What Jesus said to the Pharisees was in a private home, though the dinner party likely wasn’t private in the way we think of privacy. Scholars tell us that in a situation where such a dinner was held with a guest like Jesus, the home was open for people to come and listen to the dinner conversation. No doubt it was a mark of distinction if your home was a popular spot for those who wanted to be aware of the intellectual life of the community. And it probably added to the ire of the Pharisees that Jesus’ criticisms of them were not kept for their ears alone.
Now Jesus has left the home, the Pharisees are looking for ways to catch him up, and the crowds have gathered in large numbers to see him. Jesus speaks first to his disciples, telling them to beware of the “yeast” of the Pharisees. They had not, apparently, been invited to dine along with Jesus, although some of them likely did join those who stood on the edge of the room to listen. But Jesus’ warning gives the impression that others may not have been there, and perhaps without thinking were considering Jesus’ presence in the prominent Pharisee’s house as a climb up the social scale for the ministry. Perhaps they thoug ht it was, by extension, a mark of distinction for them. But Jesus did not want them led astray by hypocrisy, which was common amongst many Pharisees. He told them that things that are hidden or covered and anything secret will become known. He applies it to the disciples saying that anything they have said in the dark will be heard in the light, anything they have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the rooftops.
Jesus was not all about pointing fingers at other people. It’s easy to talk about other people’s hypocrisy and forget your own. Jesus seems to be seeking to guard his disciples against it by reminding them that you can’t count on anything remaining unknown. If there is something disjointed between what they claim to believe, and what they actually do, then they also will be discovered to be hypocrites.
There was a time when Christians wanted to guard themselves against charges of hypocrisy or self-righteousness. There was an attempt by any Christians to prove that they were just like other people and didn’t consider themselves any better. One way some did that was to let their public behavior reach some of the lower common denominators. But the effort to prove they were no different from other people as Christians inevitably raises another question. Why be a Christian if Christians are no different from other people? Jesus called his followers to follow--not the standards of other people--but a higher internal one. It isn’t about being better than other people, but about continually becoming a better person than you were the day before.
One of the more modern definitions of integrity is doing the right thing even when no else knows you are doing it. The words of Jesus here tell us he could approve of that definition.
If someone called you a hypocrite, how would you respond?
Has the hypocrisy of “Christians” ever bothered you?
Have you known people who used the hypocrisy of Christians/church-goers as an excuse to avoid church or active faith involvement?
What efforts do you make to lessen the hypocrisy in your own life and actions?
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