Daily Devotions
Matthew
The Sin of Hypocrisy
Text: Matthew 15 : 1 - 20
The scribes and Pharisees were guilty of a number of sins! The way they handled the Written Law, the way they exalted the Oral Law and the way they created their religion revealed their wickedness. Jesus had to rebuke them as He engaged them in public debate once again.
“Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honour Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me,
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the
commandments of men.'”
MATTHEW 15:7-9
What is the sin of hypocrisy? Let us consider the following thoughts:-
1. Pretence
Hypocrisy is not mere failure to keep the laws of God! Failure could be due to moral weakness! Hypocrisy is sheer pretence!
The scribes and Pharisees pretended that they were keeping the laws of God. However, the fact was that they knew in their hearts that they were breaking the law of God!
2. Deceit
The sin of hypocrisy involved the problem of deceit. They were attempting to project themselves as pious or holy people. The reality was that they were anything but! They made use of the oral law to confuse and to confound!
3. Dishonesty
The scribes and the Pharisees regarded themselves as paragons of virtue! They were in fact most dishonest in their religious charade!
4. Arrogance
The level of hypocrisy practised by the scribes and Pharisees was nothing short of sheer arrogance! They believed that they were actually righteous people!
CONDEMNATION FROM THE WORD OF GOD!
Jesus saw through the sanctimony of the scribes and Pharisees. He brought a severe word of rebuke against them when He applied a portion of Scripture written by Isaiah the prophet.
1. Lip Service
With prophetic vision, Isaiah saw through the hypocrisy of the religious leaders in his days. However, the words he spoke to his generation were not reserved only for his generation. They had deep prophetic power! They described the generation of leaders in Jesus’ time!
These religious leaders were guilty of paying only lip service to God! For all wants and purposes, they appeared religious to people!
a) They participated in public worship.
b) They obviously studied the Scriptures.
c) They certainly devoted time to the study of their oral tradition.
d) They assumed important religious offices.
e) They honoured God’s Name in public.
These must have appeared to be very impressive to people! However, the most important question that needed to be asked was, “What did all these things mean to God?”
2. The Missing Factors
What did God want from those who are called by His Name? Jesus made the answer very plain here.
a) Heart into worship
God is most concerned about whether we can say we have put out heart into our worship! If worship is not offered from the heart, it is worth nothing to God! When God looks at the worship offered to Him, He sees beyond the outward appearance! He sees the heart!
b) The Written Law
God gave explicit instructions concerning His Laws. Let us recall a famous text found in the Book of Deuteronomy.
“You shall not add to the word which I command you,
nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments
of the Lord your God which I command you.”
DEUTERONOMY 4:2
The tradition of the elders more than added to the Written Law. It dared to raise its authority to that of the Written Law!
The commandments of men can never be elevated to the level of the Ten Commandments! The worship and the lifestyle of the scribe and Pharisees were rejected outright by Jesus! He had Divine Scriptural backing for what He said!