Mathew 23:1-36,
Sermon Title: Don’t wear a mask – Don’t be a hypocrite
In this chapter, Jesus addresses the Pharisees for being hypocrites
Hypocrite meaning – a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in
order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives.
 Greek meaning of Hypocrite – means “Actor”.
Summary of Ch. 23
 Jesus is in Jerusalem with his disciples to celebrate Passover
 In Ch. 22 these Pharisees, Sadducees and even through the book of Mathew these religious
men were, challenging Jesus, to discredit Jesus’s ministry, to try to turn the hearts of people
away from him.
 Mathew Ch.23, Jesus gets fed up and confronts the Pharisees – and calls them hypocrites,
snakes, fools, sons of hell!
 Why ? Jesus was fed up with their hypocrisy.
 Jesus confronts the religious elite, Pharisees, Sadducees.
 He shines a bright light at their hypocrisy
 We cannot hide our sin – we can try to mask it, hide it from people, but God can see right
through us.

Mathew 23:1-36
1)Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,  2  “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses'
seat, 
What does this mean: in every Jewish synagogue or temple, a seat would be in the front, the
teacher would sit there and teach, it was called Moses’s seat because Moses was inspired to write
the first 5 books of the bible, as Jewish people call the Torah (the law of moses).
3  so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not
practice. 
Note: these men were not practicing what they preach. So here Jesus is saying, if they are teaching
the scriptures do what they are saying, but don’t do what they are doing, because they are not
practicing what they are teaching. The term “practice what you preach”
 We should not put your trust in a person, man , humans will fail you. We must put our trust in
the Word , in God.
4  They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, [a]  and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves
are not willing to move them with their finger.  5  They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they
make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, 

6  and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues  7  and greetings
in the marketplaces and being called rabbi [b]  by others.  8  But you are not to be called rabbi, for you
have one teacher, and you are all brothers. [c]  
9  And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.  10  Neither be called
instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.  11  The greatest among you shall be your
servant.  12  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
13  “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in
people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. [d]  
Note: These religious leaders added traditions and other man-made rules to the law of God and
made those things more important than the Word of God.
 By doing these things and denying Jesus, Jesus rebukes these men because were spiritually
blocking people from entering the kingdom of God(becoming truly converted) because these
religious men/teachers were not living what they were teaching.

15  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a
single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell [e]  as
yourselves.
Note: Verse 15 – Proselyte – is a convert, one that would convert to Judaism.
 These men went to extremes to convert people , to their ways to see what they could benefit
from, or what they could profit off of new converts to Judaism, but never really wanting to
convert people to God’s ways for spiritual purposes.
16  “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone
swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’  17  You blind fools! For which is greater, the
gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?  18  And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is
nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’  19  You blind men!
For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?  20  So whoever swears by the altar
swears by it and by everything on it.  21  And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him
who dwells in it.  22  And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits
upon it.
What was Jesus saying in verse 16-22?
 Jesus was emphasizing the importance of the temple being the House of God.
 These men were more interested in the material sacrifices that people were bringing(gold),
rather than the honoring God and putting importance on the reason why sacrifices were being
brought to the alter.
 They were more interested in getting the gift (receive), than giving (the alter was a place of
giving /offering unto God).
23  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have
neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to

have done, without neglecting the others.  24  You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a
camel!
Note: Meaning of Verse 23 -24 Meaning
 The law of Moses, required Israelites to pay a tithe annually on crops to keep the nation of
Israel going.
 There was a 2 nd tithe to support feasts and festivals.
 There was also a 3 rd tithe to support Levites, widows, orphans so total they gave about 30% of
their income, but the Pharisees, when as far as requiring the people to pay tithes on
spices, something the law never required. They added that requirement for their
benefit.
What was Jesus saying? – they were so concerned about small unimportant things a(spices)and
missing the big picture like offering mercy, faithfulness, justice to the people.
 Jesus was addressing their hypocrisy on others.
 How does this apply to us? Calling out somebody on their sin, but not seeing our own, or
making our sin seem less than other people’s sin.
25  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate,
but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  26  You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the
cup and the plate, so that the outside also may be clean.
27  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which
outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.  28  So you
also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Note: Meaning of Verse 25-27
What was Jesus saying?
 He was telling these religious men, who are you fooling?
 They portrayed beauty on the outside but their inside core was corroded.
Note: There is nothing worse than professing with our mouth that we love Jesus, saying yes He is
lord of my life, but not living for him. That is called hypocrisy “wearing a mask”.
29  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and
decorate the monuments of the righteous,  30  saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we
would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’  31  Thus you witness
against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  32  Fill up, then, the
measure of your fathers. 
33  You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?  34  Therefore I
send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you
will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 

35  so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to
the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, [f]  whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the
altar.  36  Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
What do we need to do?
 To be honest with who we are and ask ourselves the question, are we truly living for God?
 Are we being gracious to others by showing mercy?
 Are we downgrading our sin and magnifying others’ sin?
o The most popular phrase I have heard in my years of ministry- “I don’t go to church
because they are all hypocrites”. Now I don’t believe phrase fully, but this is why we
need to put our faith in God, in His Word, not people. People will fail us! People change.
o Just because there a few bad apples, that does not mean all the apples are bad.
o God will never fail us!

James 4:17  17  If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
 Jesus still shows His love and His Desire for His people in verse 37-39.
Lament over Jerusalem
37  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How
often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings,
and you were not willing!  38  See, your house is left to you desolate.  39  For I tell you, you will not see me
again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
Ending:
 Even though we fail God, His desire is still to embrace you, to love you, but like in Ch.22 the
wedding banquet parable, are we willing? Or are we rejecting Him with our conduct?
 Do you remember, the wedding banquet parable in Mathew Ch. 22? The King invited the
people to the banquet, but the people said no!
How to apply this to our life:
 We must have a true relationship with Jesus, not just by our mouth but with our heart and not
live a life with a mask on and portray to others someone we are not.
 We cannot live like the Pharisees, and be “actors”, we must truly live for God with our heart,
soul, and mind!