“Hypocrites!” Our Savior levels the accusation against the Pharisees over and over again in His interactions with them. Both John Flavel and Richard Baxter distinguished between different kinds of hypocrisy. One who knows he is not a Christian and yet pretends to be a Christian is labeled a “gross hypocrite.” One who practices Christianity yet is not aware of his hypocrisy is labeled a “formal hypocrite.” Of the first sort, Baxter, says, “Some desire to deceive others, but not themselves, but know themselves to be dissemblers (imposters)…” Of the second sort, he states, “others deceive themselves and others, and think they are no hypocrites, but are as confident of their honesty and sincerity, as if they were no dissemblers (imposters) at all. They seem to be religious and sincere, when indeed they are not, though they think themselves to be true Christians.”
Judas is an example of the first sort of hypocrite. He was a man who was with Jesus, who listened to the teaching of our Lord, who pretended love for Jesus, gave a good show of following Jesus, looked very much like the other disciples, and no doubt was well versed in religious conversation. He gave the appearance of a spiritually, serious minded and religious man, and was even trusted by the other disciples to handle the finances. He feigned a concern for the poor and gave the pretense of being a practicer of religion though he was neither compassionate nor a man of integrity. Judas was a fake. He merely played the part, and apparently he played it well enough to deceive the other eleven up to the very end. Up to the last moment he even acted out affection for the Lord as the vitriol mob followed close behind to arrest the man he was to kiss. Judas knew what he was and yet he put on the show of religion. He was a gross hypocrite.
The other category of hypocrisy is revealed in the life of the pharisees. Although this may not be the case with every pharisee, many of them genuinely professed religion and believed themselves to be very religious. Yet, they had no idea that they were rotten to the core. They fooled others, but worst of all, they fooled themselves. When speaking of those with hypocritical tendencies who deceive themselves, Garland makes an excellent observation. He says, “The scrupulous pharisees best fit this category. When Jesus calls them hypocrites, he reveals how easily sincerity and a desire to do precisely what God commands can go astray and ignore what God requires. The Pharisees’ lip service and religious gestures fool others and themselves into thinking they are pious.”
John Flavel in his treatise “The touchstone of sincerity: signs of grace and symptoms of hypocrisy” says, “All flattery is dangerous; self-flattery is more dangerous; but self-flattery in the business of salvation, is the most dangerous of all. To pretend to the good we have not, is gross hypocrisy; to persuade ourselves of the good we have not, though we think we have it, is formal hypocrisy.”
You may be a pharisee or you may not be a pharisee. Either way you are likely susceptible to pharisaism. My intent in the post ahead will be to help us consider a number of symptoms of pharisaism in order that we might evaluate our own hearts. If you have already thought, “I know someone that could really benefit from such a study,” without thinking first of your own heart you may have pharisaical tendencies.
Doulos Acreios 