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“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matthew 23:13).
As you can see, I have quoted only part of the verse here in Matthew 13, for we want to focus on this particular sentence, and on the word “hypocrites.” If you read the whole chapter, you will find that the Lord Jesus uses this sentence seven times in referring to the scribes and Pharisees, who were the Jewish leaders. He was very stern in speaking to them, because of their wrong ways.
Do you know what a hypocrite is? It is a person who puts on a false appearance, and who pretends to have certain good qualities that he/she does not have. The Jewish leaders were like that; they taught the people the right things, but they did not do those things themselves. They found ways of getting around what the Jewish law required, and yet pretended to be keeping it.
It is a good lesson for us, for God does not like those who pretend to be what they are not. Let us be upright with God and with one another. Let us not be hypocrites!
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