Theme: THE DANGER OF HYPOCRISY
Text: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers”. – Matthew 23:2-4.
Comment: Jesus Christ, a great teacher of the law of God, instructed his disciples to adhere to the statutory laws of God and warned them to be cautious of the duplicitous actions of the so-called “guides of the law” – the Scribes and Pharisees because “they say, and do not”. Saint Paul to the Christians in Rome said: “(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.” – Romans 2:13 James 2:12.
Today, the counterparts of the religious leaders of the Jews are not hard to find – bogus teachers, so-called miracle workers, false prophets, soothsayers and those who claim to see visions, but all their motives is to seek gain. Concerning them, Saint Peter had this to say: “…there shall be false teachers among you, … And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you…” – 2 Peter 2:1-3.
To put into practice the things which we hear from the Scriptures without any trace of hypocrisy brings happiness to one as Jesus Christ told his disciples. (John 13:17) “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was…” – James 1:22-25.