Hypocritical Modern-day Scribes and Pharisees

Today it’s all about our hypocritical modern-day scribes and Pharisees. Recently I’ve noticed that a large number of our political and spiritual leaders have been claiming they’re Christians. They loudly proclaim themselves to be Christians, but in reality, they’re have been acting very much like the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes and Pharisees were the religious leaders in the Jewish community. They were religious and legal “experts” in first-century Judaism and were highly respected for their knowledge of the Law. The scribes were the professional interpreters and teachers of the Law, while the Pharisees were a political and religious faction known for their strict adherence to both the written law and oral traditions.

They were often in conflict with Jesus because of his teachings, which they viewed as a challenge to their authority and a departure from their emphasis on external rituals over inner righteousness.  They’re hypocrites and Jesus calls them out. I believe it is our duty to do the same to our hypocritical modern-day scribes and Pharisees. These are the “leaders” of the faith. They are the pastors, the deacons, elders, Sunday school teachers, group leaders, and those politicians who claim to be “Christians” the governors, senators, representatives, school board members, any and all legislators. If they are what we call ‘legalistic’ and demanding, then they can and often are much like the old-school scribes and pharisees of Jesus’ time. If we understand what Jesus said about them, it will give us a much better understanding of how should think of them.

In Matthew 23:13-33, we find what are known as either the Seven or Eight Woes. In this section I believe that Jesus is dealing with two main themes. One is hypocrisy, which Jesus defines as a disconnect between a person’s outward religious practices and their inner reality. The other is his direct criticism of the Jewish leaders. Jesus directs his criticism toward the religious leaders of his day, the scribes and Pharisees, who held positions of authority but who have led the people astray.

One area that I’ve noticed over the years of study is how the 7 woes I want to touch on contrast with the Beatitudes we find in Matthew 5. Specifically, they highlight a difference between genuine spiritual living and the superficiality the leaders represent.

So let’s take a look at the 7 woes.

In Verses 13-14 we read, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for blocking people from entering the “kingdom of heaven”. It means they were preventing others from accessing  spiritual truth through their own rigid and hypocritical interpretations of religious law, while they themselves refused to enter. They were preaching one thing but doing another and, in our world, today there are multiple examples of our political leaders doing just that.

Wondering if I know what I’m talking about, well pilgrims, let me give you just a couple of examples. In my home state of Texas the legislature has demanded that the 10 commandments be put in all schools, OK, well what could be bad about that? Many of those legislators don’t actually follow those commandments. In the most outrageous case, the Attorney General, who is threatening to go after any teacher or district that doesn’t follow his mandates, is being sued for divorce by his wife because of his multiple cases of adultery. I could go on, but let’s move to Verse 15 where Jesus says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

I’m reminded of an organization called Turning Point which visits college campuses and tells young people that they should become Christians and many do. And that’s a good thing, but then they turn around a