Unlimited: What Is Hypocrisy?

Apr 22, 2024 1292

So, the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain, their teachings are merely human rules.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions” (Mark 7:5–8, NIV).

Mark explained how the Pharisees taught you to wash your hands before eating. That’s good advice, but they taught that it was a sin if you didn’t do it. This was part of the oral law. Jesus refers to this as the “tradition of the elders.”

The Pharisees taught that if you ate with unwashed hands, anything on your hands could get into your food and your body and defile you.

What Is Hypocrisy According to Jesus?

A striking thing in what Jesus says to the Pharisees is his definition of hypocrisy.

We tend to think that hypocrisy is saying one thing but doing another.

More specifically, Jesus says here that hypocrisy is when you say you follow God, but instead, you follow human traditions instead of God’s commandments.

Human traditions are embedded so deeply within us that separating them from what God wants can be difficult. We can learn human traditions from our society, from our parents, or even from the church. Many of them are well-meaning, and some of them may even be good. And like the Pharisees did, they’re often justified on moral, religious, or theological grounds.

A tradition is a belief or practice that has existed for so long that no one questions it. But Jesus questioned them, because false traditions take your attention away from him and salvation.

– Eliezer Gonzalez

Eli’s Reflection: Think about some of the things that you might think are important things for Christian churches. If you like, make a list. Go through them one by one. Question them. How sure are you that these things are part of what God wants, or are they just human religious traditions?

Help Spread the Good News

Editor's Picks

Revive Our Hearts
What Martha’s Problem Really Was
Whether we’re folding clothes, stirring soup, responding to email, or sitting in the waiting room, we must wrestle our “distracted” thoughts to the ground.
8 min read
Lynda Schultz
Sausage, Pears, and Apples
There was a time, long, long ago, when my brother and I would eagerly await the arrival of Fall and every train that rolled into our northern Ontario hometown. We knew that on one of those trains there would be wonderful gifts with our names on them. No socks, shirts or pajamas—at least not on the train. Fall meant that a box of apples and another one of pears from the farm of one of our uncles would surely be arriving any day. Fresh fruit was hard to get and expensive up north back then. And y
4 min read
Chris Carpenter
'The Chosen Adventures' Animated Series to Reach a New Generation with the Gospel
With nearly 800 million episodes streamed, how ca'n The Chosen streaming video series possibly climb to new heights? After all, the program was recently honored by the Guinness Book of World Records for being the most translated show in history. Well, as the much-heralded show directed by Dallas Jenkins makes...
8 min readThe Chosen The Chosen Adventures Life of Jesus Animated Series Ryan Swanson
Shay S. Mason
You Aren't What You Do — The Spacious Place
How do you introduce yourself to people you’ve never met? What details are most importnant? I think about this every time I write a bio for an article or speak in front of a new group. Do you start with a description of your occupation? I’m an elementary school teacher. I’m a pediatrician . I’
4 min read