hope, then, did others have?

hope, then, did others have?

Jesus condemns religious hypocrisy

In actual fact, there was a real problem with the righteousness of the

scribes and Pharisees. The heart of the matter was that their righteousness was defective in that it was

external only.

They appeared to obey

the law to those who observed them, but broke God’s law inwardly,

where it couldn’t be seen by others.

Notice Jesus’ scathing denunciation of their hypocrisy in making a

show of religion: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For

you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full

of extortion and self-indulgence For you

...

indeed appear beautiful

outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness

...

You also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are

full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:25-28).

These self-appointed religious teachers emphasized minor aspects of

the law while neglecting more important issues. “Woe to you, scribes

and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cum

-

min, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and

mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the

others undone” (verse 23). Jesus was concerned that every part of the

righteous requirement be obeyed, and angry that they were blind to the

“weightier” parts—the major spiritual aspects—of the law.

While they were fastidious with their ceremonial traditions, at the

same time they took liberties to disobey God’s direct commands. In

some situations they actually elevated their traditions above the clear

commands of God (Matthew 15:1-9).

Behind their actions was the base motive of self-exaltation and self-

interest. They went public with what should have been their private devotions toward God—prayer, fasting and giving alms—all so they could be

seen and thought of by others as righteous (Matthew 6:1-6; 23:5-7).

Religious leaders did not keep God’s law

Immediately after His statement that He had no intention of doing

away with God’s law, Jesus proceeded to give examples of the traditions

and teachings of the Jewish religious leaders that completely missed the

point or even contradicted the spiritual intent of God’s laws.

The first example He gave was the Sixth Commandment, “You shall

not murder.” All that the Pharisees understood about this commandment was that the act of murder was prohibited. Jesus taught what should

have been obvious, that the

intent

of the Sixth Commandment was not

just to prohibit the literal act of murder, but every evil attitude of heart

and mind that

led to

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