Woe, Hypocrisy

Matthew 23:12-36

In this passage, Jesus once again is addressing the Jewish religious leaders. He starts out by pointing out once again that He is in fact “the Christ” (v.10) and that surrender to Him will indeed come by “exalting oneself and being humbled” or by “ humbling oneself and being exalted”. Since Christ offered Himself as a humble servant, He apparently challenged society’s norms of that day since the Pharisees’ attitudes were completely shaped by external appearances and religious piety. The Pharisees lived their lives as if external appearances were much more important than the internal reality. It was the very essence of their hypocrisy and Jesus rebuked them for it repeatedly. Is it possible that we, too, could be guilty of such an offense?

​
Questions for further thought:
1. Have I ever placed keeping man-made rules above keeping God’s laws?

2. Have I ever insisted others should keep the rules, but been unwilling to follow them myself?


​Challenge: Make a concerted effort going forward to practice humility and maintain a servant’s heart in everything you do. Ask for God’s Spirit to guide you in truth.