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Hypocrite

Jesus had lots of questions for the religious elites of his day. He pressed them and would not let them off the hook.

What is going on here? The core issue is their hypocrisy. Jesus exposes it with his questions.

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites?

ESV Matthew 22:18

Hypocrisy is pretense to being what one really is not, especially the pretense of being a better person than one really is. The word is based on the Greek hupokrisis, originally meaning to give an answer. A hypocrite in classical Greek could be an interpreter of dreams, an orator, a reciter of poetry, or an actor. Originally a neutral term, “hypocrite” gained the negative connotation of pretense, duplicity, or insincerity.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Master is good.

ESV. (2016). (1 Pe 2:1–3). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles

We have good news! Want to know how to be saved? Click here or here for more.

Jesus is clear that we are not to be hypocrites. He has much to say on that. Leadership the Jesus way means we place ourselves last, always. We are transparent. We model living a life of truth, integrity, and honesty in all aspects of our lives. Read about the “Woes to you” that Jesus pronounces. It is sobering.

Are we hypocrites? Are our church leaders? It is worth paying attention to as an issue.

  • Matthew 22:41–46 — 41 Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Messiah, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” 43 He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Master,’ saying, 44 ‘The Master said to my Master, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies beneath Your feet” ’? 45 “If David then calls Him ‘Master,’ how is He his son?” 46 No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.
  • Matthew 12:9–14 — 9 Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. 11 And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? 12 “How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
  • Matthew 21:24–27 — 24 Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 “The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 “But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the people; for they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
  • Luke 14:1–6 — 1 It happened that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely. 2 And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. 5 And He said to them, “Which one of you will have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” 6 And they could make no reply to this.