Sermon Tone Analysis

One of the most frequent criticisms levelled against Christians is that of hypocrisy: that they say one thing, and do another.

I myself rejected Christianity for a long time as a teenager because I saw people in our church raising their hands and worshiping God, then leaving the service and being horrible to their waiters at restaurants, or gossiping about people I loved when they didn’t know I was within earshot.

Hypocrisy is probably the most disenchanting, disillusioning behavior a new believer or someone who is curious about the faith could run across.

There are other kinds of accusations too.

They

Now, it would be easy for people to see these large-scale examples of hypocrisy as anomalies…and then they go to a church, and they see the same thing.

I myself rejected Christianity for a long time as a teenager because I saw people in our church raising their hands and worshiping God, then leaving the service and being horrible to their waiters at restaurants, or gossiping about people I loved when they didn’t know I was within earshot.

Hypocrisy is probably the most disenchanting, disillusioning behavior a new believer or someone who is curious about the faith could run across.

And here’s why that’s so scary: we’re all hypocrites.

In today’s passage, Jesus is speaking to Pharisees and experts in the Law.

As we’ll see, Jesus is going to criticize both groups in today’s text, and he’s going to criticize them very harshly.

But if we would just take a second to think about what Jesus is saying here, we’d see him condemning a good many things we find ourselves doing all the time.

As we’ll see, Jesus is going to criticize both groups in today’s text, and he’s going to criticize them very harshly.

But if we would just take a second to think about what Jesus is saying here, we’d see him condemning a good many things we find ourselves doing all the time.

But if we would just take a second to think about what Jesus is saying here, we’d see him condemning a good many things we find ourselves doing all the time.

So I hope you brought your helmets; the Holy Spirit’s going to knock us over the head a bit here.

But I always get excited when the Spirit gets ready to beat us up, because that means we’ll be more like Jesus after than we were before.

So let’s get into the text, starting at v. 37.

Hypocritical Practice (v.

37-44)

So if you remember from last week, Jesus has been speaking to a crowd of people.

And apparently in this crowd there was at least one Pharisee.

The Pharisees were an influential group of Jews who emphasized observing the Law of Moses in extreme detail.

And this Pharisee invites Jesus to dinner.

We see in v. 37:

37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table.

38 The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner.

Anon, 2016.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

So picture the scene here.

This Pharisee invites Jesus to dinner, so he comes and begins to eat.

And the first thing Jesus does is comes and reclines at table…but doesn’t wash up first.

And that’s a big deal—Jesus didn’t just commit a breach in social etiquette.

Handwashing was an important ritual of cleanliness for the Pharisees.

And the first thing Jesus does is comes and reclines at table…but doesn’t wash up first.

And that’s a big deal—Jesus didn’t just commit a breach in social etiquette.

Handwashing was an important ritual of cleanliness for the Pharisees.

Now, there’s a reason this Pharisee was astonished.

Jesus didn’t just commit a breach in social etiquette.

The thing is, Jesus knew this wouldn’t go unnoticed.

He knew this Pharisee would see that he didn’t wash up, and that he would be shocked by it.

It was a calculated provocation on his part, to give him a reason to say what he’s about to say.

This Pharisee wanted perhaps to charm Jesus into thinking they were on the same side, that these Pharisees weren’t all that bad after all; but Jesus wasn’t having it.

He’s come to say something, and he will say it.

One thing to notice before we move on.

We see in v. 45 that there were other people here as well; when Jesus addresses the Pharisees and lawyers, he speaks in the plural.

The people he is with this time are a very different group from the uneducated laborers in the crowds he usually addresses.

These men know what they are talking about: they know the Law, and they came with very keen eyes to see what this man Jesus was like.

So the context here was more than likely a fairly private affair, with only those people Jesus is going to accuse in attendance.

He waits until they are alone before he lets out his most scathing accusations.

He’s not out to humiliate them, but to reveal their sin to them.

Jesus is not acting out of anger or cruelty here, but out of compassion.

The Pharisees’ spiritual eyes had become bad; the light in them had become darkness.

(v.

34-35).

v. 37-38: Handwashing—an important cleanliness ritual for the Pharisees.

Jesus’s not washing his hands was intentional; it was a calculated provocation.

He came to clear the air concerning what these men were doing, and he was going to have his say.

(The context more than likely would have been a fairly private affair, with only the accused in attendance.

He wasn’t trying to humiliate, but to reveal sin in order to tear it out.)

So what does he say?

V. 39:

Hypocritical Practice (v.

37-44)

39 And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

40 You fools!

Did not he who made the outside make the inside also?

41 But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.

Their practice is hypocritical.

They pay attention to what can be seen.

You wash your hands before dinner.

Great—your hands are clean, but your insides are filthy.

You pay attention to what people can see, and completely neglect those things that go unseen.

But God made both, so God sees both.

That’s a general statement which he’s going to elaborate in v. 42:

42 “But woe to you Pharisees!

For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God.

These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.

Fruit and root: In other words, you get lost in the details, and you neglect the basics.

The Pharisees were exemplary tithers.

“Tithing” is the practice of giving ten percent of whatever you have to God; and the Pharisees went beyond what the Law called them to give.

They didn’t just give out of their income; they gave off their spice rack.

Synagogues which had Pharisees in regular attendance did very well.

But they neglected what truly mattered: justice and the love of God.

As we see many times in the gospels, the Pharisees thought themselves better than others.

They’d look at commoners and pray, Thank you, Lord, that I’m not like that sinner (cf.

).

They would unfairly judge others, without ever turning that judgmental eye o themselves.

So what we have here is a case of the details superceding the basics.

It’s like a kid trying to master calculus before he’s learned to count to 100, or trying to do parkour before he can walk.

The latter is the foundation of the former.

The Pharisees, in essence, were trying to master the details without concerning themselves with the basics.

They were working hard on the letter of the Law, but completely neglecting the heart of the Law.

The prophet Micah had warned against such behavior—he spoke of all the various sacrifices and rituals the people of Israel followed, and then in he says that nevertheless,

8 [God] has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

The Pharisees knew this verse.

They should have known that if they were devoted to justice and kindness and humility with God, then they would want to be generous.

They wouldn’t have to force themselves to give to the house of God; it would be their pleasure to do so.

That’s why when Jesus talks about their tithing, he says, “These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

Tithing is good!

Extravagant generosity is good!