Tag: Hypocrisy
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Marriage in Heaven
(Mark 12:18-27) After the Pharisees and Herodians tried to entangle Jesus and failed, the Sadducees came to try and confuse him. The only trouble with their line of argument was that first they did not even believe in what they were questioning Jesus about, and second they didn’t know what they were talking about as…
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Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees
(Mark 8:14-21) When Jesus gives us a warning we should listen. When he warned the disciples to beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod, they misunderstood. Thinking Jesus was talking about bread, they began discussing the fact that they had brought none with them. Jesus then pulled them up to get their thinking right.…
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Lord of the Sabbath
(Mark 2:23-28) One of the laws under the Old Covenant was the keeping of the Sabbath. On the Sabbath no person in Israel was permitted to work including the preparation of food. It was meant to be a day of rest and a time for the worship of God. In addition no beast of the…
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The Trial of Jesus before Caiaphas
(Matthew 26:57-68) The trial of Jesus before Caiaphas could only be described as a kangaroo court. They had already pronounced judgement before he was brought to trial. All they needed was for someone to provide a reason for taking their drastic action and give them reason to put the Lord to death. However this was…
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To Serve the Lord, Serve His People
(Matthew 25:31-46) If you want to serve the Lord, serve his people. This is the message of this section of scripture. It is an important lesson and one we must remember. It is clear from this section of scripture that judgement will be based in part upon how we have treated our brethren. The Lord…
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Killing the Prophets
(Matthew 23:29-39) The greatest hypocrisy Jesus condemned the Pharisees and scribes over concerned killing the prophets. They said that had they lived in the days of their fathers they would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets. However Jesus condemns them out of their own mouths. He shows that…
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You Are like Whitewashed Tombs
(Matthew 23:27-28) Jesus continues his analogies of the hypocrisy of the religious people of his day by comparing the Pharisees and scribes to whitewashed tombs. There are some today who also fit this description and we have seen the fall of some of the supposed leaders of the church where they too were like whitewashed…
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Straining Out a Gnat and Swallowing a Camel
(Matthew 23:23-24) Jesus calls the Pharisees to account for their hypocrisy using the analogy of straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel. What is interesting in this teaching is what he is referring to, for he is speaking of the comparison between tithing in the minutest amounts, in relation to justice, mercy and faith.…
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Woe to You Blind Guides
(Matthew 23:16-22) Jesus condemns the priests, Pharisees and scribes for being blind guides saying, “Woe to you blind guides.” He calls them this because their focus is wrong. The things they consider important are not what God considers important. Jesus said elsewhere, “Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if a blind man leads…
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You Shut the Kingdom of Heaven Against Men
(Matthew 23:13-15) Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in.” (Verse 13) What does he mean by this saying? How do you shut the kingdom of heaven? To understand this…
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The Greatest Among You Shall be the Least
(Matthew 23:5-12) The hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the scribes extended to their desire to be considered as persons of importance. As Jesus showed in this section, they desired and looked for the adulation and praise of men rather than the praise of God. They took their roles to be positions of power so they…
