Grace Bible Church Expository Sermon Notes
Jesus Rebukes Religious Hypocrisy - Part II
cf. Matt. 23:5-12
The Lord's Day 9/7/97 AM
When Jesus warned of the scribes and Pharisees heavy burdens grievous to be borne,
in contrast to the easy yoke and light burden of Himself (cf. Matt. 11:28-30), no
doubt some in the crowds would immediately respond with a sigh of relief as they could
exchange the impossible burdens of the "scribes and Pharisees" for the yoke of
Christ! But unfortunately, the "scribes and Pharisees" didn't respond to His
invitation, so Jesus continues His sermon of rebuke of religious hypocrisy:
1. Unmasking Hypocritical Motives, and 2. Explaining Genuine Motives.
Jesus Unmasks the Hypocrites Motives
of the Scribes and Pharisees
Matthew 23:5-7 But all their works they do to be seen of men; they make broad
their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost
places at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the market
places, and to be called by men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Here Jesus unmasks the true motives of the scribes and Pharisees, they did what they
did "to be seen of men." That is, their religious and ethical life was for the
central purpose, not to please God but to display themselves in front of others!
Specifically, the Lord mentions four outward acts of display before men...
1. The Broad Phylacteries. The phylacteries or tephillin were
special leather boxes strapped to the wrist and to the forehead, contained a small
parchment scroll with four Scriptures written on them: Exodus 13:1-10; 13:11-16;
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Deuteronomy 11:13-21. As Exodus 13:9, 16 and Deuteronomy 6:8 state,
the commandments "shall be to you as a sign on your hand, and a memorial between your
eyes," which the scribes and Pharisees took literally, and enlarged so as to
make a public display of their obedience to the Law. They wanted everyone to be
sure to notice their ostentatious obedience.
2. Enlarged Boarders of Garments. Second, the scribes and Pharisees would
"enlarge the borders of their garments." In Numbers 15:37-41 God commanded His
people to make special blue fringes on their garments to continually remind them of their
separation unto the Law of God and separation from the world. The scribes and Pharisees
enlarged these fringes, to make an ostentatious display to others, concerning their strict
obedience to the Law. Every Jew was to have these boarders, as a quiet reminder of their
distinctiveness unto holy living, but the hypocrites made even this a display to parade
their spirituality!
3. Honored Seating. Thirdly, they "loved the uppermost places at
feasts" and they loved the "chief seats in the synagogues." During NT times
the Jewish synagogue placed the most honored members in the front seats, facing the
congregation. Obviously, the scribes and Pharisees could pose as pious throughout the
service. Could you imagine the hypocrisy of worship, which exalts men while trying to
ascribe praise to God?
4. Special Formal Public Greetings. And fourth, they loved the "greetings
in the market places and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi." Evidently, the scribes
and Pharisees enjoyed the special greetings at social occasions or in the market place,
where they were recognized as a Rabbi. This was a title of exalted respect.1
Jesus stood in vivid contrast to both of them: the Lord never made a open display
of His relationship with God but His life illustrated His obedience to the Bible; and the
Lord never preached to others, what he Himself didn't do - he always practiced what he
taught! We also are to beware of any ostentatious display of our religion to
impress others. As Jesus commanded in His first recorded sermon: "Take heed that ye
do not your righteousness before men, to be seen by them; otherwise ye have no reward of
your Father, who is in heaven." (cf. Matt. 6:1ff.) The driving motive of the
religious hypocrite is to pretend to be someone who is spiritually special; the
religious hypocrite desires the applause of other Christians; and, the religious
hypocrite's philosophy of life is directly opposite from the sacrifice of the
Cross, that Jesus calls men and women to. For the true believer, he or she, wants Christ
to be glorified and views others as more important than themselves; for the true believer,
he or she, desires the humble unpretentious walk of faith; and for the true believer, he
or she, is motivated by a self-denial that shuns the spotlight and shys from the applause
or accolades of others. Back during NT times, when Jesus walked the earth, religious
hypocrites were as prevalent as today. And when the Lord, the embodiment of truth,
integrity, humility and sincerity, came in contact with them, they hated Him! As John's
Gospel explains...
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light for their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (cf.
John 3:19-20; 15:18-25)
Religious hypocrites like the stage-light and the lime-light, but not the spot-light of
reality, and shrink back to their dark hidden corners, lest others see their sins as they
really are!
Jesus Outlines Genuine Motives
of Citizens of God's Kingdom
Matt. 23:8-10 But be not ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master, even Christ,
and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth; for one is your
Father, who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even
Christ.
Jesus not only unmasked the scribes and Pharisees motive but warned about seeking
praise of men by mentioning three areas of pride.
1. The Proud Title of Authoritative Teacher. The hypocrites loved the public Jewish
respect that came with the honored title of Rabbi. The scribes were known as
the Rabbis, who enjoyed the awe of the common man and even the Pharisees, who were
unable, either by lack of mental ability or lack of opportunity, to attain to the high
educational wisdom that the scribes were reputed as having. The scribes were Torah
scholars, or serious students of the Five Books of Moses, known by the second century
B.C. as the soferim. These Torah scholars or "scribes" became the
most respected religious leaders, regardless of official position or further titles.2 So respected was the scribes that during NT times, the
people gave them the title of "my Lord," which is the Greek transliteration of rabbi.
The term "Rabbi," was similar to the title of doctor of theology today,
or perhaps better, a professor of a distinguished chair of learning. And unfortunately,
they loved the acclaim, titles and attention they would receive, when others would
proclaim loudly who they were - "Rabbi, Rabbi!" Often in the Gospels Jesus
Himself was called "Rabbi," although He didn't fit their traditional mold.
Actually, the title fit Jesus Christ and only Jesus Christ in the true sense, because we
do call Him "my Lord."
2. The Proud Title of Respectful Father. Jesus also warned about "calling
men our father." He was not forbidding us using father as a title of respect
for our earthly parent; nor was he forbidding us from using father as a title of
respect indicating our spiritual relationship with someone we introduced to Himself. In 1
Corinthians 4 the Apostle Paul refers to himself as a father to the Corinthian believers,
explaining...
I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you. For
though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in
Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. (cf. 1 Cor. 4:14-15)
What Jesus was warning about is more basic. When a Rabbi or scribe became especially
honored, the Jews would refer to him as a father, i.e., the sense of one respected
for framing the traditions of the nation. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, for example were
respected as foundational fathers to the Jews. Jesus was forbidding the honored respect
attributed to scribes, which places them on a level reserved only for God! Then Jesus
refers to the third area of hypocritical religious pride…
3. The Proud Title of Honored Master. The title "master" carries the
idea of honored or respected lord, which the scribes desired by their very title - Rabbi!
Yet, here Jesus shuts down that proud thinking and reminds the crowds that only
"Christ" should be the rightful, honored and respected Lord. The whole ecclesiastical
structure of Judaism in Jesus' day, revolved around this scribal celebrity status, much
like we do in our own day. And then Jesus builds to His central principle, as He repeats
once again, the motivating mindset of the true believer...
Matthew 23:11-12 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And
whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted.
William Barclay gives a good summary of the contrast between the religious hypocrite
and the genuine believer...
The whole design of the Pharisee was to dress and act in such a way as
to draw attention to themselves; the whole design of the Christian should be to obliterate
himself, so that if men see his good deeds, they may glorify not him, but his Father in
Heaven. Any religion which produces ostentation in action and pride in heart is a false
religion.3
For the kingdom citizen, there is a growing awareness of one's personal debt to God
and obligation to others, which molds the person to desire humble service. The
greatest in the kingdom is not the celebrity nor the person receiving the most applause,
but the person who is sincere as a servant!
No doubt the Lord choose His words carefully - "the greatest shall be your
servant" During NT times, slaves were a respected vocation for many men and women.
The Jews evidently didn't hold many Jewish slaves, because the Jewish slave was required
by law to enjoy the same benefits of their masters and would normally only serve six
years. But Jews owned Gentile slaves and Gentiles owned Jewish slaves, who were the soul
property of their masters: they obeyed their wishes, they did their bidding, they took
orders, and they served in humility, for that is the responsibility of a slave! For the
true believer, a slave's attitude to the Master Jesus Christ, issues toward a servant's
humility towards others. As Jesus so often reminded His disciples: "If you humble
yourself you will be exalted, but if you exalt yourself you will be humbled." Jesus
was echoing a proverb that grew out of Proverbs 29:23 - "A man's pride shall bring
him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit." Twenty years later James
rewords it, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace the the humble." (cf.
James 4:5) Jesus earlier had taught...
And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant; even as the Son
of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for
many. (cf. Matt. 20:27-28)
William Hendriksen insightfully points out, "Christ's teaching on humility is one
of the most important and constantly recurring subjects in the entire New Testament."
And no doubt, He continued to bang on that drum, to remind our proud hearts of the dangers
of religious hypocricy, which is driven to promote self!
Main Idea: Religious hypocrites tend toward self-promotion but genuine believers
are motivated by humble service. The proud scribes and Pharisees came in conflict with the
humble Christ because He exposed their base motives and pointed out their obvious contrast
to true righteousness, i.e., their lack of humility!
What Should We Do About this Passage?
- Application Recommendations -
A dangerous trap would be to simply read this warning by Jesus as a slice of historical
curiosity without examining our motives for religious display. We commend Jesus' lesson to
all of us at GBC to explore our heart to weed out any proud self-promotion and replace it
with a genuine humble heart which seeks to serve others without recognition and exalt God
at every opportunity!
Footnotes:
1. They even claimed that the Rabbis should
be respected more than one's own parents, because a man's parents gave only physical life
but the Rabbi gave eternal life, by his teaching! These scribes and Pharisees were like
the Shoulder Pharisee and the Wait-a-little Pharisees. The Talmud describes the Shoulder
Pharisee as one who displayed his good deeds before others, concerned for his reputation
for righteousness and purity. He wore his religion on his shoulder, so all could see and
applaud; the Talmud also described the Wait-a-little Pharisee, who was one who was always
procrastinating a good deed or always finding an excuse for not doing what he himself
taught others to do. He wanted to wait-a-little for his practice, although he continually
instructed others!
2. The non-biblical book, Ecclesiasticus
says, "Many will praise [the scribes] understanding and it will never be blotted out;
his memory will not disappear, and his name will live through all generations...Nations
will declare his wisdom, and the congregation will proclaim his praise." (cf.
39:9-10)
3. William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew
(Westminster Press, 1975), p. 287. One of the better treatments of religious hypocrisy is
Barclay's commentary on Chapter Twenty-three. His insights are excellent and he helps with
numerous cultural Jewish customs that explain the passage.