The Real Pharisees (Part 8): The Pharisees Were Corrupt in Their Hearts

The Real Pharisees

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:25-28).

At the beginning of this study, we noticed how the Pharisees were not as careful with the Law as we tend to think – or as their reputation suggested. Jesus made a similar point in the verses above. The Pharisees would “outwardly appear righteous” (Matthew 23:28), but they were not truly righteous. Their hearts were corrupt.

How were their hearts corrupt? Jesus mentioned a couple of ways. First, they were filled with selfishness. They were “full of robbery and self-indulgence” (Matthew 23:25). They cared more about self than about God or others. Yet when Jesus was asked by a lawyer of the Pharisees about “the great commandment in the Law,” He indicated that the two greatest commandments were to love the Lord and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:34-40). Unlike the Pharisees, we must put God and others ahead of ourselves if we want to please Him.

Second, they were filled with “uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27). Jesus cited their “hypocrisy and lawlessness” on this point (Matthew 23:28). In other words, they were disobedient to the law of God. We discussed the Pharisees’ disobedience in an earlier lesson. We are to be “obedient from the heart” (Romans 6:17). Paul said, “The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart” (1 Timothy 1:5) because those “who may stand” in the Lord’s presence are those who have “clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3-4). Inward corruption will prevent us from being able to have fellowship with God.

We need to be sure that our hearts are pure first. That is why Jesus said, “First clean the inside…” (Matthew 23:26). The reason why this must be done first is because of what the wise man said, “For as he thinks within himself, so he is” (Proverbs 23:7). Our thoughts, words, and actions originate in our heart. Therefore, our heart must be right if we want our life to be right before God.

Even if we are able to fool others – as the Pharisees did – we will not be able to fool God. Jesus knew that the Pharisees would “outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly [they were] full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:28). The Hebrew writer said that “the word of God is…able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). The words of Christ will be the standard of judgment used for us on the last day (John 12:48). The reason why Jesus is able to judge not just what we have “done” (2 Corinthians 5:10), but also what our “thoughts and intentions” are (Hebrews 4:12), is given by the Hebrew writer in the next verse: “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). We will not hide anything from Him. If our hearts are corrupt, He will know it, just as He did with the Pharisees.

So who are the real Pharisees today? They are the ones who may appear righteous to everyone else, yet the Lord knows that their hearts are corrupt.


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