A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 31
“The Marks of A Hypocrite!”
Luke 11:37-54
Hypocrites! Hypocrites! When I said the word someone came to your mind. We are quick to judge who we think may be a hypocrite, but most of us never consider whether we might be one. But the hard truth is that it is a disease that we all suffer from. Spiros Zodhiates provides a wonderful example, “A man sat through a church service and on the way home he fussed about the sermon, he fussed about the traffic, he fussed about the heat and he fussed about the lateness of his meal being served. The he bowed his head and prayed. His son was watching him all the way through this post-church experience. Just as they were beginning to pass the food he said, ‘Daddy, did God hear you when you left church and started fussin’ about the sermon and about the traffic and about the heat?’ The father sort of blushed and said, ‘Well, yes, son, He heard me.’ ‘Well, Daddy, did God hear you when you just prayed for this food right now?’ And he said, ‘Well, yes, son, He … He….He heard me.’ ‘So, well Daddy, which one did God believe?’” [Spiros Zodhiates. Behavior of Belief. As quoted by Charles Swindoll. The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart. ( Nashville: Word, 1998) p. 285]
Jesus reserved his harshest words, not for thieves, or prostitutes but to a segment among the religious folks who he identified as hypocrites. Jesus is committed to exposing these people who claim to represent God and his ways, while not living out what they claim to be.
Perhaps the most frightening thing about the Pharisees was they were the group of people in the gospels which most closely resembles us. So far as the fundamentals are concerned the Pharisees believed in nearly everything we do. They believed in the inspiration and authority of the Bible (in their case it was of course the Old Testament). They believed in the supernatural, in Satan, angels, heaven and hell, and the resurrection of the dead.
The Pharisees developed an extensive tradition of oral laws, applying it to every area of life this factor made them the strictest of the Jewish religious sects. They believed deeply in what they tried to teach, but zeal and sincerity are not enough. The problem with the Pharisees is not in what they believed and not even in what they hoped to do, but in what they actually became and did. The issues that Jesus exposes are still relevant to us today because they apply specifically to those who hold a conservative theological viewpoint. In pursuit of the Truth and the attempt to carry out the will of God, we can get caught up in spirit of self-righteousness causes us to watch others to see that every “i” is dotted and every “t” crossed as believe it should be.
The Pharisees were big on separation, there were seven groups with in the Pharisees and they even avoided contact with other groups of Pharisees. Sounds like some Independent Baptist I know!! (I am an Independent Baptist.)What I am saying is that this is a very uptight group.
The setting of this section is a meal and the catalyst is Jesus’ failure to wash his hands for eating. In verse thirty-seven we read, “And as He spoke, a certain Pharisee asked Him to dine with him. So He went in and sat down to eat. (38) When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed before dinner.
We need to remember that this washing of hands had nothing to do with cleanliness; it was ceremonial cleanliness which was the issue. There was nothing in the law of Moses that required this washing of hands before a meal, it was a tradition of the Pharisees that they had elevated equal to Scripture. Knowing their thoughts Jesus says to them in verse thirty-nine, “Then the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. (40) "Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? (41) "But rather give alms of such things as you have; then indeed all things are clean to you.”
Jesus differs from his host and the other Pharisees by seeing the inside as more important than the outside, the heart as more important than appearances, actions as a mere reflection of attitude.
Jesus’ problem with the Pharisees was that they were more concerned with form than substance; more concerned about appearance than reality. The Pharisees were concerned only with what a man did, Jesus was concerned with what a man was. Jesus says that they are only concerned with cleaning the outside of the cup and dish, but inside there is filth. I read a wonderful example of this, A preacher “…went out to a rural church to preach, where he spent the night at the home of a farmer. In the morning the farmer’s wife fixed breakfast. She went out to the hen house to gather eggs. When she came in with the eggs, this preacher noted that they had some barnyard on them, which the woman had not washed off. He didn’t worry about it, though, because she put the eggs, into boiling water to cook. The pollution of that water couldn’t hurt the eggs, protect-ed as they were by the shells. The woman then asked him if he would like a cup of coffee. He gratefully accepte, only to watch the woman put instant coffee into a cup and then pour the dirty egg water into it.” It is then that what is inside the cup is more important than what is outside. [Robert Deffinbaugh. “Fundamentalists In Formaldehyde. (Luke 11:37-54) p.6 Sermon Central.]
THE SIX MARKS OF A HYPOCRITE
Having dealt with His general compliant about the Pharisees, Jesus now issues a series of “woes.” The word “woe” is not so much a stinging rebuke as it is an expression of grief; it is an expression of regret. These woes address the Pharisees’ wrong priorities. (They parallel the woes of Matt 23). In his remarks first to the Pharisees (vv. 42-45), and then to the Scribes (vv. 46-52) he outlines six marks of a hypocrite.
THE FIRST MARK OF A HYPOCRITE IS THAT THEY MAJOR ON THE MINORS (v. 42)
"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”
The Pharisees tithed, that is more than can be said for most professing church members today. But the Pharisees had made this sharing of the material blessings that God had given them into a ridiculous game of counting every herb in the garden. The Pharisees were great tithers, but they were inward failures.
Although these words are addressed to a religious group that no longer exists, the spiritual errors they made are still with us. We have our own standards of legalism. We become legalist when we become single issue people. The issues may vary. “What version of the Bible do you read? Do you believe in prophecy, if so what is you position on end times eschatology, are you pretrib or post trib? Are you a Republican or a Democrat? Do you homeschooler, do you send your kids to Christian school or do you send your kids to public school? Are you a vegetarian or meat eater?” Whatever the issues are, if they use them to define whether person is spiritual or not, we are guilty. We are guilty of majoring on the minors.
THE SECOND MARK OF A HYPOCRITE IS THAT THEY ARE PREOCCUPIED WITH BEING NOTICED - (v. 43)
"Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market-places.
The most important seats in the Synagogue were those in the front, unlike the Baptist church were they are in the back. In fact they were not only in the front they were facing the congregation.
They did what they did to be seen and notice by others. Are your acts of service to Christ done to be seen by men? Are you satisfied to serve unnoticed?
THE THIRD MARK OF A HYPOCRITE IS THAT THEY MAKE MEN WORSE RATHER THAN BETTER - (vv. 44-45)
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like graves which are not seen, and the men who walk over them are not aware of them."(45) Then one of the lawyers answered and said to Him, "Teacher, by saying these things You reproach us also."
The Jews had to be especially careful about ceremonial defilement from dead bodies (Numbers 19:11-12, *v.16), so they made sure that graves were carefully marked. But the Pharisees were like “unmarked graves” that did not look like graves at all.
The last four marks of a hypocrite are seen in the woes to the Scribes (vv. 46-52). When Jesus addresses “the lawyers,” we need to understand that they are literally “experts in the law.” They are not “lawyers” as we understand the term today, they are the theologians, the seminary professors, the authors of the commentaries, they are the experts on Scripture.
THE FOURTH MARK OF A HYPOCRITE IS THAT THEIR TEACHING PRODUCES A BURDEN NOT A BLESSING - (v. 46)
“And He said, "Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers.”
Jesus accuses them of taking all the joy out of living for God (sounds like some people in our day) and made serving God a burden. When David spoke of the law of God in Psalm 119 he described it a blessing, even a delight. In contrast to these men “who load men with burdens hard to bear,” Jesus says that his teaching is light. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says, “Come unto me all you are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light.” When we think about Jesus and what he taught it does seem light compared with what the Pharisees taught. They forbid murder, but they allowed hate, Jesus condemned both; they forbid adultery but they allowed lust, Jesus called both sin. Jesus interpretation was not easier in that it was more liberal or easy to obey. It was easier in that following the Pharisees resulted in guilt and following Jesus resulted in grace.
THE FIFTH MARK OF A HYPOCRITE IS THEIR WORKS ARE A MONUMENT TO THEIR GUILT. (vv. 47- 48)
"Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. (48) "In fact, you bear witness that you approve the deeds of your fathers; for they indeed killed them, and you build their tombs.”
Have you ever been in a cemetery and saw some of the ostentatious markers on some of the graves. Do you ever wonder if some cases this showy tomb is evidence of guilt, more than of love? As a pastor I get to attend a lot of funerals, and I seen some pretty outlandish demonstrations of grief, in almost every case I later learned the people showing immense display of grief had a bad relationship with the deceased. So people go overboard with the burial arrangements of those they feel guilty about, or to make it look like they really cared for them when they did not. It seems that this is the case with the “experts of the law” they went to great lengths to show honor to the prophets, lengths that reveal rather than conceal their guilt.
In their way of thinking the only good prophet is a “dead prophet.”
THE SIXTH MARK OF A HYPOCRITE IS THAT THEY MAKE THE TRUTH HARDER TO FIND. (v. 52)
"Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered."
Jesus condemns the ‘experts of the law” for being the exact opposite of what they think they are. They believe that they possess the key of knowledge, but in fact they are an obstacle to the truth. There will be a special judgment on those people who have no genuine commitment to Christ themselves, and who are a stumbling block for others who would do so.
It is easy to see the marks of being a hypocrite in the lives of others, but not near as easy to see them in our own lives. My challenge to you today is not to consider how this message might apply to someone else but to hear what the Lord may be trying to say to you!
Do you major on the minors?
Are you preoccupied with being noticed?
Does your influence make men worse not better?
Do you make peoples burdens heavier?
Are your works are monuments to your guilt rather your love?
Because of your life, do others find the truth harder to find?
If you find yourself not guilty in all of the categories you probably really have a problem.
THE RESPONSE (vv. 53-54)
“And as He said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently, and to cross-examine Him about many things, (54) lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him.”
When faced with the truth of God’s word we are always faced with one of two choices, we can believe and repent, or we can become angry and reject the truth.
Here the religious leaders reached a point of no return, they crossed the invisible line from with there was no turning back. I don’t think they realized they had just hardened their heart for the last time, I wonder if anyone does? How many times has the Lord touched your heart, how many times have you felt Him drawing you, but you resisted. The next time you heard the truth it didn’t hurt so bad, the drawing was not as strong.
A Psalm of Single Mindedness
Lord of reality make me real not plastic, synthetic, pretend phony, an actor playing a part hypocrite.
I don’t want to keep a prayer list, but to pray
nor agonize to find you will but to obey what I already know to argue theories of inspiration but submit to your word.
I don’t want to explain the difference between eros and philos and agape but to love.
I don’t want to sing as if I mean it I want to mean it.
I don’t want to tell like it is but to be it like you want it.
I don’t want to think another needs me but I need him else I’m not complete.
I don’t want to tell others how to do it but to do it
To have to be right but to admit it when I am wrong.
I don’t want to be a census taker but an obstetrician
Nor an involved person, a professional but a friend.
I don’t want to be insensitive but to hurt where other people hurt nor to say I know how you feel but to say God knows and I’ll try if you’ll be patient with me and meanwhile I will be quiet.
I don’t want to scorn the clichés of others, but to mean everything I say including this.
[Joseph Bayly. Psalms of My Life. As quoted by Charles Swindoll. The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart. ( Nashville: Word, 1998) p. 287-288]
