At three points in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warned His disciples to not be hypocrites. In one instance, Jesus taught His disciples not to practice their righteousness so as to be noticed by others (Matt. 6:1). Jesus said, “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so they will be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full” (Matt. 6:2). The Greek word hypokrites is defined as an “actor, stage player, pretender, or hypocrite.”[1] It is common for humans to do some act of charity for show or self-aggrandizement. Such persons may pretend to be serving God, but in reality, they are seeking to advance their own reputation. This is another example of how the Sermon on the Mount teaches a higher law for the disciples (students) of Jesus.[2]
To God, our true motivations are always at issue. God judges the thoughts and intents of the human heart (Heb. 4:12). For us to be authentic and genuine humans, we must seek God’s will as our primary motivation rather than our own will. Jesus taught His disciples, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). To seek Kingdom Living is equivalent to seeking God’s will. Authentic living only happens in the Kingdom of God under God’s authority. If we make pleasing others or even pleasing ourselves our number one priority, we will inevitably practice some degree of hypocrisy.
At Matthew 6:5, Jesus taught, “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you they have their reward in full.” Praying on street corners was a way to “virtue signal” in First Century Jerusalem. The Cambridge Online Dictionary defines “virtue signalling” as “the popular modern habit of indicating that one has virtue merely by expressing disgust or favour for certain political ideas or cultural happenings.”[3] It is interesting to note that humans of the 21st Century are just as superficial and hypocritical as the humans of the First Century. We are natural born hypocrites. In our current culture, religion has taken a back seat to the latest superficial, politically correct idea. However, Jesus declared that if we do a right thing in a right way, we should anticipate blessing from God (Matt. 6:6).
At Matthew 6:16, Jesus said, “Now whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” To participate in Kingdom Living, we must re-orient our thinking away from people and toward God. Jesus is identifying the failure of every false religion and the shortcoming of every human philosophy. Authenticity only occurs when we humans are primarily focused on pleasing our Creator.
Denouncing “hypocrites” twelve times, the Gospel of Matthew identified the problem of human hypocrisy more than any other book in the New Testament. Jesus associated the scribes and Pharisees with hypocrisy (Matt. 23:13). He accused them of not entering into Kingdom Living, but worst of all, He accused them of blocking and interfering with others seeking to enter into Kingdom Living (Matt. 23:13,15). Jesus said, “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME’” (Matt. 15:7-8). True human authenticity can occur only when the thoughts and intents of the human heart are in line with the will of God. Thankfully, only God is fit to be our judge because only God can judge our thoughts and intents. Ultimately, we will all be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ/God (Rom. 14:10; 2 Cor. 5:10). We need to remember that God hates hypocrisy, and He has assigned a special judgment for hypocrites (Matt. 24:51).
As to “self-righteousness,” Jesus warned, “that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). As the reader might recall from my blogpost, “Kingdom of God, No. 8,” it is my opinion that there is an equivalency between Matthew’s use of the phrase “kingdom of heaven” and the use of the phrase “kingdom of God” by the other New Testament writers. This is also the position of the Dictionary of Biblical Imagery.[4] Additionally, it is my opinion that Matthew 5:20 is not specifically addressing the issue of whether or not you will go to Heaven when you die. In my opinion, Jesus is addressing whether or not someone participates in Kingdom Living, meaning whether or not someone consistently functions under God’s will.
The Apostle Paul identified the problem of self-righteousness as to many of his fellow Israelites at Romans 10:1-3:
“Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”
Many of Paul’s Jewish contemporaries had a zeal for God, but Paul said that they lacked a certain knowledge about God. What knowledge did they and many of us lack? It is this: No human being can continually and constantly meet God’s standards of righteousness without God’s intervention and assistance. First, by means of the Spirit, we must seek to live in fellowship with God and under His authority in the Kingdom of God, but second, to ultimately and forever solve the issue of sin, God must transform our bodies to be incapable of sin. We need a new type of body. This is why God’s promise of a future resurrection body is so important. We cannot meet God’s standards without Him.
It is certain that if we seek to establish our own righteousness, we will inevitably fail. Those who seek to craft their own standards, independent of God, will inevitably violate even their own standards. We have been given the gifts of both free will and moral responsibility. Our only way forward is to accept a life under God’s constant guidance and direction. To experience Kingdom Living, we must willingly subject ourselves to the righteousness of God. As Jesus implored, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… [f]or my yoke is comfortable and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:29-30). Here on Earth, we can spiritually mature, but ultimately, to ever reach God’s standard (sinlessness), God must give us new, resurrection bodies that are incapable of sin.
In summary, God’s plan has the following basic elements: 1) God sent His Son to die a sacrificial death in atonement for the sins of humanity (1 John 2:2, 12). 2) Humans are required to receive the message that Jesus is the Son of God and to receive the message that His Kingdom has spiritually already come to Planet Earth. 3) Believers are required to walk by the Spirit, wherein the Word is a light to their feet. 4) Believers are required to trust in God, remain faithful, and grow spiritually. 5) If we do sin, we simply acknowledge our sin and enter back into fellowship with God (1 John 1:9). 6) In the event of our death, we believers are promised access to Heaven and to be at home with Christ (2 Cor. 5:1-8). 7) We are promised a resurrection body that will be incapable of sin (1 Cor. 15:50-58), and 8) We are also promised the return of Jesus Christ to Planet Earth (Act 1:9-11; 1 John 2:28, 3:2; Matt. 6:10). As to the advance of God’s plan, Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). It is something for which we must pray.
The featured image on this page is titled “Sermon on the Mount” by Carl Henrich Bloch. Available on public domain. Courtesy of www.carlbloch.org.
[1] “G5273 – hypokritēs – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 14 Mar, 2022. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5273/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[2] See my blog on this site, “Kingdom of God, No. 9: Sermon on the Mount, No.1.” https://eyestoseetherevelation.com/kingdom-of-god-no-9/
[3] “Virtue Signalling.” Cambridge Dictionary. Web. 14 Mar, 2022. <https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/virtue-signalling>.
[4] “Kingdom of God/Kingdom of Heaven.” Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, edited by Leland Ryken, et al, InterVarsity Press, 1998.