Hypocrites and Spice Cabinets | Sunday, March 7, 2021

As he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. So he went in and reclined at the table, and when the Pharisee saw this, he was amazed that he did not first perform the ritual washing before dinner. But the Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you're full of greed and evil. Fools! Didn't he who made the outside make the inside too? But give from what is inside to the poor, and then everything is clean for you... Woe to you, experts in the law, you have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn't go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in." ... "Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy... Don't fear those who kill the body... fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death."

Jesus exposes religious people who polish the outside of the cup while ignoring the heart—and calls us to be cleaned from the inside out.

Cleaning the Outside of the Cup

Jesus is teaching the crowd when a Pharisee invites him to dinner. Jesus goes in, sits down without the ritual washing, and the Pharisee is shocked. Jesus was not unclean or discourteous—he was deliberately poking at a spot he wanted to explore. The Pharisee's focus was cleaning the visible outside of the cup so everyone knew his hands were ceremonially clean. But Jesus points out his real problem: the inside, which was full of greed and evil. For the Pharisees, looking good was enough. For Jesus, looking good is not the point—actually being good is.

When my sisters were younger, there was a prototypical church lady in our church—makeup always done, well-dressed, everything put together. She invited my sisters over for a fancy dinner with chocolate-covered strawberries, a very big deal. When they finished, she set all the dishes on the floor, her little dog licked off every plate and cup, and then she put those dishes back in her cupboard. When my sisters were surprised, she said, "A dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's." I don't know if that's true, but neither one is particularly clean. The point is that godliness cleans from the inside out, the same way a plate may look clean after the dog is done but isn't actually clean.

Giving Others Room to Be Cleaned

God cleans us from the inside out, and he works the same way in other people. That means we extend grace in humility instead of judging people by how they look on the outside. We give ourselves and others room to improve rather than insisting they look good before we ever care about the heart.

Imagine telling someone, "You want to come to my church? Great—let's buy you a suit, get your hair cut, maybe some cosmetic surgery, lose a few pounds, and then you can come." That would be ridiculous. Nobody would do that. But when we worry about cleaning the outside of the cup before the inside, that's exactly what we're doing—demanding a visual standard before a spiritual one. That's backwards.

When I was saved, the things that came out of my mouth, the things I wore, the actions I took were not what they are now. Many things didn't change because I worked hard at them—they just evaporated. I used to have a terrible potty mouth, but after I got saved, my wife noticed, "You don't swear anymore." I hadn't worked super hard at it; God just took it away. As the inside of the cup gets clean, the outside follows.

Woe to the Spice-Tithers

Jesus then pronounces some woes—not our "whoa," but "you're in trouble." He says, "Woe to you Pharisees! You give a tenth of mint, of rue, and every kind of herb, and you bypass justice and love for God." Tithing is good, but not at the expense of justice and love. Busyness does not equal godliness.

Imagine spending your days making sure you tithe out of each of your spices. Look at your spice cabinet—all those jars, extracts, and bottles—and figure out how to give a tenth of each. Do you go by weight or volume? Do you deduct the cost of the jars? Is the system the same for mint and pepper? This easily becomes a part-time job. And imagine the job satisfaction of bringing your cataloged, monogrammed spice envelopes to temple so everyone can see how serious you are about God. But did any of it bring you—or anyone else—closer to God? All it did was keep you busy and keep your pride occupied under the guise of following God.

Recognition Over Repentance

Jesus continues: "Woe to you Pharisees, you love the front seat in the synagogue and greetings in the marketplaces." They loved recognition over repentance. "Woe to you, you're like unmarked graves, and people who walk over them don't even know it." People walked away farther from God after dealing with these religious leaders than if they had never dealt with them—a terrible sign for the cream of the crop of Judaism.

One of the law experts said, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us too." Jesus does not back off. "Woe to you also, experts in the law, you load people with burdens that are hard to carry, yet you yourselves don't even touch them with one of your fingers." They made people carry burdens they were never meant to, and didn't help at all. It's like Jim Gaffigan describing a third child: you're swimming and drowning, and then somebody throws you a kid.

Carrying Burdens, Not Adding Them

I recently picked up some generators we had repaired. Small ones are no problem, but large generators are extremely heavy—I couldn't get one out of my truck alone. Thankfully I texted friends, and three immediately offered to help, and we got it out. When we get pharisaical and become sticklers for the law, we forget that our job is to help people carry burdens. The Pharisees did the opposite—they piled extra bricks on top of people already struggling.

Jesus presses further: "I will send them prophets and apostles, and some they will kill and persecute, so that this generation may be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets... from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah." Remember, Jesus is saying this to them, knowing his own blood is on that same list.

The Key to Knowledge

Then in verse 52: "Woe to you experts in the law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn't go in yourselves, and you hindered those who were trying to go in." The law of God is the key to great knowledge, but instead of rightly applying it, they held the key back, refused to enter, and made sure no one else could either.

Here's another point to remember: knowledge does not equal godliness. Modern-day herb-tithing or law-expertise often shows up as Bible studies where knowledge increases but there's no real heart or life change—the same risk as cleaning the outside of the cup. It's easy to cheer Jesus on against the Pharisees, but he's talking to us too. I've been to men's studies focused on Bible study that produced no more justice or love for God, just more pride and an excuse to stay busy while avoiding real needs at home, at work, and in the world. We can substitute Bible study for actually doing what God called us to do, then pat ourselves on the back while accomplishing nothing but puffing up our own knowledge.

Resentment Instead of Repentance

"When he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him fiercely and to cross-examine him, lying in wait to trap him in something he said." Rather than learn from Jesus calling them to account point by point, they chose resentment and attack. They got conniving, scheming how to get him.

We can fall into the same thing. When people challenge us, our response is often anger—"well, you." But 99 percent of the time the situation gets better and we grow closer to Jesus if we zip the lip and listen: What is this person saying? Is it valid? Rather than learn from painful confrontation, the Pharisees chose to be resentful and to attack.

The Crowds and the Leaven of Hypocrisy

Chapter 12 begins: "Meanwhile, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another." Jesus' confrontation with the Pharisees drew massive crowds. The difference in response is striking: the religious leaders loaded burdens and made life harder, but Jesus offered rest and comfort while still calling people to repent—and people responded.

Notice it says "he began to say to his disciples first." This isn't thrown out to the crowd; it's spoken to his disciples. That should make us turn our ears on, as my wife says to my son, and clue us in that he's speaking to us. "Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There's nothing covered that won't be uncovered... whatever you have whispered in a private room will be proclaimed on the housetops."

Humility, the Antidote to Hypocrisy

The point is not to identify hypocrisy in others. Jesus isn't telling the disciples to examine the Pharisees—he's telling them to guard against hypocrisy in their own lives. We are not immune. And the antidote to hypocrisy is humility. We've all said things in the dark we wouldn't want shattered in the light, and that should lead us to walk humbly. We're just as broken as anyone, and all our righteousness, Isaiah says, is like filthy rags.

This isn't a call to live a perfect life—that would be impossible. We strive for perfection knowing we won't attain it here. It's a call to walk in humility and compassion. When we understand that we're just as big a screw-up as anyone, we can look at someone else's failure and say, "I could very well do the same thing, or I've done worse in the eyes of God, so I'll extend grace to you"—instead of doing the Pharisee thing and looking down on them.

The One to Fear

"I say to you, my friends, don't fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing more. But I will show you the one to fear: fear him who has authority to throw people into hell after death." The people were afraid of what could kill them—sound familiar? Thanks, coronavirus. Their biggest fear was what could kill them, but their real concern should have been fearing God and honoring him. That needs to be our focus too: God, how can I honor you? Jesus, what can I do to bring you glory?

Our Marching Orders

What did God desire from his people? Clean your cup by doing things that bless others and help them see Jesus, not just to look good on the outside. Instead of being busy sorting herbs for God, seek justice and love. Micah 6:8 says, "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God."

He also calls us to help people carry their burdens rather than heap burdens on them. Galatians 6:2 says, "Carry one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Interesting that Paul ties it back to the law of Christ when Jesus was confronting the teachers of the law—not a coincidence.

We study the Word for action, not just to increase knowledge. First Peter 1:13 says, "Therefore prepare your minds for action and be sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Knowledge alone is not enough; it should produce good fruit. And above all, we live in humility. First Peter 5:5 says, "Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble."

So those are our marching orders this week: clean your cup from the inside out, do the works of repentance so others see Jesus, stop sorting herbs and seek justice and love, help others carry their burdens, study the Word for action, and above all, live in humility—because the Lord loves a humble spirit.

Closing Prayer

Jesus, as we head out into our week—for those watching Sunday morning, midweek, or other times—as we think about what you've called us to do, I pray you would give us wisdom and discernment. Father God, help us not to be afraid to look at the things that are painful in our lives. Help us not to slip into the role of accidental Pharisee. Help us not to be like the keepers of the law, but to be humble, to learn from you, Jesus, and to truly look for opportunities to bless the people around us. Thank you for your grace, which we need every day; help us to extend that same grace to others. We pray these things, Jesus, in your name. Amen. God bless you guys.