
• When we tell others to follow Jesus, give, or love others, we must do the same.
Matthew 23:5–7 (NET 2nd ed.)
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long.
6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues
7 and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’
Matthew 23:25–28 (NET 2nd ed.)
25 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too!
27 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean.
28 In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
HYPOCRISY HAPPENS WHEN...
II. What we do is for show.
• When Jesus was addressing the religious leaders in verses 5-7, as well as 25-28, He wallops them for focusing on the external while ignoring the internal, the heart.
• These folks wanted to be honored, seen, and praised by people.
• They wore their phylacteries long and wide!
• Phylacteries were either strips of parchment or small leather cubes in which were written four sections of the Law.
• Exodus 13:1-10, Exodus 13:11-16, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, and Deuteronomy 11:13-21.
• These were worn or fastened to their forehead or the left arm, close to the heart.
• These men wanted the people to see how holy they were on the outside, but as Jesus stated in verse 27, they were full of dead men's bones on the inside.
• Jesus told the people you are to clean the inside of the cup so the outside could be clean also.
• When we do what we do for the show, spend all of our time on the external and no time on the heart and soul, hypocrisy will be evident in our lives.
• We cannot get caught in the trap of reducing our faith to a do and don't list of external actions.
• The Law deals with the external; the Gospel deals with the heart.
• Let Jesus cleanse you from the inside out!
Matthew 23:16–22 (NET 2nd ed.)
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’
17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?
18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’
19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?
20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it.
22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.
HYPOCRISY HAPPENS WHEN...
III. We look for loopholes.
• The religious leaders were always looking for loopholes in the system of belief.
• The Pharisees graduated oaths according to their own foolish conceptions of the sanctity of the object involved so that if the object by which a man swore was sacred enough, he was not obligated or in the wrong if he did not keep his promise.
• Instead of letting your yes be yes, and your no be no, they had a system of loopholes to justify not keeping an oath.
• So in verse 16, if you swore by the temple, you did not have to keep your oath, but if you swore by the gold items in the temple, then you were obligated.
• Verses 16-22 offer the same logic.
• We may not do it that way now, but if we are constantly looking for ways to justify not acting as God has called us, then we will open ourselves to hypocrisy.
• If I can make excuses in my head as to why I can ignore God's commands so I can do what I want to do, then I will allow hypocrisy to rule in my life.
Matthew 23:23–24 (NET 2nd ed.)
23 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others.
24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!
HYPOCRISY HAPPENS WHEN...
IV. We major in minors.
• I love these two verses.
• The leaders would focus on tithing their seeds, counting them out to make sure God got a tenth.
• Jesus was not condemning tithing, as shown in verse 24, where He said they should tithe, but they were so proud of their meticulous giving that they missed the more important concepts of justice, mercy, and faithfulness!
• Jesus told them to tithe, but not at the exclusion of what was more important.
• This year my theme has been to love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul, and strength and to love my neighbor as myself!
• Simple task, right?
• If I cannot do this, it does not matter how much I give.
• I should give, but my focus should be on the greatest commandment and the second one that is just like it.
• We need to get this right before we try to go into deeper water in some areas because no matter how much we know about how the age will end if we do not get the greatest commandments down, nothing else will matter!
• When we major in minors, we will open the door to hypocrisy.
• And finally!
Matthew 23:29–36 (NET 2nd ed.)
29 “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.
30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets.
32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors!
33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
34 “For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town,
35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.
36 I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for all these things!
V. Hypocrisy damages everyone.
• I will keep this short.
• When we allow hypocrisy to manifest itself in our life, everyone loses.
• Jesus is referencing the ancestors of the people.
• Who typically killed and persecuted God's messengers?
• God's people.
• When they did not like the message, they shot the messenger.
• When God's prophets tried to get the people back on track, they were persecuted and sometimes killed.
• Jesus told them in verse 34 that He was sending prophets, wisemen, and experts in the Law that they would kill and crucify.
• Of course, Jesus Himself was crucified by these same people.
• Remember the 2010 Barna study I referenced in the introduction?
• The negative past experiences the unchurched have with people in the church have kept many from darkening the doorsteps of a church and have turned them away from looking at Jesus.
• When hypocrisy reigns, everyone is hurt!
CONCLUSION
• Facing the national leaders in the manner Jesus did, in the hearing of the vast multitudes, Jesus challenged His disciples to disown the whole false system that the Pharisees had modeled and fed the nation. (Gareth Reese, Life of Christ 3 class notes).
• When we come to Jesus, we must forsake the old ways of life and follow the new path Jesus offers us!
• Let us show the world that we love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, and strength by the way we love one another.
• The church and her people are imperfect.
• One of the first things the Holy Spirit impresses upon us as we move toward salvation is that we are unrighteous.
• We are unholy, but we find hope in the holiness of Christ.
• His grace motivates us to do the things that will honor him instead of dishonoring him.
• We must practice following Jesus daily in a community of faith!
• Simple disciplines keep us rooted in faith so that we can follow Jesus instead of living as a hypocrite and producing the fruit of the Spirit rather than the fruit of the world.
